Whether you’re making pies, muffins, jams or crisps, sugar is likely an ingredient in any recipe that uses rhubarb. A perennial vegetable, the red or green rhubarb stems can be harvested from late-spring to mid-summer and used in a variety of baked goods. Sugar is often the flavor balancer to the tart flavor of the stems.

Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp

Ingredients

• 4 cups fresh rhubarb, cut into 1/2 inch sections (4-6 stalks)
• 4 cups fresh strawberries, hulled and quartered
• 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
• Zest of one orange
• 1 Tbsp cornstarch
• 1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1 cup old-fashioned oats
• 12 Tbsp cold butter, diced

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a 9×13 baking dish with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, toss the rhubarb, strawberries, 3/4 cup of the granulated sugar and the orange zest together. Separately, dissolve the cornstarch in the orange juice and then mix it into the fruit.
3. Pour the mixture into the baking dish.
4. For the topping, combine the flour, 1/2 cup granulated sugar, brown sugar, salt and oatmeal. Add the butter and mix (by hand or with mixer) until the dry ingredients are moist and the mixture is in crumbles.
5. Sprinkle the topping over the fruit, covering it completely.
6. Bake for 1 hour, until the fruit is bubbly and the topping is golden brown.

Serve warm with ice cream or whipped cream.