Apple and Rhubarb Crumble

Name: Apple and Rhubarb Crumble Recipe
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 75 min
Ingredients: 1.5 lbs (24oz) apples (peeled and sliced (5 large or 7-8 medium apples)); 3/4 lb (350g/12oz) fresh rhubarb (thinly sliced (2 stalks)); 1 medium lemon, zest and juice (30mL/2 Tbsp juice); 15 grams (2 Tbsp) all-purpose flour; 150 grams (3/4 cup) light brown sugar; 1/8 tsp fine sea salt; 1 tsp ground cinnamon; 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg; 1/4 tsp ground cardamom; 1 tsp vanilla extract; 113 grams (1/2 cup/1 stick/8Tbsp) salted butter (melted); 210 grams (1 3/4 cup) all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled); 100 grams (1/2 cup) light brown sugar (light or dark); 1/8 tsp fine sea salt; 1 tsp ground cinnamon; Vanilla ice cream for topping

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This Apple and Rhubarb Crumble is an easy and delicious mix of apples and rhubarb tossed with brown sugar, spices and a little lemon. It’s topped with a crispy brown sugar streusel and a generous amount of vanilla ice cream!

When I saw rhubarb in the store during September, I was like “wow the universe is telling me something here”. I thought Rhubarb is usually in season only from spring to early summer, so combining it with my favorite season was just the natural thing to do here.

Why You’ll Love This Apple and Rhubarb Crumble

This apple and rhubarb crumble is much easier to throw together than you think, perfect for that last minute weekend get together with your friends.
Apple and Rhubarb are that flavor combination that you never knew you needed, especially topped with a crunchy crumble. *drool emoji* lol
Perfect transition dessert for when it’s still “summery” out, but the fall season begins to call your name.
Who doesn’t want to impress their friends by baking with rhubarb??? P.S. My husband still doesn’t know what rhubarb is lol.

Fall is ALMOST officially here and I’m so excited for it. You probably won’t see many rhubarb recipes posted during fall, but if you want to try my rhubarb jam, I promise you will love it!

If your grocery store is out of rhubarb and you are just here for fall crumbles, my Apple and Blackberry Crumble or Blueberry and Apple Crumble is the way to go. Or if you like it with more tart try my Apple Cranberry Crisp, which is probably the most similar to this apple and rhubarb crumble.

apple and rhubarb crisp topped with vanilla icde cream

What is a Crumble?

Some people get confused between crumbles, crips, cobblers, and pies. Most people don’t care what it’s called as long as it’s delicious (like me lol).

A crumble is a pie without a bottom crust and a streusel on top. I use crumble and crips interchangeably, although technically some bakers add oats or nuts to make it a “crisp”.

A cobbler is usually similar to a crumble, except the top is either made from biscuits or a cake-like topping, like my Peach Cobbler.

Ingredients

Apples: I use 5 large or 7-8 medium apples. I like to weigh them after they’re all sliced, which usually comes out to about 1.5lbs – so just a little more than before coring/slicing.
- I love to use my apple corer to peel, core and slice the apples all in one.
Rhubarb: I use fresh rhubarb thinly sliced (2 stalks)
- Doesn’t have a strong flavor, so may seem like alot to add, but trust me!
Flour: I use all purpose flour in most of my recipes and I HIGHLY recommend using a digital scale, as flour is so often over measured.
Sugar: Light or dark brown sugar work well here.
- Granulated sugar or a mixture works too, it will just have a pale streusel with less flavor.
Lemon: whenever I bake with apples I like to coat them in lemon juice. This prevents them from getting brown super quick and brings out their natural tartness.
Salt: salt brings out natural flavors and cuts the sweetness a bit. I like to use fine sea salt. If you’re using table salt, I would use half the amount.
Butter: I like salted butter but unsalted butter works fine too. I would increase the salt by ¼ tsp if using unsalted butter.
Spices: I use ground cinnamon, nutmeg, and cardamom.
Vanilla: I thought vanilla would pair well with the rhubarb and apples. I recommend pure vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste.

Step-By-Step Instructions

Apple Rhubarb Filling

Step 1: Peel and slice the apples and place them in a deep pan.

Step 2: Add the lemon, flour, sugar, salt and vanilla and mix until they’re combined. Can reduce sugar here to 1/2 cup (100g) if you prefer it less sweet but keep in mind the rhubarb can be tart.

Step 3: Add the sliced rhubarb, lemon, flour, sugar, salt, spices and vanilla and mix until they’re combined.

apples and rhubarb tossed with the rest of the ingredients — apples and rhubarb sliced

Brown Sugar Streusel (and assembly)

Step 1: Melt the butter in a separate bowl and then add in all the dry ingredients mixing until the streusel forms pea sized chunks.

Step 2: Spread streusel on top of the apple mixture and bake for about 45 minutes, until the streusel has browned.

Step 3: Remove from the oven, let it rest for about 15-30 minutes or longer and then serve with vanilla ice cream!

If you serve when it’s warm, it will still be quite juicy and runny but as it cools, it sets up nicely.

apple and rhubarb filling topped with streusel — streusel topping mixed

Pro Tips For Making This Apple Rhubarb Crumble

You can mix the filling ingredients straight in your pie dish but make sure to use your largest deep dish pie dish so you have room to combine the ingredients.
10/10 recommend an apple corer to make all your fall baking 10x quicker. This apple corer peels, slices and cores the apples all at once. I use it for ALL my apple recipes.

apple and rhubarb crisp topped with ice cream

Frequently Asked Questions

What kind of apples should I use?

I find that most apples work well in desserts except golden apples (those are too mushy). My favorites are honeycrisp, fuji or gala apples. If you want it to be more tart and less sweet, use granny smith apples.

Do I have to peel the apples?

I find the skin a little unpleasant but you don’t HAVE to peel the apples. I do since it’s easy with an apple corer.

Can I use other size pans?

I think a 10” works great with this recipe, and is a bit much for a 9” deep dish pan (can do 1 or 1.5 rhubarbs with 4-5 apples if you want). But it works in a 10-13” round dish, skillet or a casserole dish. The bigger the more room to add – the recipe is very flexible lol.

Can I make these dairy free?

Yup! Just swap the butter in the crumble topping for dairy free butter.

Can I make these gluten-free?

I have not tested this recipe specifically but all of my cake recipes work with a 1:1 substitute of gluten-free flour so I don’t see why this wouldn’t work. I recommend King Arthur or Bob’s Red Mill.
You can also use this gluten-free streusel topping made with oats.

How To Serve And Store The Crumble

I recommend serving the crumble on a plate and then topping with ice cream so the ice cream doesn’t melt all over the crumble that’s not getting eaten. The vanilla ice cream sweetness really pairs well with the tartness of the filling.

Store the leftover crumble covered in the refrigerator and then bake for 5-10 minutes at 325F (or microwave) before serving again.

Thanks so much for reading today’s post, if you have any questions just comment down below.

If you make this apple and rhubarb crumble, I would love it if you left a star rating for it in the recipe card.

As always, have a blessed day and happy baking!

Love, B

Apple and Rhubarb Crumble Recipe

Bernice Baran

This Apple and Rhubarb Crumble is an easy and delicious mix of apples and rhubarb tossed with brown sugar, spices and a little lemon. It's topped with a crispy brown sugar streusel and a generous amount of vanilla ice cream!

5 from 4 votes

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Prep Time 15

Cook Time 45

Additional Time 15

Total Time 1 15

Course Pies & Tarts

Cuisine American

Servings servings

Calories 303 kcal

Equipment