This healthy rhubarb crisp has a fresh and juicy rhubarb filling and a crunchy oat streusel topping. It’s super easy to make and the perfect dessert for spring!
A crisp is a flavorful dessert made of any type of fruit and baked with a crunchy, rather crispy oat streusel topping. It’s one of my favorite desserts.
After testing my fruit crisp recipe for quite a while, I finally perfected it, trying to make it as yummy and healthy as possible. It is naturally egg-free, can be dairy-free, vegan, and gluten-free, and requires just a few basic ingredients.
Since rhubarb is in season right now and perfect for a crisp, I thought I‘d share the recipe with you.
How to Make the Best Healthy Rhubarb Crisp
This rhubarb crisp and fruit crisps in general are super simple to make! You will actually be surprised by how quickly it comes together. It’s the perfect easy recipe if you are short on time and need a comforting dessert.
To make the filling, you’ll toss the rhubarb with the sugar and cinnamon in a large bowl until completely coated, before spreading evenly in an 8-inch square pan. In order to have even less effort, you can skip the bowl and toss the ingredients for the filling directly in the pan, which is what I usually do. As for the streusel part, you’ll combine the oats, flour, sugar, and cinnamon in a small bowl and then work in the butter until small crumbles form.
Fruit Crisp Variations
I make fruit crisps all the time. The fruit options for fruit crisps are endless, apple crisp is a classic, but rhubarb is such a great choice when in season. You often see rhubarb paired with strawberries and it’s without a doubt a delicious combination. But trust me, rhubarb is good on it’s own, too.
Speaking of fruit options and combinations, one of my favorite fruit crisp recipes is peach crisp in summer. Blueberries, strawberries, and generally berries are great. I’ve even tried blackberry and rhubarb, which turned out to be a delicious combination. You can use just about any fruit and have fun experimenting with different variations depending on the season. It is very likely that you will see more fruit crisp recipes on my site in the future.
Recipe Serving Suggestions
The best way to enjoy a fruit crisp is to top it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream! You can also try other ice cream flavors with it. The ice cream provides extra sweetness and harmonizes particularly well with the tartness of the rhubarb. Not to mention the fact that the warm fruit crisp paired with cold ice cream is an irresistible combination. But feel free to serve your crisp either warm or cold.
Healthy Rhubarb Crisp Recipe
Actually, if I’m wanting to make it a really healthy treat, I like to eat it without ice cream and use unrefined sugar, oat flour, white or regular whole wheat flour, as well as the minimum amount of butter for the streusel topping that I successfully tested for this recipe, as stated in the recipe notes section below. Fruit crisp actually tastes amazing just on it’s own.
If you make this recipe, I’d love to know how it turned out! Please let me know by giving it a star rating and leaving a comment below. Or snap a photo and tag @teatimeontheporch on Instagram so I can see it! I’d love to see your healthy rhubarb crisp!
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Healthy Rhubarb Crisp
Ingredients
For the Filling
- 1 pound (454 g) fresh rhubarb, sliced 1/4-inch thick
- 1 tablespoon (12.5 g) raw cane sugar, coconut sugar, or sweetener of choice (see Notes!)
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
For the Topping
- 1 1/4 cups (100 g) rolled oats
- 1/3 cup (42 g) all-purpose flour, spelt flour, white or regular whole wheat flour, or oat flour for gluten-free
- 2 tablespoons (25 g) raw cane sugar or coconut sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 5 tablespoons (71 g) unsalted butter, slightly softened (see Notes!)
Instructions
- Set an oven rack in the middle position and preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C).
- To prepare the filling, toss the rhubarb with the sugar and cinnamon in a large bowl until completely coated. Spread evenly in an 8-in square pan.
- To prepare the topping, add the oats, flour, sugar, and cinnamon to a small bowl. Use your hands or two forks to work in the butter until the mixture is crumbly. Sprinkle the topping evenly over the filling.
- Bake for 50 minutes, until the rhubarb is tender and the topping is golden brown.
- Let cool at least 10 minutes before serving.
Notes
Did You Make This Recipe?
I’d love to know how it turned out! Please leave a comment below. Or snap a photo and tag @teatimeontheporch on Instagram so I can see it!
Grace says
I’m going to make this soon! I have a ton of home-grown rhubarb to use. I also like to make slow cooker rhubarb sauce that can be eaten by itself or used to make some kind of pastry or other baked good.
I found this website searching for low-sugar rhubarb recipes. I’m low on sugar at home and also want to reduce my sugar consumption wherever possible. But rhubarb definitely needs some sugar!
I really like sweet and sour combinations and want to suggest to the fellow rhubarb lovers that making a juice in the blender with water and sugar is a refreshing, easy and delicious way to use up a lot of rhubarb. After mixing, put the juice through a fine strainer to get out all the stringy pulp and enjoy.
Could someone please tell me how many cups the chopped rhubarb would amount to in this recipe?
Christina says
Thank you for sharing these great ideas for using rhubarb! I hope you enjoy the crisp. Your homegrown rhubarb sounds wonderful, and the rhubarb juice sounds delicious, too. I really appreciate your comment!
R. Endriss says
My grandma taught me to mix rhubarb with 1 beaten egg to help cut down on the tartness of rhubarb. I do that in almost every recipe. You can still add the other ingredients as the recipe calls for,creamer. This helps with taste as well as makes the sauciness of the recipe a little thicker/creamier.
Christina says
Thank you for sharing your grandma’s tip! Using a beaten egg with rhubarb sounds like an interesting way to balance the tartness and add some creaminess. I appreciate you taking the time to leave a comment!
Jennifer says
Made the recipe yesterday. Increased the sugar as suggested…still way too bitter!
Christina says
Thank you for trying the recipe! I’m sorry it turned out too bitter for you. It may have been the rhubarb, as it can sometimes be quite bitter. I appreciate your feedback!
Viki says
Very easy and delicious. I used a mix of sweetener and brown sugar. Sooo good. Thank you for the recipe! ☺️
Christina says
So happy you enjoyed it, Viki! The mix of sweetener and brown sugar sounds delicious — thank you so much for trying the recipe and leaving such a lovely comment! ♡
Lindy Yearsley says
This was a delicious recipe! I did increase the sugar a bit. I added 2 1/2 Tbsp to the rhubarb and probably closer to 5 Tbsp in the topping. I appreciate the reduced sugar recipe, but rhubarb is very tart and the sugar in the recipe wasn’t enough for me!
Even though I increased the sugar quite a bit, it was still a lot less than most crisps!
The topping was delightfully crunchy.
Thank you!
Christina says
Thank you so much for your comment and for sharing your adjustments, Lindy! I completely understand preferring the filling less tart. I’ll add a note to the Notes section of the recipe card that the sugar in the filling can easily be increased if a less tart flavor is preferred.
I’m so glad you enjoyed the crunchy topping!