Baked fruit desserts like strawberry-rhubarb cobbler have a lot going for them. They require only a few ingredients and are fairly easy to make. Even on a busy weeknight, you can whip up a cobbler and, an hour later, push your fork through a flaky crust into a sweet fruit filling. And don’t even get us started on the aroma that fills the house!
Strawberry-rhubarb recipes feel like the kickoff of fresh-fruit season. Many rhubarb recipes often include strawberries because the two ripen around the same time, and that’s wonderful, because the natural sweetness of strawberries balances rhubarb’s tartness. The textures and scents of the fruits meld beautifully, too, adding a complexity that neither strawberries nor rhubarb can achieve on its own.
For the best strawberry-rhubarb cobbler, use strawberries fresh from the garden or farmers market (here’s how to clean strawberries when you get them home). Rhubarb is technically a vegetable and needs a hint of sugar or a sweet partner like strawberries to really shine.
The difference between cobblers, crumbles, crisps and buckles lies in the pastry they each use. Cobbler has the flakiness of a pie crust, only without the finicky reputation. And this recipe is even simpler! We skip the shortening or butter and baking powder often used in a cobbler biscuit. Instead, we use an oil crust. It uses fewer ingredients, and it’s a breeze to make and place over the filling.
Ingredients for Strawberry-Rhubarb Cobbler
- Sugar: The natural sweetness of strawberries, plus some extra sugar, offsets rhubarb’s tartness. For a lower-sugar version, use just 2/3 cup granulated sugar, or less to taste.
- Rhubarb: Use fresh or frozen rhubarb here. When it’s in season, you can quickly slice, bag and freeze the stalks so that you have a year-round supply. To use frozen rhubarb, measure it out while still frozen (it will reduce in volume as it thaws). Let it thaw completely in a colander so that any defrosting ice crystals drain away. After that, don’t manually press out more liquid. Doing so would just be removing vital juices and flavor.
- Strawberries: Fresh strawberries will have the most flavor and least sogginess once baked. Here’s how to store strawberries until baking day. Expect softer, juicier servings if you substitute frozen strawberries, even after you measure, thaw and drain them like the rhubarb.
- Oil: An oil-based crust becomes crispy and flaky without needing shortening. Canola oil has a neutral flavor that you won’t even notice. You can use extra virgin olive oil instead, just like when making olive oil cake, to add moisture and richness.
Directions
Step 1: Mix the fruit
Preheat the oven to 425°F. In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar and flour. Add the rhubarb and strawberries, and toss to coat. Transfer the mixture to a greased 11×7-inch baking dish. Spread it out evenly, and dot it with the butter.
Step 2: Mix the dough
In a clean large bowl, whisk together the flour and salt for the dough. In another bowl or liquid measuring cup, whisk together the oil and water. Add the oil mixture to the flour mixture, stirring with a fork until a sticky dough forms.
Step 3: Roll out the pastry
Sandwich the dough between two pieces of waxed paper. Using a rolling pin or your hands, press it into an 11×7-inch rectangle. Remove the top piece of waxed paper, then invert the dough over the filling in the baking dish. Gently peel off the top waxed paper. Brush the pastry with milk, and sprinkle with sugar.
Step 4: Bake the cobbler
Bake the cobbler for 40 to 50 minutes or until golden brown. If desired, serve with ice cream.
Editor’s Tip: The crust on this cobbler forms a solid surface, so some filling might seep out along its edges as is bakes. You can slice a couple of steam vents into the pastry before baking it to reduce seepage. You can also set a baking sheet on the rack under the baking dish in the oven in case it bubbles over. Let the baked cobbler cool on a wire rack until it stops bubbling, about 10 minutes. The filling will continue to set as it cools.
Recipe Variations
- Go for just rhubarb or just strawberries: If you grow rhubarb, you likely have more than you know what to do with. In that case, make a pure rhubarb cobbler. If you don’t have a rhubarb plant in your backyard, it can be hard to find. In that case, use only strawberries, and cut the sugar amount in half or less.
- Mix up the fruits: Beyond strawberries and rhubarb, other crisp and cobbler recipes use all sorts of seasonal fruit for year-round desserts. For another tart-sweet variation, pair the rhubarb with raspberries or peeled and sliced fresh apples or peaches. Combine other berries, like blueberries or blackberries, with peaches. Try cherries paired with pears.
- Add spices: Throw in a little cinnamon or your favorite sweet spice blend, using just a pinch in the crust and up to a teaspoon in the filling.
- Try a biscuit topping: Instead of a crust that entirely covers the fruit, drop a biscuit-style dough by spoonfuls over the filling, like in this peach cobbler recipe.
How to Store Strawberry-Rhubarb Cobbler
If you won’t be eating it warm from the oven, you need to refrigerate cobbler as soon as it has cooled completely. Cover the baking dish with a lid or foil, and refrigerate the leftovers for four or five days. You can also cover the cobbler tightly, and freeze it for up to three months. To reheat the refrigerated cobbler, just slide the pan into a 350° oven for about 15 minutes. Frozen cobbler should be thawed in the fridge overnight before reheating.
Can you make strawberry-rhubarb cobbler ahead of time?
Freshly baked cobbler has the flakiest, lightest crust. The topping becomes denser and softer the longer it waits in the fridge—and perhaps even soggy as it soaks up the filling. If you need to make strawberry-rhubarb cobbler ahead of time, try this trick: Bake the filling in its baking dish, but make the topping on a separate, parchment-lined baking sheet.
Once both have cooled completely, cover and refrigerate the filling in the baking dish, but leave the top crust on the counter in an airtight container. When it’s time to serve the cobbler, set the crust top on the filling, and reheat the dessert in the oven at 350° for about 15 minutes.
Strawberry-Rhubarb Cobbler Tips
Can you make strawberry-rhubarb cobbler gluten free?
When converting recipes to gluten-free, you need to change the flour—in the crust and the filling. For the top pastry, use your favorite gluten-free flour mix, cup for cup. For the filling, simply mix the fruit without the flour, and enjoy this cobbler with a spoon. Or sub in another thickener option like 1/3 cup rice flour, a tablespoon or two of cornstarch or arrowroot powder, or a couple teaspoons of tapioca flour.
How do you serve strawberry-rhubarb cobbler?
Cobbler tends to taste best when warm, often under a scoop of vanilla ice cream or frozen yogurt. It’s also delicious alongside homemade whipped cream, or simply served on its own. Instead of adding to the dessert’s sweetness, nibble on a slice of smoked Gouda or Camembert cheese between cobbler bites. Scoop out portions of cobbler using a spoon or stiff spatula, capturing both the jammy fruit and the crisp topping in each serving.
