It’s the time of year when neighbors are “supplying” other neighbors with rhubarb, whether they want some or not.
I was the recipient of such a gift about five years ago when a neighbor asked me sweetly if I’d like some rhubarb plants. I took the two plants in hand, not realizing that they’d become mammoth-sized beasts in my herb garden. This year they grew even larger because we’ve had an exceedingly wet spring in Montana.
Looking for a dessert this weekend, I decided to harvest my rhubarb and give my sweet thyme some sunshine. I combined a few recipes to make for something, well, delicious. I hope you try it out for yourself. Just one note, you can substitute any sugar for the beet sugar. My body isn’t fond of cane sugar, so I tried out beet sugar with this recipe. Turns out my body doesn’t like it that much either, so I’m planning to substitute Swerve (an all natural sugar alternative) the next time I make this. I have links for all the products I’ve used in this recipe.
Filling Ingredients:
3/4 cup beet sugar
2 Tablespoons cornstarch
4 cups rhubarb
2 tablespoons water
Crumble Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups gluten free flour mix (use your favorite, or my version below)
Gluten Free Flour Mix Recipe:
(4 cups brown rice flour, 1 1/3 cups potato starch, 2/3 cup tapioca flour)
1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup quinoa flakes
3/4 cup beet sugar or brown sugar or sugar substitute
3/4 cup vegan shortening
Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8 by 8-inch or 11 by 7-inch baking dish.
2. For the filling, mix sugar and cornstarch together in a saucepan. Stir in rhubarb and water. Bring to a boil. Cook and stir for one minute. Transfer to the baking dish.
3. Combine the flour mix, xanthan gum, quinoa flakes, cinnamon, and sugar.
4. Melt the shortening and drizzle into the flour mixture, stirring gently to combine until the consistency of a course granola. Spread the crumble topping evenly over the rhubarb.
5. Bake in the center of the oven for 35 minutes, or until the fruit is bubbling up around the sides and the top is golden. Let rest for about 10 minutes (or as long as you can wait) before serving with some Coconut Bliss vegan ice cream.
