Thursday, May 26, 2011

Gotta Use That Luscious Rhubarb!

This is the very best Rhubarb Crunch (or crisp or whatever you want to call it) I've ever come across. When I went into my recipe box to find this recipe last night I was thinking I first made it last year, possibly two years ago. You see, when I first try a new recipe, I mark the date and other comments on the card. Know how old this recipe is? May 25, 2007, was when I made it for the first time. My, my, how time does fly when one is having a good time.

I've reduced the sugar ingredients quite a bit because hubby and I both like the flavor of rhubarb to come through in a dish . . . and the original really was too, too sweet. I've got it now to where I think it's dee-lish. If you try it, I hope it suits your taste.


RHUBARB CRUNCH

1 cup flour (unbleached white or whole wheat or a combination)
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 cup oatmeal
1/2 cup melted butter
4 cups diced rhubarb


In a medium bowl, mix all ingredients except rhubarb.

When uniformly crumbly, place 1-1/2 cups of mixture in a 9" square pan and press down lightly.

Cover with the 4 cups of rhubarb.

In a small pan combine: (I think this is what makes this dessert "special.")

1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch (I always use arrowroot powder in place of cornstarch in a recipe because cornstarch is made with GMO corn. I've heard there is non- GMO cornstarch but I've never found it.)
1 cup water
1 teaspoon vanilla

Cook this mixture on a medium/low flame until clear, stirring almost constantly.

Pour over rhubarb in dish.

Top with the remaining crumb mixture and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

Mmmm-good!

22 comments:

Jane @ Hard Work Homestead said...

Where is the ice cream. It is the law that you serve ice cream with a dish like that. I will let you go with a warning this time, but in the future....

judy said...

SOUNDS GOOD-NOW WHERE DO I FIND RHUBARB.-THEY DON'T SELL IT AT THE GROCERY STORE-WE PASSED THE FARMERS MARKET YESTERDAY-MY SON WOULD NOT STOP-GRRRRR I COULD PLAY PETER RABBIT---[ JK---REALLY] CUS I THINK THE FARMER TOOK A SHOT AT PETER RABBIT

Mama Pea said...

Jane - Hahahaha! We didn't get into this last night because I took it out of the oven so late. So for the last blog picture, I spooned some up into the dish and was just about to plop some ice cream on top (OF COURSE, it needs ice cream on it!) but then thought it would really be a sad looking mess by the time someone ate it later today so there it was with no proper topping. But guess what? After breakfast, Papa Pea gave me some lame excuse about needing that extra shot of sugar (yeah, right!) for his morning's work so he ate it . . . sans ice cream.

judy - Better watch out when bending over in someone else's garden. Bad things could happen.

judy said...

lmao-your right as usual

Jennifer Jo said...

It's how we make it, too!

Mama Pea said...

JJ - Cool! Fruit cobblers, crunches, crisps can be a little dry for me so I was pickled tink to find this recipe.

LindaCO said...

Wow, that looks great. Thanks for the recipe. I think I'll buy some vanilla ice cream for mine. :-)

Mama Pea said...

LindaCO - There's something about rhubarb that just begs for vanilla ice cream! And you're welcome.

You Can Call Me Jane said...

Yum. That reminds me of the recipe we make and that we didn't make it this year- our patch is getting on in years. We need to find us some transplants. Take a big, honkin' bite for me, okay?;-)

Mama Pea said...

ThyHand - Not only will I take a big honkin' bite for you, I'll eat an extra serving just 'cause I like you so much! ;o}

Erin said...

Well, I definitely wouldn't turn that down!

Mama Pea said...

Erin - OMIGOSH! Did I just hear you say you'd eat something rhubarb?? I'm dropping everything and putting a serving in the mail for you this afternoon! ;o}

Homesteading and Gardening said...

Oh my gosh, YUM! Rhubarb crisp is my favorite!! We make it exactly the same way, except we add a can of cherry pie filling on it too.. mmmm.

Lorie said...

Now that does look good. I have a favorite recipe for crisp, but I think I will give yours a try and see if it is any better. I like the sauce over the rhubarb...yum.

Mama Pea said...

Mandy - Welcome and thanks for commenting! Yes, I've seen that recipe with the cherry pie filling in it, too. The way I love cherries I'm surprised I haven't tried it!

Lorie - Hope you find it worth your effort to try this recipe. I don't make any other rhubarb crunch or crisp now.

Sparkless said...

Oh my that looks good! I'm going out right now to pick some more rhubarb to make that. I better check to make sure I have everything I need first. Not going to make that mistake again. LOL!

Leigh said...

Oh, that looks so good! My rhubarb is still kinda puny. Hopefully next year I can try this recipe.

I did find non-GMO cornstarch once but cannot remember who made it. I've experimented some with tapioca flour too. Works pretty well.

Mama Pea said...

Sparkless - Hope all goes well and your family likes it!

Leigh - I've never had a failure substituting arrowroot for cornstarch so I'm happy to keep using it. Tapioca flour . . . do you just grind up tapioca?

Anonymous said...

That looks really good...my recipe doesn't call for the crumb stuff on the bottom and I love the sound of the syrupy stuff. I need to go out to my rhubarb and see if there's any to pick yet, actually, I think I still have some in the freezer!

Mama Pea said...

Ruth - I've been having a hard time using my frozen rhubarb because it seems so "watery." It tends to make the dessert too, too moist. Wonder if there is something you can do to it so that doesn't happen?

RuthieJ said...

Yum! Now that it's cooled down a little, I'll be able to turn the oven on and bake this. My mouth is watering already......

Mama Pea said...

Ruthie - Hope this one worked out for you, Ruthie! I really, really like it.