Delicious Vegan Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble: A Sweet & Tart Gluten-Free Delight

Discover the ultimate Vegan Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble, featuring a wholesome oat and almond butter topping sweetened with maple syrup. Perfect for dessert with vegan ice cream or a healthy breakfast!

There’s a special place in my heart for rhubarb. Growing up, my mother, carrying on a cherished tradition from my grandmother, crafted the most incredible rhubarb pie. It wasn’t just any pie; it was a masterful blend of sweet and tart, achieved by her clever reduction of sugar to half the original recipe, all encased in a perfectly light and buttery crust. I still vividly recall the joy of slicing into that warm pie, witnessing the vibrant pink filling gently ooze out, a sweet invitation to be savored with every spoonful.

Fresh rhubarb was a rare find in our local stores, making this dessert a truly cherished seasonal treat, eagerly anticipated whenever the ingredients became available. That nostalgia for homemade goodness is precisely what inspired today’s recipe. When I recently reached out to my mom for her classic pie recipe, she shared that she’s lately been transforming it into a crumble herself. What perfect timing, I thought, as crafting a truly *delicious* vegan crumble is something I wholeheartedly enjoy!

This particular recipe for **Vegan Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble** is a modern, plant-based twist on a classic. It features a wholesome oat and almond butter topping, naturally sweetened with pure maple syrup, beautifully complementing the bright, tangy, and sweet fruit filling. It’s an ideal choice for a comforting dessert, especially when paired with a scoop of creamy vegan vanilla ice cream, or even a surprisingly satisfying and healthy breakfast with a dollop of plant-based yogurt. This crumble is not only incredibly flavorful but also naturally gluten-free and refined sugar-free, making it a wonderful option for various dietary preferences.

Get ready to create a heartwarming dish that brings together the best of spring and summer produce in an easy-to-make, utterly delightful format. This recipe captures the essence of homemade comfort with a nutritious, plant-forward approach.

What You Need to Make the Irresistible Strawberry Rhubarb Filling

If you’re new to the wonderful world of baking with rhubarb, prepare your taste buds for an exceptional experience. Rhubarb, with its distinctively tart, celery-like stalks, is a true seasonal gem. Its vibrant acidity is often a delightful surprise, so intense that very few would enjoy it raw. This is precisely why it pairs so beautifully with the natural sweetness of strawberries. The combination creates a dynamic flavor profile that is both refreshing and deeply satisfying.

The magic of this **vegan strawberry rhubarb crumble** filling lies in its simple yet powerful combination of ingredients, creating a harmonious balance that’s both tangy and sweet. When baked, the rhubarb softens and releases its vibrant juices, which are then beautifully thickened and sweetened to perfection. Here’s a closer look at what you’ll need to create this bright and flavorful base:

• Fresh or Frozen Rhubarb: The star of the show! Whether you use fresh, in-season rhubarb or convenient frozen stalks, ensure it’s chopped into roughly ½-inch pieces for even cooking. Rhubarb’s unique tartness is crucial for balancing the sweetness of the dish and providing that signature tangy kick.
• Fresh or Frozen Strawberries: These juicy berries are the perfect complement to rhubarb, bringing natural sweetness, a lovely aroma, and that classic pink hue. Sliced strawberries, whether fresh from the market or thawed from your freezer stash, integrate seamlessly into the filling, adding a burst of fruity flavor and essential moisture.
• Cornstarch: This essential ingredient acts as a thickening agent, ensuring your fruit filling isn’t watery but instead boasts a luscious, spoonable consistency. It helps to create that satisfyingly thick and gooey texture we all love in a fruit crumble, preventing it from being too runny.
• Coconut Sugar: A healthier alternative to refined white sugar, coconut sugar provides a rich, caramel-like sweetness that enhances the fruit flavors without overpowering them. It’s key to tempering rhubarb’s tartness while keeping the crumble refined-sugar-free and adding a subtle depth of flavor.

These four simple ingredients are all it takes to build the flavorful foundation of your incredible strawberry rhubarb crumble. Their synergy creates a filling that is vibrant, succulent, and utterly delicious.

