Rhubarb Buckle
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In the wonderful world of crumb-topped, baked-fruit desserts, buckles are new to me. And I’m a fan. I love how the sandy, buttery topping melts into the stewed fruit, which all sinks — buckles! — into the base. And I like that I can eat it as I would a brownie, out of hand, making for easy snacking morning, noon and night.
Martha said it best: “This dessert belongs in everyone’s outdoor entertaining file.”
This batter, made with eggs, sour cream and melted butter yields the perfect base — not too cakey, not too crisp, a slightly sweet, perfectly sturdy layer that really allows the rhubarb to shine.
If you are not a fan of rhubarb or if you blink and miss rhubarb season altogether, don’t despair. I suspect blueberries and peaches and every other wonderful stone fruit and berry will make dream-worthy buckles all summer long.
How to Make a Rhubarb Buckle
Gather your ingredients:
First: stir together the crumb topping: brown sugar, flour, melted butter and a pinch of salt.
Next, whisk together your dry ingredients: flour, salt, baking powder, and sugar.
Add sour cream, melted butter, eggs, and vanilla.
Stir to combine.
Fold in the rhubarb.
Transfer batter to a buttered and parchment-lined 9-inch pan.
Top with the crumb topping; then transfer to the oven.
Bake for about 45 minutes or until evenly golden and an inserted cake tester comes out clean.
Let cool briefly before cutting and serving.
Rhubarb Buckle
- Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
- Yield: 16 squares
Description
Notes:
This is an updated post from two older posts. If you are looking for the old recipe that called for a shortbread crust, find it here.
Ingredients
For the crumb topping:
- 1/2 cup (64 g) all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup light-brown sugar
- pinch salt
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
For the buckle:
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1.5 cups (192 g) flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup sugar
- 4 tablespoons melted butter
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 12 oz (3 cups) diced rhubarb
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350ºF with rack in center position. Line a 9-inch square cake pan with parchment paper.
- Make the crumb topping: In a medium bowl, stir together the 1/2 cup flour, brown sugar, pinch salt, and 4 tablespoons melted butter. Transfer to the fridge.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the baking powder, 1.5 cups flour, salt, and sugar. Add the 4 tablespoons melted butter, eggs, sour cream, and vanilla. Stir to combine. Fold in the diced rhubarb.
- Transfer batter to prepared pan. Top with crumb topping. Transfer to the oven until crumb topping is golden and cake is done, about 45 to 55 minutes. Let cool 15 minutes in pan before cutting and serving.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven/Baking
- Cuisine: American
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
73 Comments on “Rhubarb Buckle”
This looks so good! I have such fond memories of my grandma making blueberry buckle – the rhubarb version sounds super yummy too – I will definitely need to give it a try this spring!
Sara — I’m dying to make a blueberry buckle. I think I’ll be switching in various fruits and berries into this buckle all summer long.
These look amazing. I’ve been seeing rhubarb at the stores, think I should go and try this one out before they go away.
Avanika — Definitely try some rhubarb before the season passes! It’s so unique and delicious. I love rhubarb season.
Ali! I made this last night – it is AMAZING. Zach and I love it. I didn’t have a 9×9 pan so I just used my 1/2 sheet jelly roll pan thingy which is 9×13 and a few extra rhubarb stalks. I didn’t think I’d like the edge pieces, but they are my favorite…the chewy, sticky, globs land there and are just delicious with the crisper crust. Now I’m just trying to stay away from the kitchen so I don’t eat the entire sheet. Delish, thank you thank you!
Talley, this makes me so happy! I know, I love those caramelized globs on the edges. I am having the same issue with the kitchen… my mama was in town and left me with too many temptations. Oiy!
Alex, would the swap be 1:1 for the fruit? I just looked at my store for rhubarb and found none. Could I use 13 oz. but use blueberries, or do I need more or less if I’m not using rhubarb? I was looking at your picture of the recipe in Gourmet Magazine and the filling part cuts off on the bottom, so I couldn’t see for certain. I searched their site and only found a recipe from 1991 for Blueberr/Nectarine Buckle. Just wondering if I do everything the same except swap blueberries for the rhubarb? Thanks! Karin
Karin — I can’t say for sure, but I think 13 oz of blueberries is about right. I just put 1 cup of blueberries on my scale and it weighed 5 oz, and I just looked up a bunch of recipes for blueberry cobblers/crisps/crumbles/etc, which are making me think you’ll need about 2.5 cups of blueberries or about 12.5 oz, so 13 oz seems right on. I’m thinking this will make a nice filling for a blueberry buckle: 2.5 cups blueberries, 2 teaspoons flour, zest of one lemon and 4 tablespoons of sugar. And I think this will be about the right amount of blueberry filling for a 9×9-inch pan — I just poured 2.5 cups of blueberries into my 9×9-inch pan and they fit nicely in just about 1 even layer, which is how the rhubarb fit as well — in other words, the rhubarb isn’t totally spilling all over the place the way it would in a crisp or cobbler.
