This Strawberry Rhubarb Pie is a super easy pie recipe. It has a homemade strawberry rhubarb pie filling, and is topped with a brown butter malted milk crumble pie topping. This easy strawberry rhubarb crumble pie is made with an easy par baked pie crust and is great to make ahead. It is the perfect strawberry and rhubarb dessert.
Table of contents
- Strawberry Rhubarb Pie
- Tips for Foolproof Pie Dough
- How to Freeze Pie Dough
- How long does Pie Dough last?
- Why do I need to Par Bake my Pie Crust?
- Crumble Topping for Pie
- Pre Cooked Pie Filling
- Strawberry Rhubarb Pie Filling
- How to make Strawberry Rhubarb Pie
- Why tent a crumble pie with foil?
- Tips for making Pie ahead of time
- FAQ for Strawberry Rhubarb Pie
- For more related recipes, check out:
- Recipe For Strawberry Rhubarb Pie
Strawberry Rhubarb Pie
Hi hi! Just popping in to share the recipe for this easy Strawberry Rhubarb Pie. This Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble Pie is the perfect summer dessert. It has a par baked crust made from a flaky pie dough, then a pre-cooked strawberry rhubarb pie filling. It is then topped off with a thick layer of brown butter malted milk streusel, which is the most amazing crumble pie topping.
I made this pie a few times during testing and it is just so, so good. It is great to make ahead and tastes just as good the next day too. The malted milk powder and brown butter give the streusel an incredible depth of flavour. I love this one and I really hope you do too!
Tips for Foolproof Pie Dough
There are a few things that will make your life a little easier when you are making a homemade pie crust for this strawberry rhubarb pie.
- Plan ahead. Ideally, pie crust needs overnight to rest. I like to make mine the day before and leave it to hang out in the fridge overnight. If you are in a pinch you can leave it for a minimum of two hours. It needs the time to properly hydrate.
- Keep things cold. If it's a hot day, chop up your butter and pop it back into the fridge again for a wee bit. You want to keep things as cold as possible. This stops the butter from melting, and gives you lovely flaky pie crust. The layers come from the cold butter hitting the hot oven and making steam.
- Chill your pie crust. When you are par-baking a pie crust you want to give it time to chill before you bake it. You can do this in the freezer, however I find par baked pie crusts are best chilled in the fridge before baking if you can.
- Watch your hydration. Hydration in pie dough makes a huge difference to the final outcome. If it is too wet it will be hard to roll out and sticky, and lose shape in the oven. Too dry and it is crumbly and a real pain to roll out. I start with about 120g water in my pie crust and then add more as needed.
- Laminate your dough. This is a tip that my bestie Erin showed me and it's low key life changing. Laminating your pie dough adds layers while making the dough homogenous and easy to work with. The result is flaky dough that rolls out like a dream.
How to Freeze Pie Dough
When I get in the mood to make pie dough, I almost always make an extra batch and freeze it. It doesn't make any extra dishes, and then you have pie dough ready to go in the freezer. To freeze pie dough, shape it into a disc or rectangle after you've done the lamination process. Then, wrap it tightly in plastic wrap. Make sure to label it with the date. Then just pop it into the freezer. To defrost, simply bring it out and defrost overnight in the fridge, or at room temperature until it is soft enough to roll out. I do this all the time. It is particularly useful for a recipe like this strawberry rhubarb pie, which makes enough for two single crust pies. Just freeze the other portion of dough for another time!
How long does Pie Dough last?
Ideally once you have made your pie dough you want to use it within 1-2 days, although I have pushed it out to about 3 before. If you see the pie dough start to go grey then you know it's gone too far. However if you're worried you won't get to your pie dough in time, just pop it into the freezer. It lasts at least 3-6 months frozen provided it is tightly wrapped.
Why do I need to Par Bake my Pie Crust?
This Strawberry Rhubarb Pie has a par baked crust. The purpose of par baking a pie crust is to partially bake the pie crust. This means that when the wet filling goes in, the crust doesn't go soggy. It gives the crust a chance to start the baking process ahead of the filling being added. It's extra insurance to avoid a soggy bottom and means you get a lovely golden brown bottom pie crust.