How to Make the Delicious Vegan Strawberry Rhubarb Filling

Crafting this delightful crumble is surprisingly straightforward, and it comes together beautifully in an 8×8-inch square baking dish or one of similar size. The key is to prepare the fruit filling with care, ensuring all the flavors meld together perfectly before baking. This simple process guarantees a juicy, flavorful base for your crumble.

To begin, preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C). Then, prepare your 8×8-inch baking pan by lining it with parchment paper for easy removal, or simply lightly grease it with a touch of coconut oil to prevent sticking. This small step makes serving and cleanup a breeze.

Now, let’s create the vibrant strawberry rhubarb filling. In a large mixing bowl, combine your sliced rhubarb, sliced strawberries, cornstarch, and coconut sugar. It’s important to use a bowl large enough to allow for thorough mixing. Use your hands to gently toss everything together until the fruit pieces are thoroughly coated in the sugar and cornstarch mixture. This ensures that each piece of fruit is seasoned and that the cornstarch is evenly distributed, leading to a perfectly thickened filling.

Once coated, transfer the strawberry rhubarb mixture to your prepared baking pan. Spread the fruit into an even layer across the bottom of the pan. This promotes uniform baking and ensures every bite of your crumble has a consistent fruit-to-topping ratio. This prepared fruit base is now ready to be crowned with its delectable crumble topping.

What You Need to Make the Wholesome Crumble Topping

The crumble topping is what truly elevates this dish, providing a delightful textural contrast to the soft, juicy fruit filling. Our vegan crumble topping is crafted to be both wholesome and incredibly flavorful, boasting a rich, nutty profile and a satisfying crunch. It’s surprisingly easy to put together and requires just a few key plant-based ingredients that contribute to its irresistible texture and taste.

This topping is not only dairy-free but also gluten-free thanks to the use of specific oats and almond flour, making this a truly inclusive dessert or breakfast option. Each ingredient plays a vital role in creating a topping that bakes up golden, crisp, and slightly chewy.

Here’s what you need to create this perfect crunchy layer for your **vegan strawberry rhubarb crumble**:

• Almond Flour: This finely ground flour provides a tender base for the crumble, contributing a subtle nutty flavor and helping to create that delicate crumbly texture. It’s also naturally gluten-free, making it an excellent choice for this recipe.
• Gluten-Free Old-Fashioned Rolled Oats: Oats are essential for that classic crumble texture and chewiness. Using old-fashioned rolled oats rather than instant oats provides a more substantial and satisfying bite, while ensuring they are certified gluten-free makes this recipe suitable for those with sensitivities.
• Artisana Organics Raw Almond Butter: This is a star ingredient, acting as the primary binder and source of healthy fats for our crumble topping. Its creamy texture and mild flavor integrate beautifully, allowing the fruit and other topping ingredients to shine. Artisana Organics provides a high-quality, minimally processed option.
• Pure Maple Syrup: As our natural sweetener, pure maple syrup adds a wonderful depth of flavor and caramel notes, complementing the fruit without refined sugars. It also helps in achieving that perfect golden-brown crispness when baked.

With these four simple ingredients, you’ll create a crumble topping that is both healthy and utterly delicious, providing the perfect counterpoint to the vibrant fruit filling.

How to Make the Perfect Vegan Crumble Topping

Creating the crumble topping for this **vegan strawberry rhubarb crumble** is just as easy as preparing the fruit filling. In fact, you can often use the same mixing bowl (after transferring the fruit, of course!) to minimize cleanup, making this recipe even more convenient. The goal is a thick, sticky, yet crumbly mixture that will bake into a golden, crisp layer.

To start, add the almond flour, gluten-free rolled oats, Artisana Organics Raw Almond Butter, and pure maple syrup to a bowl. Using a sturdy spatula or spoon, stir all the ingredients together vigorously. Continue mixing until everything is thoroughly combined and a thick, uniform mixture forms. Don’t be surprised by its consistency—the mixture will naturally be quite thick and sticky, which is exactly what we want for a rich and hearty crumble.

