Rhubarb Crumble Tart

a slice of rhubarb shortbread crumble tart with whipped cream

4.04 from 130 votes

My Rhubarb Crumble Tart is a juicy rhubarb tart recipe warmed up with vanilla bean and a buttery oatmeal crumble topping.

Prep Time15

Cook Time35

Total Time50

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings: servings

Calories: 342kcal

Author: Sue Moran

Equipment

9 inch tart pan

Ingredients

filling

2 heaping cups thinly sliced rhubarb Note: if your rhubarb is thick, slice the whole stalk lengthwise and then chop
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
1 Tbsp Instant Clearjel thickener, or substitute cornstarch

crust and crumble topping

1 cup unsalted butter (two sticks) at room temperature
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp vanilla bean paste, you can also use extract, or the seeds of a vanilla bean
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups all purpose flour
3 Tbsp rolled oats, for the crumble topping

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350F. Have a 9 inch tart pan with a removable bottom ready.
Toss the rhubarb with the rest of the filling ingredients in a bowl, mix well, and set aside.
Cream the soft butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Beat in the vanilla paste and salt. Note: it's important that your butter be at room temperature. I like to leave it out overnight when I know I'll be baking.
With the mixer on low, slowly add the flour and mix just until there is no dry flour left. Don't over mix.
Take 2/3 of the dough and pat it into the bottom of your tart pan. I like to scatter the dough in crumbles across the bottom, and then start to pat it down. It helps to flour your fingers, or use the bottom of a metal measuring cup to tamp it down. Take the time to get the dough evenly distributed. Note: you're not looking to go up the sides of the pan with the dough, just to make an even flat layer. Refrigerate for 10 minutes.
Mix the remaining dough with the rolled oats, breaking it apart with your fingers to make coarse crumbles.
Arrange the rhubarb on top of the bottom crust. Top evenly with the crumbled dough. It's fine if some of the rhubarb shows through.
Set the tart pan on a baking sheet, and bake in the preheated oven for about 35 minutes, or until the top is just starting to turn pale golden. I usually lay a sheet of foil loosely over the top for the second half of baking so it doesn't brown too much.
Let the tart cool for 15 minutes on a rack before releasing the bottom from the sides. Finish cooling on the rack.
When cool slice the tart into 8 or 10 slices. Serve as is, or with some lightly sweetened whipped cream.

Notes

You can substitute a good gluten free baking mix for the flour.
You can use part oat flour for flavor and tenderness in the dough.
You can mix in strawberries if you like, or blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, etc.
Use almond extract in place of the vanilla.

Nutrition