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Mmmm! This recipe was amazing, and my whole family mowed it down 😉 loved the crumb topping. Thanks for a wonderful recipe.
In the Philippines they have this expression: hala.
I know you want to say it this way, but it’s not holla. And it’s not hah-lah. It’s more like, hulá. Which makes it sound like hoola, which is also not correct. Fail.
It’s just huh-LA, and by now I hope you’ve tried to say it outloud at least once. It’s kind of a cool way of saying “Oh my gosh” or “I can’t believe it.” For example, the girls in my class would give me a good huh-LA! when I would assign them extra homework. Heads whipping up from tables, eyes popping wide open, and a nice passionate huh-LA always gets the point across.
Huh-LA can also be a good thing, like “This is amazing!” Like when we made gingerbread houses at Christmastime with the kids and the preschool viewing parade came around to the back table to find that the boys group had created not a house, but an open-air tropical mini restaurant with candy, frosting and graham crackers. That’s a huh-LA moment in the life of a preschooler. And/or food blogger teacher.
When I saw that picture of those crumbs and that yummy farmer’s market rhubarb and those cutie strawberries today, in my mind I said: huh laaaaaaa. That looks good.
And then I felt a little sad about not being in the Philippines.
This beautiful paleo strawberry rhubarb crisp lived a full life of about 5 minutes before being devoured by me, Bjork, and Bjork’s friend Paul, while watching Zero Dark Thirty. Totally appropriate girly dessert/superintense movie pairing.
Know what? Two men unknowingly devouring a homemade paleo fruit crumble and loving it is mysteriously satisfying. I honestly wasn’t trying to trick anyone but I found myself smugly smiling from the kitchen and intentionally withholding the knowledge that this was “healthy”. Evil me.
So the elephant in the room: this is a paleo recipe. In my head I say it pah-LAY-oh but I think it’s actually PAY-lee-oh. Which ultimately gets to the bottom of what I want to say which is that I’m not a paleo person. Paleo usually means you only eat these things: meats, seafood, vegetables, fruits, and nuts. I’m more of an everything person, but I really love trying new things like being paleo for one dessert.
When my cousin (technically cousin’s wife so therefore cousin in law?) sent me this recipe, I got excited when I saw ingredients like coconut flour, almond meal, arrowroot powder, and coconut oil. It justified a trip across town to the fancy grocery store that has carpet and sent me on a new food adventure.
Bjork was hooked on the cinnamon-honey smell that overtook our house in .3 seconds after taking it out of the oven. This is kind of a drier, almost more moist cake-like fruit crumble, not like your super saucy apple crisps or berry cobbler type things that just completely overtake the whole plate with fruit juice. The top on this gets crispy, and the bottom soaks up the sauciness of the fruit, and the fruit is extra sweet and soft, leaving you with this sticky, yummy, just juicy enough strawberry rhubarb miracle.
I usually skip the obligatory scoop of vanilla ice cream with my desserts, but this time I felt brave and I added it. Ten stars, you guys. It gave THE PERFECT texture and creaminess to this crumble.
Because at the end of the day, I’m still an everythingtarian who loves her Haagen-Dazs ice cream.
Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp – and it’s paleo.
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 8 1x
Description
This paleo strawberry rhubarb crisp was a total hit with my husband who had no idea it was anything different than the original. Yummy!
Ingredients
For the filling
- 2 cups rhubarb, diced
- 2 cups strawberries, diced
- zest from one orange (or lemon)
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 5 Tablespoons honey
- a pinch of salt
- 1 1/2 Tablespoons arrowroot powder*
For the crumbles
- 1/2 cup chopped pecans
- 3/4 cups almond flour
- 2 Tablespoons coconut flour
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup honey
- 4 Tablespoons coconut oil
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Put the strawberries and rhubarb in a large mixing bowl with the orange zest, lemon juice, honey, salt, and arrowroot powder and mix well.
- Mix the pecans, flours, cinnamon, salt and honey together in a medium mixing bowl. Cut in the coconut oil with your hands or a pastry cutter until the mixture begins to form crumbs.
- Grease an oven proof casserole or skillet and spoon in the fruit filling. Crumble the topping evenly over the top. Bake for 25 minutes, checking occasionally. When the topping is browned and the fruit is bubbling, remove from oven and allow to cool for a few minutes before serving.
Notes
*Arrowroot powder acts like cornstarch. I found some at my regular grocery store (good ol’ Cub Foods) in the spice section.
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 25 mins
- Category: Dessert
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: paleo strawberry rhubarb crisp, strawberry rhubarb crisp, healthy strawberry rhubarb crisp
Are you paleo? Would you ever make something paleo, just because you’re food-curious like me? Speak your food truth, friends.
