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Baked Rhubarb and Cherry Crisp with golden brown oat crisp topping in a cast iron skillet topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream sitting on a blue and yellow striped dish towel
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5 from 3 votes

Garden Fresh Rhubarb and Cherry Crisp

A delicious and easy Rhubarb Crisp using summer fresh rhubarb with the added sweetness of cherries and an oatmeal crisp topping. Top with vanilla ice cream for the perfect balance of sweet and tart in a early summer dessert!
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time40 minutes
Servings: 2
Author: Pam Werley

Ingredients

The Fruit Filling

  • ½ cup white sugar
  • 1 ½ Tablespoons cornstarch
  • 12 ounces canned cherry pie filling . Most pie filling comes in a large can around 21 ounces, I like to use about ¾ of a large can of pie filling when making this for two.
  • ½ cup cold water
  • ½ teaspoon almond extract
  • 2 cups rhubarb I have found 1 pound of rhubarb will yield 3 to 4 cups. You can use fresh or frozen rhubarb for this recipe. You can purchase fresh rhubarb from the farmers market and even your neighborhood grocery store.
  • ½ teaspoon or more of cinnamon

Oat Crisp Topping

  • ½ cup all-purpose flour
  • ½ cup rolled oats
  • ½ cup packed brown sugar
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • ¼ cup butter or margarine , cold
  • ⅛ cup finely chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)

Instructions

The Fruit Filling

  • Preheat the oven to 350° F. Trim and cut rhubarb into ½-inch slices and set aside. See notes below if using frozen rhubarb.
    In a small saucepan over medium heat, stir together the cornstarch and sugar.  Stir in the cold water. Cook, stirring constantly, until thick and bubbly. Pour in the cherry pie filling and almond extract. Stir to combine and set aside to cool.

Oat Crisp Topping

  • In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, oats, brown sugar and salt. Cut in butter until the mixture is evenly crumbly. Cutting in butter means incorporating cold butter into the dry ingredients so that the butter stays in little clumps throughout the mixture.

Assemble the Crisp

  • Press ½ of this oat mixture into the bottom of your skillet or baking dish. Spread the rhubarb over the crust, sprinkle with cinnamon then spread the cherry mixture over the rhubarb. Add nuts, to the remaining topping, if using. Now, top the crisp with the remaining oat mixture.  Spreading evenly to cover the fruit filling. 
  • Bake at 350º F for 40 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the top is crisp and golden. Serve warm, topped with ice cream.

Notes

How to thaw and bake frozen rhubarb:

For this recipe, frozen rhubarb can be thawed and used in place of fresh. Thaw in a sieve over a bowl to catch excess liquid. Blot the defrosted pieces to remove excess moisture before adding to the recipe. You may also wish to bump up the cornstarch to two tablespoons (or more, if needed) to counteract excess moisture from the frozen fruit.

How to brown the oat crisp topping?

Butter, which encourages both browning and crispness, is the magic ingredient in getting your topping just right, so follow the recipe instructions. But if you feel your topping is still too dry and crumbly,  add a bit more melted butter, a tablespoon at a time.