Crumble Topping for Pie
Crumble pie is one of my favourites. It is super easy to make and there aren't any tricky lattice tops. For this strawberry rhubarb crumble pie I tweaked the crumble recipe from my apple crumble pie. I browned the butter and added in some malted milk powder. The malted milk powder is a totally optional step, but gives an incredible depth of flavour. Brown butter is also an optional step but one I highly recommend. It takes the crumble flavour to the next level. This crumble would be perfect on other desserts too such as an apple or other fruit crumble.
To make the crumble topping you simply whisk together the dry ingredients. I use flour, sugar, some turbinado sugar for crunch, the malted milk powder, and some old fashioned oats for texture. Then the brown butter goes in and the whole thing is mixed up to form the crumble topping. You can easily make this ahead of time and store in the fridge until you are ready for it. You could also make a double of the recipe and freeze it in an airtight container until you need it.
Pre Cooked Pie Filling
Aside from par baking the pie crust, this strawberry rhubarb crumble pie also has a pre cooked filling. For fillings that are wet, such as strawberry and rhubarb, and other berries, pre cooking the filling removes some of the moisture. It also means you know the consistency of the filling before it goes into the oven, so you don't have to worry about how it bakes up or how it will turn out. The whole filling is cooked together and the starch added.
This is also a great way to prepare some of the pie components ahead of time. You can transfer the filling to an airtight container if you are making it well ahead. However if you are in a pinch and need it to cool down quickly, you can spread it onto a sheet pan. This increases the surface area of the filling and helps it to cool down.
Strawberry Rhubarb Pie Filling
Pre cooked strawberry rhubarb pie filling is super easy to make. I borrowed the technique from my friend Erin's book, following her instructions for a cooked berry filling and just adjusting slightly.
- Combine the fruit and some of the sugar in a pan and cook down. The rest of the sugar gets mixed with the starch to help prevent lumps.
- Add the sugar and starch mix to the fruit and then cook a little further to thicken.
- Transfer to a pan or a container and allow to cool. Your pre cooked pie filling is now ready to use!
How to make Strawberry Rhubarb Pie
I've outlined all the bits and bobs for how to make this strawberry rhubarb crumble pie, so here is how to put it all together! I'll add some tips in the next section for how to make components ahead of time. You don't have to do these in the order as written either (except for the assembly part) - this recipe is great to prepare parts of at a time.
- Make your pie dough. I like to do this ahead of time so that it has overnight to chill down.
- Prepare your pre cooked fruit filling, and leave to cool.
- Roll out pie dough and line the pie pan, then crimp and leave to cool.
- Make the brown butter malted milk pie crumble topping.
- Par bake your pie crust and leave to cool slightly.
- Put it all together - add the filling to the crust, then top with the streusel.
- Bake it all off until perfectly golden and bubbly.
- Leave to cool and enjoy!
Why tent a crumble pie with foil?
In the first part of the baking process I get you to cover the pie with foil. The purpose behind this is to allow the pie to get a head start on baking without the topping browning too much. Once you remove the foil to finish baking the pie, if you are worried the topping is browning too much, just pop the foil back on until the filling is done and the pie is baked.
Tips for making Pie ahead of time
There are a couple of ways that you can break up the workload for this strawberry rhubarb pie. Some of these steps can be done well ahead and the components frozen if you like.
- Make the pie crust ahead of time and freeze. I almost always make extra pie dough for the freezer so I always have some on hand to save me some time.
- Prepare the crumble pie topping ahead of time. This can be done up to a few days ahead of time and stored in the fridge, or well ahead of time and frozen. The crumble topping would go well on a fruit crumble, muffins, or as a streusel for something like these buns too.
- Make the pre cooked strawberry rhubarb pie filling ahead of time. It needs time to cool, but you can make it the day before and store in the fridge until you are ready.
- Par bake the pie crust ahead of time. You can par bake it the day before if you like and store it in an airtight container or lightly covered at room temperature overnight.
- Bake the pie ahead of time. The pie needs a few hours to cool anyway so that it is an adequate texture for slicing. You can bake it early morning and leave to cool throughout the day so it is ready to serve whenever you need.
FAQ for Strawberry Rhubarb Pie
I haven't tried it with this exact recipe but it should be just fine! Just cook the fruit as directed. It may need a few more minutes to come to the boil but it will get there.
Yes, it should work just fine. You could throw in some other berries if you wanted! Alternatively use the crust and crumble and switch out the fillings!