And on a completely unrelated note, we have a winner for the Tasty Food Photography ebook and food photography prop kit giveaway! Entry #773, Pat S, it’s your lucky day! You have an email waiting for you.
This recipe turned out wonderfully. The combination of strawberries rhubarb, lemon juice and honey was so yummy. I think next time I’d double the crisp topping based on the pan I used. Thanks for sharing!!!
Made this yesterday – wanted to try something healthier. Absolutely inedible. Tried adding whipped cream to it – still awful. NEVER make this recipe!!!
So I just made this for the first time today. Is it suppose to be jiggly or watery after baking it and letting it cool
I don’t believe it should be too watery after baking!
I’ve made this twice now, and while I do think it’s very tasty, IMO it’s not the best way to highlight the flavors of strawberry and rhubarb. The first time I made it, I used the amount of cinnamon called for, and the cinnamon flavor overpowered everything in the dish. The second time I made it, I dropped the cinnamon down to 1/4 tsp, and then it was the flavor of the orange zest that took over. If I were to make this dish again, I would cut out the zest entirely and also possibly the cinnamon, so that the glorious pairing that is strawberry and rhubarb together could really shine.
I love this recipe. It’s my go to for fruity goodness. I have used the crunchy topping on Apple Crisp and to make Cinnamon Pecan muffins.
I also shared your post on my blog post for Pi Day.
great recipe Lindsay, thanks! Drop the Haagen Daz and you’ll have Paleo.
Delicious! The filling was wonderful! I did make some substitutions in the crumbles as I did not have all of the ingredients on hand and it came out great! I used 1 cup gluten free oats, Bob’s Red Mill All Purpose gluten free flour, and “vegetable butter”. Thank you for sharing this recipe!
Glad you enjoyed this crisp, Yvonne!
This was fantastic with the super fresh rhubarb in our CSA box! It was my first time cooking with rhubarb and I was delighted with the flavor and texture. Love the orange zest as it added a lovely twist. Definitely a more time-consuming crisp than others I’ve done in the past but so worth the effort. BTW – how did you prep this in 10 minutes? It took me 35-40 for the prep alone! Thanks for making my first experience with rhubarb such a great one 🙂
Glad you enjoyed this crisp, Staci! For the prep time, we’re not factoring chopping ingredients into this recipe here. 😉
This didn’t turn out for me… the rhubarb wasn’t cooked?
So sorry to hear this, Sarah. 😕 We’re wondering if it just needed a little bit of extra baking time. Let us know how round 2 goes for you!
My family and I really enjoyed this! I swapped Maple Syrup for the honey in the fruit mixture. It was great with vanilla ice cream!
Hi. I have a question. Am I supposed to cook the fruit mixed your first on the stove? I have raw rhubarb.
Hello again. Siri really messed up my last post. So I guess I’ll have to hand type it. Am I supposed to cook the fruit mixture on the stove before merging it with the crumble?
Excellent! I cannot eat dairy or gluten. I debated using this recipe versus one using gluten free oats. I’m so glad I made this. My whole family enjoyed it!
I just wanted to say thanks for posting this recipe for Rhubarb Strawberry Crisp it has brought back many childhood memories from living in Minnesota. I live in South now and it is hard to find Rhubarb! Thanks again….
I was wondering if you can taste the coconut ? I love coconut but my husband does not. If i can sneak it in without him knowing than I am happy.
My wife just made this and it was excellent.Next time will try adding blueberries !
Okay to make this ahead and reheat before serving?
Don’t see why not! 🙂
Okay, after baking it, we gave it a try. The arrowroot starch didn’t thicken it. It was pretty runny. Maybe it will set up more after being in the fridge? Also, should have been baked longer than the instructions said as the rhubarb was still somewhat crunchy. It was done enough but probably should have been cooked longer.
The only issue I had with it is the honey and coconut oil in the toping made it a big glob instead of crumbly because it was too “wet”. I tried spreading it out regardless. it’s in the oven now.
This was good, I doubled only the strawberries and it was delicious. I’ll make this again.
Looks great and I appreciate all the comments on how good it looks but just wondering if anyone could review on how it turned out before I try this recipe.
This turned out lovely. I did use maple syrup instead of honey, in the same quantities and it was the correct sweetness for our tastebuds! I thought husband might not like the soft crumble as it was different, but the nuts were a hit and we both enjoyed it. Will make again.
This is supper simple and really good.
What can I use for substitution of the arrowroot powder/starch/flour in this Rhubarb Crisp desert?
you can use cornstarch if you are not following the paleo philosophy.
Perfect – thanks for a healthy dessert option!
Perfect – thanks for a healthy dessert option.