I am dying to make a blueberry buckle. Let me know how yours turns out if you end up making it. I will email you the full photo of the buckle from Gourmet. I was dying to make this recipe, too, but then I found a picture of it online and thought it looked kind of weird — the filling looks really thick and custardy, which might be delicious, but not exactly what I’m looking for, you know? In this link, if you scroll down, you’ll find a photo of that buckle and you’ll see what I mean: https://www.charlestoncitypaper.com/charleston/advertising-supplement/Content?oid=1103728
Good luck with it!
I am a HUGE rhubarb fan — and this buckle looks fantastic. Thanks for the inspiration 🙂
Jessica and SnoWhite — I hope you get around to making this buckle. It is so yummy!
I love that the ingredients (aside from the rhubarb) are already in my kitchen! Thank you so much for the recipe!
Susan — thank you for this tip! I still have a portion of leftover dough and it’s getting to the point where I really need to use it up. I will be making this tonight and will report back. I am so looking forward to having some cinnamon snails!
Thanks for this recipe! Looks delicious. I’ll be making it for an anniversary party tomorrow. 🙂 However, I’ll be mixing in some wild blueberries for a Blubarb Crumble instead.
We ALWAYS use extra pie dough to roll up with cinnamon/sugar too, but my great grandmother always called the little rolls Lamb’s Tails. Either cinnamon snails or lambs tails, they’re GREAT!
Beth — Blubarb! I love it. That sounds fantastic. And Lamb’s Tails is also a fantastic name. I still haven’t gotten around to rolling out that dough, but I’m planning on watching Sherlock tonight, and I’m thinking I might just have to motivate 15 minutes before 9 to have something sweet to munch on during the viewing. Lambs tails it will be!
Rhubarb season is the best season, I made this the other week and it came out delicious!
Moma-Moma — so happy to hear this turned out! I wish rhubarb season were longer!
So my first visit to this site came via Talley’s recent post where she mentioned the Carbonara. I came over here for the recipe and made it that very afternoon for lunch and it was AWESOME the texture, as everyone’s pointing out, is so pleasing! Next day: Picked some cherries and made the buckle. And that was yesterday! And I’m already through the buckle!
awesome awesome awesome recipes. thank you.
Do you think I could do this ahead of time just up to BEFORE baking it and freeze it for a later date?
This was delightful. Made it tonight after having found rhubarb at my local grocer. My 11 yr old son loved it. Thanks so much for posting! This one is a keeper. Also made the cinnamon snails with the extra dough as another reviewer had posted as a suggestion.. My youngest son enjoyed those, as he’s not a fan of rhubarb.
Monica — So happy to hear this! Those cinnamon snails are addictive. Glad your youngest got to partake in some of the fun!
Just made this really yummy stuff! Made it with apples and sprayed a large deep dish pie plate with spray – then used all the dough, and all the crumble topping. It is so freakin delicious! My apples were not juicy enough, but the taste of the crust itself just might mean I will use this one for all my pies! Thanks for this recipe – love it….
Arlene — I can’t believe I haven’t thought to make an apple buckle yet this fall?! Must do something about this. I am SO happy it turned out well for you. Thanks for writing in and thanks for the inspiration!
This looks so tempting!
Mama Poule, I’m so happy to hear this! Rhubarb compote sounds delicious. I’m having friends over for dinner tonight (we’re ordering pizza) but I was thinking about serving some vanilla ice cream (purchased) with rhubarb compote — I have just enough rhubarb on hand to make something like that. I love rhubarb season! And I am so happy to hear you liked the buckle. I need to make that one more time before rhubarb season passes. I still haven’t tried with other fruit, but I’m thinking blueberry might be good. And honestly, I think it was harder to take care of one child than 3. Seriously, when Ella was born, I didn’t do anything for months. I definitely didn’t make any buckles, so I’m impressed 🙂
Hi- long time reader, first time commenter 🙂 I’ve made this recipe several times with rhubarb and it’s perfect. I decided to make it last night with the last of the peaches I had. Although it is as equally delicious, the peaches, once cooked, are much softer than the rhubarb and cutting the bars ( even after chilling in fridge) was really messy. And once they warmed up they were really hard for my co workers to pick up and eat. Again, totally delicious, but the rhubarb definitely holds up better for the bar stye. Thanks!
Thanks so much for writing in with this info, Tamara! You know, someone else recently wrote in (commented on a different post I think, because I can’t find it here) saying she had tried the recipe with blueberries and found that it just wasn’t as good either as when she had used rhubarb. You would think this would be a recipe where the fruit could be easily substituted, but I guess not. Bizarre. Anyway, I’m so glad to hear you like this with rhubarb. If only rhubarb season were longer 🙂 Thanks for writing in, and thanks for reading.