Once your crumble dough is ready, use your hands to break it into small, uneven pieces. This creates that wonderfully rustic, textural quality characteristic of a good crumble. Sprinkle these crumbles evenly over the top of the strawberry rhubarb filling in your baking dish. Aim to cover most of the fruit surface, similar to how a pie crust would, but allow a few peeks of the vibrant fruit filling to show through. This ensures a beautiful presentation and allows some of the fruit juices to bubble up and caramelize.

Bake the crumble in your preheated oven for 30-35 minutes, or until the crumb topping is beautifully crisp, golden brown, and the fruit filling is bubbling merrily underneath. The lightly browned topping signals that it’s perfectly baked and ready to be enjoyed. The aroma filling your kitchen will be absolutely irresistible!

Why Artisana Organics Almond Butter Makes a Difference

In this **Vegan Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble** recipe, Artisana Organics Raw Almond Butter plays a pivotal role in creating a rich, perfectly textured, and wholesome topping. I specifically choose this brand for its exceptional quality and the unique characteristics it brings to the crumble.

Artisana Organics Raw Almond Butter is more than just a nut butter; it’s a testament to purity and flavor. Being raw and organic means the almonds are minimally processed, retaining their full spectrum of natural flavors and vital nutrients. This commitment to raw ingredients ensures that you’re getting the most wholesome product, free from unnecessary additives or excessive heat processing that can diminish the nutritional value.

The smooth, creamy texture of this almond butter is ideal for incorporating into the crumble topping. It acts as a fantastic binder, seamlessly bringing together the almond flour and oats, resulting in a cohesive yet delightfully crumbly dough. The mild, slightly sweet, and earthy taste of raw almonds is wonderfully neutral, allowing the bright flavors of the strawberries and rhubarb, as well as the sweetness of the maple syrup, to truly shine without competition.

Furthermore, the healthy fats present in Artisana Organics Raw Almond Butter contribute to a moist and hearty crumble. It eliminates the need for any added oils or vegan butter in the topping, making this a lighter yet equally satisfying option. These healthy fats not only enhance the texture but also contribute to the overall nutritional profile of the crumble, making it a more substantial and fulfilling treat. It’s a key ingredient that delivers on both taste and health benefits, making your **vegan crumble** truly exceptional.

Swaps and Substitutions for Your Vegan Rhubarb Crumble

This **Vegan Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble** recipe is wonderfully adaptable, allowing for various swaps and substitutions to suit your preferences or what you have on hand. Don’t be afraid to get creative and make it your own!

Fruit Options: You can easily use frozen rhubarb and strawberries if fresh produce isn’t in season or readily available. When working with frozen fruit, I recommend letting it thaw partially or completely before mixing with the other filling ingredients. This helps to prevent excess moisture in the final bake and ensures the baking time remains consistent. If you use completely frozen fruit, you might need to extend the baking time slightly to ensure the fruit is tender and bubbling.

Nut Butter Alternatives: If almond butter isn’t available or you have a nut allergy, you can substitute any neutral-flavored nut or seed butter for the crumble topping. Cashew butter works beautifully, offering a similar creamy texture and mild flavor. For a nut-free option, sunflower seed butter (SunButter) is an excellent choice, though be aware it can sometimes react with baking soda/powder to create a greenish hue, which won’t affect taste but might alter appearance slightly.

Adjusting Sweetness: The beauty of homemade crumbles is that you can tailor the sweetness to your liking. Rhubarb can be quite sour, so it’s delightful to offset its tartness with the natural sweetness of strawberries and maple syrup. As a general rule of thumb, if you increase the amount of rhubarb in this recipe, you’ll likely need to also increase the amount of coconut sugar or maple syrup to maintain a balanced flavor profile. If you’re new to rhubarb or prefer a less tart dessert, I encourage you to be a bit more generous with the sweeteners initially. You can always taste the raw fruit mixture (before adding cornstarch) to gauge its tartness and adjust as needed.

Gluten-Free Flour: While almond flour is used for the topping, if you need another gluten-free option or prefer a different flavor, a blend of gluten-free all-purpose flour could work, but the texture might vary slightly. Always use certified gluten-free oats to keep the recipe suitable for those with celiac disease or gluten sensitivity.

