Rhubarb crumble is a delicious crisp recipe made with the tart bright pink Rhubarb and topped with a sweet crunchy crumble topping. This beautiful English dessert is a family favorite!
Here I am with another typical English dessert. What can I say I love my roots and the food! Whoever said English food was boring, hasn't had good English food!
I love rhubarb crumble as a change from a berry or apple crumble since rhubarb is so tart, it totally balances the sweet crumble and the sweet ice cream or custard normally served on top.
Crisps/ Crumbles are one of my favorite desserts to make, simple, large portion, everyone loves em.
Let's get to the recipe.
Jump to:
What Is Rhubarb
Technically a vegetable but most often used as a fruit these stalks are super tart! Known for their bright pink color
What are the ingredients for Rhubarb Crisp
- Rhubarb
- Light Brown Sugar- I only sweeten the rhubarb with 100 grams (½ cup) of brown sugar but if you like it sweeter use up to 200 grams (1 Cup)
- Lemon
- All-Purpose Flour/ Plain Flour
- Rolled Oats aka Old Fashioned Oats
- Pinch of Salt
- Light Brown Sugar
- Roasted Walnuts
- Butter- Cold! You want it cold so you can rub it into the flour mixture
Baking is a science and to really achieve the best results I highly recommend investing in a kitchen scale. This OXO Kitchen Scale is the one I use and is also the number one recommended kitchen scale by Cook's Illustrated. Think about it -what one person scoops into a "cup" is completely different as to what someone else scoops!
How do you make Rhubarb Crisp?
Preheat your oven to 350F/180C and get an 8 -9-inch plate ready.
Clean and cut your rhubarb into one and a half inch pieces.
Add the rhubarb and brown sugar to a medium size pot and cook over low heat. I only use 100 grams (½ Cup) of brown sugar because I enjoy the tart flavors but feel free to use up to another ½ cup if you want a sweeter rhubarb filling.
In a small bowl combine corn starch and lemon juice, whisk to combine until it is a smooth slurry with no lumps.
Once the brown sugar is fully melted add the slurry and cook over medium heat for roughly 5 minutes, mixing the whole time. The rhubarb mix should have thickened and look shiny. Add the rhubarb to the baking dish, I used a 9 inch pie dish but the beauty of a crumble is you can use any shape dish you want!
In a large bowl add the all-purpose flour, rolled oats, brown sugar, and salt. Mix until fully combined.
Add the roasted walnuts, mix to combine.
Then the chunks of butter and use your hand to rub the butter into the dry mixture.
The crumble/ crisp topping is mixed when you have a thick coarse meal texture.
Sprinkle over rhubarb and bake for 30 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and the rhubarb is bubbling up the sides of the dish.
Let the rhubarb crisp cool for at least 20 minutes before serving. This dessert is best served with heavy cream, Birds custard, or ice cream.
Can you make Rhubarb Crisp ahead of time
You can definitely make rhubarb crisp ahead of time. Often when I make a crisp or a crumble I actually double the topping mixture and store half of it in the freezer for an easy crisp next time!
The rhubarb filling I would make up to 1 day ahead of time, then put the crumble on top of the fruit just before baking.
More rhubarb recipes
My rhubarb custard pie was shockingly a huge success with my sisters, they can be quite picky sometimes but they literally argued over the last bites of this pie!
Rhubarb muffins are a delicious out of the ordinary muffin recipe.
Fruits of the forest pie has all of your favorite traditional pie ingredients like apples and berries plus gorgeous rhubarb!
★★★★★ Please let me know if you make this recipe by leaving a star rating and comment below!
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PrintRecipe Card
Rhubarb Crumble
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 30
- Total Time: 45 Minutes
- Yield: 6-8 Servings 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: English
Description
Rhubarb crumble is a delicious crisp recipe made with the tart bright pink Rhubarb and topped with a sweet crunchy crumble topping. This beautiful English dessert is a family favorite!
Ingredients
- 1lb Rhubarb, chopped into ½" pieces
- 100 Grams (½ Cup) Light Brown Sugar
- 2 Tablespoons Cornstarch
- Juice of 1 Lemon
- 188 Grams (1 ½ Cups) All-Purpose Flour
- 50 Grams (½ Cup) Cup Rolled Oats
- Pinch of Salt
- 150 Grams (¾ Cup) Light Brown Sugar
- 125 Grams (1 Cup) Roasted Walnuts
- 6oz (¾ Cup) Unsalted Butter
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350F/180C and get an 8 -9-inch plate ready.
