Old Fashioned Rhubarb Cobbler Recipe

May 6, 2020March 3, 2023

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This Rhubarb Cobbler Recipe is an easy to make recipe with detailed instructions. The cobbler is a great summer dessert to celebrate Rhubarb season.

Old Fashioned Rhubarb Cobbler is delicious eaten plain or with ice cream. With just a few steps and simple ingredients, you can have a homemade dessert everyone will love.

Rhubarb Crumble is super easy to prepare. The first layer consists of diced rhubarb coated in sugar and flour. Then a crumble layer made of flour, sugar and egg is sprinkled over top. Drizzle melted butter and sprinkle nutmeg over the top, and it’s ready to go into the oven. Sound simple? It is!

Table of Contents

It’s rhubarb season. I spend the entire year marking rhubarb recipes in my vintage cookbooks. So when my Dad’s rhubarb plant started to produce once again, I ran right out to harvest some and started baking.

If you are harvesting your own rhubarb, remember to cut off the leaves (they are poisonous) and wash the stalks thoroughly before using.

My first recipe this year is this easy rhubarb cobbler recipe that I pinned in My Shelby County Homemakers Cookbook from 1980. It reminds me a lot of my Grandma’s Apple Crisp and Cherry Crisp, both are crisp recipes without oatmeal. We also have a Cherry Rhubarb Crisp that features Maraschino cherries and a Blackberry Cobbler!

What does rhubarb taste like?

If you’ve never tried rhubarb before, you might be in for a surprise. Rhubarb is very tart in flavor. If you took a big bite of raw rhubarb, you’d most likely make the same face as when you bite into a lemon. Pucker up!

That’s why rhubarb is mainly used in dessert recipes with quite a bit of sugar.

When making this rhubarb crisp recipe, you are in charge of the amount of tart and/ or sweet flavor.

If you like a subtle amount of tartness, add 3/4 cup of sugar to the bottom layer (with the rhubarb). On the other hand, if you like a sweet rhubarb dessert that hides the tartness, add up to 1 1/4 cups of sugar to the rhubarb layer.

My Dad likes it sweet, so I go big with the sugar.He says Grandma always made her old fashioned rhubarb cobbler nice and sweet. And Grandma knows best!

Rhubarb Cobbler Ingredients

Rhubarb, washed and diced
All Purpose Flour
White Sugar
Egg
Margarine (or butter)
Nutmeg (or ground cinnamon), optional

How to Make Easy Rhubarb Crisp:

Step By Step Instructions

In a small bowl, whisk together flour and sugar; add diced rhubarb and stir to coat.
Pour the chopped rhubarb in the bottom of a baking dish that has been sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.
Prepare the crumble topping by mixing flour, sugar and a beaten egg. Sprinkle the crumble over the rhubarb layer.
Pour melted margarine over top. Sprinkle with nutmeg.
Bake for 30-45 minutes in a preheated 350 degree oven.
Eat alone or with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

For the full instructions and ingredient amounts for rhubarb crumble without oats, scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of this post.

Recipe FAQs

Rhubarb is very tart in flavor. If you like a really sweet rhubarb dessert (like my Dad), increase the amount of sugar in the bottom layer up to 1 and 1/4 cups. If you like a bit of tartness, then keep it at 3/4 cups.
Our particular variety of rhubarb plant has very green rhubarb stalks. Your crumble may be more red in color if yours is a different variety.They are both tasty.
If you don’t have a 2 quart baking dish, use an 8 x 8 inch or 9 x 9 inch instead.
Substitute butter for margarine if desired in this easy rhubarb cobbler.
If you aren’t a fan or nutmeg, leave it out or replace with ground cinnamon.
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More Easy Rhubarb Dessert Recipes:

We pulled together some of our favorite rhubarb recipes from our site AND from some of our friends in this Rhubarb Round Up post.

Rhubarb Coffee Cake
Rhubarb Crumble
Strawberry Rhubarb Jam with Jello
Rhubarb Quick Bread
Strawberry Rhubarb Pie
Grandma’s Rhubarb Pie
Rhubarb Streusel Dessert
Rhubarb Muffins
Old Fashioned Rhubarb Cake

Print Recipe

Old Fashioned Rhubarb Cobbler

Eaten plain or with ice cream, you can't beat Old Fashioned Rhubarb Cobbler. With few steps and simple ingredients, this recipe is a keeper.

Ingredients

Bottom Layer

3/4 cups sugar go up to 1 1/4 cups sugar if you want more sweetness
2 Tablespoons flour
3 cups rhubarb, diced

Crumble layer

1 cup flour
1 cup sugar
1 egg, beaten
4 Tablespoons melted margarine
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 2 quart baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.
For rhubarb layer: in a small bowl, whisk flour and sugar; add diced rhubarb and stir to coat.
Pour the rhubarb into the prepared baking dish.
For the crumble layer: mix flour, sugar and beaten egg until it resembles small crumbles. Sprinkle over the rhubarb layer.
Drizzle melted margarine over the crumble. Sprinkle with ground nutmeg.
Bake for 30-45 minutes or until golden brown and bubbly.
Serve as is or with ice cream or whipped topping.

Notes

Rhubarb is very tart in flavor. If you like a really sweet rhubarb dessert (like my Dad), increase the amount of sugar in the bottom layer up to 1 and 1/4 cups. If you like a bit of tartness, then keep it at 3/4 cups.
Our particular variety of rhubarb plant has very green stalks. Your crumble may be more red in color if yours is a different variety. They are both tasty.
If you don’t have a 2 quart baking dish, use an 8 x 8 inch or 9 x 9 inch dish instead.
Substitute butter for margarine if desired in this easy rhubarb cobbler.
If you aren’t a fan or nutmeg, leave it out or replace with ground cinnamon.
Find many more rhubarb dessert recipes here!
Please note carb counts, calorie counts and nutritional information varies depending on the products used. The nutritional information below is auto-calculated and should NOT be used for specific dietary needs.

Nutrition

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