Herbal Rhubarb Peach Crisp

My pandemic baking game started out strong. Apple cobbler. Pumpkin pie. Lemon pudding cake. Fun, fun times. Until it started to hit me in the hips. And thighs. The baking had to cease. For a while, at least…

This weekend, I was at the grocery store and found (cue angels singing and the planets aligning…) Fresh Rhubarb! In Texas! In August?!? During a pandemic?! We still can’t find dried beans or a can of Lysol, but we can find fresh rhubarb? Okaaay. I won’t look that gift horse in the mouth.

Now… What to do with the stalks of rhubarb? Something herbal, of course. Something gluten free. Semi healthy. Hmm… Herbal rhubarb crisp.

In more than a decade of gluten free baking, I have found crisps to the the easiest and most forgiving of gluten free desserts. Gluten free oatmeal is somewhat easy to find at most large grocery stores. And crisps only call for a bit of flour, so the often times gritty texture of gluten free flour is masked by the other ingredients.

Now… What herbs to use? Rosemary and thyme sound interesting. Earthy. Yet bold enough against rhubarb. And… available fresh in my garden year-round. Alas. I should have bought a bit more rhubarb… The stalks did not measure near as much as I though they would. A quick glance around the kitchen and I spied a bowl of fresh peaches. Peaches are heavenly with rosemary and thyme, so I decided to chop up a peach to up the fruit content of the crisp and off-set some of the tartness of the rhubarb. In looking for the oatmeal, I spied some raw hazelnuts – bought for snacking but too Meh for that. A bit of crushed nuts always, always is good in a crisp topping.

And there you have it… Herbal rhubarb peach crisp with rosemary, thyme and hazelnuts! This was either going to be an epic failure or a memorable recipe. Thankfully, it was the later. Very, very tasty. And “healthy” enough for breakfast tomorrow morning. Recipe to follow.

Rhubarb peach crisp with rosemary, thyme and hazelnuts

Filling:

5 nice size stalks of fresh rhubarb, sliced

1 large fresh peach, skinned and chopped up

1/4 cup cornstarch

1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon each of minced rosemary and thyme leaves

Crisp topping:

1 cup gluten free oats

1/2 cup gluten free flour

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup chopped raw hazelnuts

1 stick butter, melted

 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Lightly butter an 8×8 casserole dish.

Combine all filling ingredients in a large bowl. Evenly spread in casserole.

Combine oats, flour, sugar and hazelnuts in a large bowl. Add melted butter and mix until a crumbs form.

Evenly top the filling with the crisp topping, making sure all of filling is covered. Bake for 35 minutes or until golden brown and bubbly.

Allow to cool slightly before serving.