This sounds delish! I have to have gluten free so I am going to make this tomorrow using Bob’s Red Mill cup for cup gluten free flour. I hope it works!
I just made this with half rhubarb and half apples. I added a little cinnamon. Because…. I can never follow a recipe. The crust was great. Thank you!
This looks delicious, can’t wait to try it. I would like to make it GF for my mom, has anyone tried this with GF flour?
I have not, but I love the Thomas Keller Cup for Cup brand or King Arthur gluten-free flour mix.
Looks so yummy. How long can it keeep. Will the bottom crust turn soggy the next day?
Hi! It is best served day of or next day — the rhubarb does start to make things soggy with time.
Oh my gosh- I just made this and can’t stop eating it! I made it in a 9×13 pan since I didn’t want extra dough and crumble. I doubled the fruit (13 oz rhubarb as called for & abt the same of strawberries). It was perfect – Thank you!
So happy to hear this, Julie!!
Thank you so much for getting me the previous rhubarb buckle recipe. You are a real star. I’m one happy lady. I made it for my friend’s birthday 🎉🎉. She was over joyed!! 🥰
Oh yay! I’m so glad … I’m not sure why it was so problematic for people … I need to revisit the recipe.
I made this last month and put it in the freezer. I took it out over the weekend and had it for desert with friends! It was absolutely delicious. I heated it in oven for about 20 minutes and served with whipped fresh cream. It freezes extremely well. I am making it again this week with bluberries and apples and am looking forward it to! Thank you Alexandra for another wonderful recipe.
So happy to hear this, Johanna! Great to know that it freezes well. Whipped fresh cream sounds delicious!! I’m looking forward to trying this with apples soon, too 🙂
Sandy, hi! I would guess 2 cups. But before you make this, can I apologize for how poorly this recipe is written? I’m sorry. I’m in the process of re-writing it so that it fits a 9×13-inch pan and so that you don’t have any leftover topping or bottom crust. This is a recipe I confess I just can’t make any promises about at the moment… I just don’t want you to waste any ingredients.
Did you ever get a chance to re-write this recipe? I have it in the oven now but I’m very sure it’s not going to turn out well-the recipe is very difficult to follow
Ugh, no, I am so sorry. I actually have the dough made and in the fridge, and I have the topping made and in the fridge, and I have rhubarb … I just haven’t been able to find time to give it another go and re-write the recipe accordingly. My plan is to bake it in a 9×13-inch pan. If I give it a go tomorrow, I will report back. So sorry about this. It it terribly confusing as written.
Nevermind I see message above! Doh! 🤣
Glad you saw it! Pam, just a head’s up, I am in the process of revisiting this recipe both the ingredients and how it is written … it is so poorly written. Hope it turns out OK if you make it.
Thanks for sharing! Does it keep long?
I would say 2-3 days at room temperature.
Hi Suzanne! I don’t. And to be honest, I’m still tweaking this recipe … it’s old and poorly written, and I’ve been meaning to get a revised recipe up.
Ali, I made this today with rhubarb and a few strawberries tossed in for good measure. Delicious! I see this being on repeat all summer with different fruit.
However, I realized that was I was actually looking for was that recipe from a few years ago (originally Bon Appetit, maybe?) with the crust on the bottom that you press into the pan, the fruit layer, and the crumble topping. I thought it was called a buckle and thought you posted about it 2x, but I can’t find the posts anywhere. Anyway… thought I’d ask 🙂
Darcy, hi! So great to hear this and sorry for the confusion. I think this is the recipe you are looking for: https://web.archive.org/web/20170430122055/https://alexandracooks.com/2012/04/27/rhubarb-buckle-revisited/
This recipe has been one that has troubled me over the years — some people loved it, some people hated it — and so I finally just re-made it completely differently in a more true buckle format. Someone else emailed me recently asking the same question and looking for that old recipe, so maybe I should add it to the notes. Thanks for writing! Hope you all are well xo
Thanks, Ali. This is one of my all-time favorites so thanks for directing me. I’ll be making both versions, but there was something about the crust on the other version that I loved.
Didn’t you used to have a Rhubarb Buckle Recipe that used more of a shortbread crust? Where did that go?
Hi Amy! Yes. I think this is the one you are looking for: I think this is the recipe you are looking for: https://web.archive.org/web/20170430122055/https://alexandracooks.com/2012/04/27/rhubarb-buckle-revisited/
People had trouble with that one over the years, so I updated the recipe to have more of a traditional buckle feel, but you are the third person to request the old recipe at this point, so I’m going to add a link in the notes.
Sorry for the trouble here!
Have a question: How about using frozen rhubarb??
Does that change any amounts of ingredients
Hi Linda! I think frozen rhubarb would be great … no need to change any amounts of ingredients.
Thanks for sharing! Does it freeze well?
I would imagine!