Notes on Meal Prep for Your Vegan Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble

This **Vegan Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble** is a fantastic recipe for meal prepping, whether you’re planning for a busy week’s breakfasts or preparing a delicious dessert in advance. Its flavors tend to deepen and meld beautifully overnight, making it almost better the next day!

To store leftovers, allow the crumble to cool completely in its baking dish. Once cooled, transfer any remaining crumble to an airtight container. It will keep well in the refrigerator for up to one week. This makes it an ideal make-ahead option for healthy breakfasts or a quick, wholesome dessert throughout the week.

When you’re ready to enjoy, reheating is simple. I personally love to scoop a serving onto a plate and warm it gently in the microwave for about 30-60 seconds. This brings back some of that freshly baked warmth and makes the topping slightly tender again. For a crispier topping, you can reheat individual servings in a toaster oven or a conventional oven at 300°F (150°C) for about 10-15 minutes, or until warmed through and the topping crisps up again.

Preparing this crumble in advance means you can have a comforting and nutritious dish ready to go, saving you time and effort during busy mornings or when you crave a sweet treat without the fuss of baking from scratch.

How to Serve Your Vegan Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble

The beauty of this **Vegan Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble** lies in its versatility. While it’s tempting to dig in straight from the oven, allowing the pan to cool completely before dishing out individual servings with a spoon will ensure the filling sets properly, making for cleaner portions. However, a warm, gooey scoop is also perfectly acceptable and incredibly comforting!

This crumble is truly perfect for any occasion: a lazy weekend brunch, a quick and wholesome workweek breakfast, or a delightful healthy dessert. You can enjoy it solo, letting the vibrant fruit and crunchy topping speak for themselves, or elevate the experience with various pairings:

• With Vegan Ice Cream: For a classic dessert experience, a scoop of creamy vanilla vegan ice cream melting over the warm crumble is pure bliss. The cold, smooth ice cream contrasts beautifully with the warm, textured crumble.
• With Plant-Based Yogurt: For a breakfast or healthier dessert option, a dollop of unsweetened almond milk yogurt (or any plant-based yogurt you prefer) adds a tangy, creamy counterpoint. It gives a “pie and ice cream for breakfast” kind of feel, but in a lighter, more nutritious way.
• Coconut Whipped Cream: A swirl of homemade or store-bought coconut whipped cream adds a touch of luxurious lightness.
• Fresh Mint or Berries: A garnish of fresh mint leaves or a few extra fresh strawberries can add a pop of color and freshness.
• Toasted Nuts: A sprinkle of toasted slivered almonds or chopped pecans can enhance the nutty notes of the crumble topping.

This breakfast or dessert would also be fantastic for entertaining! It’s really easy to make in advance and reheats wonderfully in the microwave or oven, ensuring a no-mess, impressive offering for guests. Try baking it the day before and reheating just before serving at a cookout, BBQ, or any summer gathering when you’re feeding a crowd. It’s a guaranteed crowd-pleaser that celebrates seasonal flavors in a wholesome, delicious way. Enjoy every sweet, tart, and crunchy bite!

More Delicious Vegan Crumble Recipes to Explore

If you loved this **Vegan Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble**, you’re in for a treat! Crumbles are a fantastic way to enjoy seasonal fruits with a wholesome, crunchy topping, and the vegan possibilities are endless. Here are some more plant-based crumble and crisp recipes that I think you’ll adore. They are perfect for healthy desserts, comforting breakfasts, or delightful snacks.

• Baked Breakfast Apple Crisp

• Easy Vegan Peach Pecan Crisp

• Apple Cherry Tahini Crumble

• Raspberry Oat Crumble Bars

• Cranberry Apple Crumble

I Want to Hear From You!

Your feedback is invaluable and helps me create more delicious recipes! If you make this **Vegan Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble** recipe, please let me know how it turns out. Be sure to leave me a comment, a star rating, and a review below so I can use your feedback to refine my recipes and bring you more delightful creations.

Don’t forget to give me a shout on Instagram and use #floraandvino to show me your beautiful culinary creations. I love seeing how you bring these recipes to life in your own kitchens!

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XO Lauren

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