- Clean and cut your rhubarb into one and a half inch pieces. Add the rhubarb and brown sugar to a medium size pot and cook over low heat.
- In a small bowl combine corn starch and lemon juice, whisk to combine until it is a smooth slurry with no lumps. Once the brown sugar is fully melted add the slurry and cook over medium heat for roughly 5 minutes, mixing the whole time. The rhubarb mix should have thickened and look shiny. Add the rhubarb mixture to the baking dish in an even layer.
- In a large bowl mix together and all-purpose flour, rolled oats, brown sugar, and salt. Add the roasted walnuts. Next, add the chunks of butter and use your hand to rub the butter into the dry mixture. It is done when you have a thick coarse meal texture.
- Sprinkle over rhubarb and bake for 30 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and the rhubarb is bubbling up the sides. Let cool for at least 20 minutes before serving. Best served with heavy cream, Birds custard, or ice cream.
Keywords: rhubarb dessert, rhubarb crisp, rhubarb crumble
Amelia says
YES YES YES a million times YES! My obsession is so real right now with Rhubarb! I made this last thursday and pretty much had for breakfast lunch and dinner the following day! This is SOOOO GOOD
★★★★★
Wendy says
Have been making Rhubarb Crumble forever! I too am English but have been transplanted to Langley, British Columbia, Canada. Just love rhubarb and grow it in the garden. Excellent as you say, with Ice cream, cream or Birds custard - yummy! Thanks for sharing this lovely recipe. I have tried the Rhubarb Crisp but must confess to liking the Crumble just a little bit more.
★★★★★
SUSAN F. BERTOCCHI says
Easy and delicious. I like that there is a lot of crumble too!
★★★★★
Elizabeth Waterson says
Thank you so much for coming back to review the recipe Susan, so happy you enjoyed it! I love a large amount of crumble so glad you appreciated that 🙂 XX Liz
Tammy says
This is my first recipe review but this one was too outstanding not to write something! I’ve never really care for the rhubarb tartness but this recipe has changed my mind. I made a couple small changes, the brown sugar was not melting in the heavy pan I was using but a T of water helped get it started. I also cut the rhubarb lengthwise and then into 1 1/2” pieces because the stalks were really big. It was a big hit with my husband who grew up with his mother’s delightful rhubarb pies and sauces.
★★★★★
Elizabeth Waterson says
Thank you so much for coming back to review the recipe, Tammy. It really helps my blog to have star reviews, so I really appreciate it! So glad you and your hubby both enjoyed it! Take care!! XX Liz
Twen says
So yummy! I'm making it again tonight!
★★★★★
Elizabeth Waterson says
So happy yo hear that Twen, thank you so much for coming back to review the recipe, I appreciate it so much. Take care. XX Liz
Meena says
Tried this recipe, with lots of rhubarb in the uk. Recipe looked great and was so tempting. Made it today but my rhubarb mix was not as slurry as in the pics, seemed to require more liquid. Not sure what went wrong. The quantity of the crumble was quite a large amount and found amazingly too sweet. I’m probably try it again with 1/4 the amount of the sugar for crumble mix
Elizabeth Waterson says
Hi Meena you can definitely reduce the sugar in the crumble, I also love a large crumble ratio but if that is not your ideal feel free to reduce it. Thank you for coming back to share your review, I really appreciate it. XX Liz
Deb Weaver says
Fantastic! I skip the nuts. Sometimes I add strawberries. So good!
★★★★★
Elizabeth Waterson says
Yay! Thank you so much for coming back to review and rate the recipe Deb, it helps me so much! I am so pleased you enjoyed it. Adding strawberries sounds like a great addition! Take care! XX Liz
Marlene Henry says
BEST RUBARB CRUMBLE EVER!!!! Thank you for the delicious recipe, easy, quick and so yummy!
★★★★★
Elizabeth Waterson says
Hi Marlene, thanks so much for coming back to review the recipe! I am so pleased you enjoyed the crumble, it's one of our faves!!! Take care. XX Liz