You can use ovaltine or horlicks I think is similar to what I use, although it is potentially a bit sweeter. I haven't tried either but have heard they work. You can also just leave it out!
The filling will be bubbling up through the streusel.
Dried beans or rice! Just make sure to label them as once you have used them for baking as they won't be good for making dinner any more. You can re-use over and over though.
Also called sugar in the raw. Demerara sugar would also work - you want the chunky brown stuff that you stir into coffee. It's so crunchy and delicious and I sneak it into all sorts of stuff.
Never. Haha. It will settle down as the pie bakes! It just looks like a lot before it goes in the oven.
You can see a full list of all the tools I use here
When you brown butter, you cook off some of the moisture, so end up with less butter than when you started due to this. The recipe accounts for this moisture loss - so you will start with 200g butter, then use 150g brown butter in the recipe.
For more related recipes, check out:
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Answers to your baking questions
Over the years, many of you have asked me questions about:
- baking in grams
- adjusting oven temperatures
- what kind of salt to use
- and many more!
I've curated and answered them all for your easy reference in this frequently asked questions post!
Recipe For Strawberry Rhubarb Pie
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Strawberry Rhubarb Pie
- Prep Time: 2 hours
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Total Time: 3 hours
- Yield: One 9" pie 1x
- Category: Pie
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
This Strawberry Rhubarb Pie is a super easy pie recipe. It has a homemade strawberry rhubarb pie filling, and is topped with a brown butter malted milk crumble pie topping. This easy strawberry rhubarb crumble pie has a homemade pie crust and is great to make ahead. It is the perfect strawberry and rhubarb dessert.
Ingredients
Pie Dough (makes enough for two single crusts)
- 375g all-purpose flour
- Pinch of Salt
- 2 tsp (8g) sugar
- 225g cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes
- 240g cold water
- 1 cup ice
- 60g Apple cider vinegar
- Egg wash - 1 egg whisked with 1 Tbsp water
Strawberry Rhubarb Pie Filling
- 450g strawberries
- 450g rhubarb
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 250g sugar
- 50g cornstarch
Brown Butter Malted Milk Streusel
- 200g unsalted butter, cold from the fridge is fine
- 100g almond meal
- 100g all-purpose flour
- 80g old fashioned or rolled oats
- 25g malted milk powder (optional)
- 100g brown sugar
- 50g raw or turbinado sugar
- 3g (¾ tsp) salt
Instructions
PIE DOUGH
- Place flour, sugar and salt into a large bowl. Cut butter into chunks, and add to the flour. Toss lightly to coat.
- Working quickly, using a pastry blender or your fingers, cut the butter into the flour mixture until there are only large pea-sized chunks left. You want a few lumps of butter remaining to keep the pastry nice and tender.
- Combine ice, water and cider vinegar in a bowl. Sprinkle a few tablespoons of the ice water into the flour and butter mixture, and using a stiff spatula or your hands, mix in well. Continue adding water a tablespoon at a time ( I usually start with about 120g liquid, mix that in, then go from there and add additional liquid as needed) until you have a dough that holds together well, but is not too wet.
- Squeeze together with your fingertips to make a homogenous dough. Shape into a rectangle, Rest in the fridge for one hour.
- Roll out the dough on a floured surface into a rectangle, fold it in thirds like a letter, then roll again and repeat the folding. Repeat this process one more time. Divide the dough into two pieces, and shape each into a disc by folding the edges under. Rewrap tightly in plastic, and rest for at least two hours, or preferably overnight, before using.
- Once the dough has rested, unwrap one disc and place on a lightly floured surface. Roll out to ¼” (6mm) in thickness, turning the dough 45˚ often as you are rolling to keep it even. You want the circle to be slightly larger than your pie tin. Transfer to a 9” pie tin, and arrange to ensure that the dough is well settled.
- Trim the dough using scissors or a sharp knife, leaving about one inch excess around the edges. Gently tuck the dough under and onto itself, to give you a neat folded edge. Chill in the fridge for 15-20 minutes, then remove from the fridge and crimp as desired. Dock all over with the tines of a fork, then chill for a further 30 minutes, or freeze for 20 minutes or until solid.
- While the crust is in the fridge, preheat the oven to 425˚f / 220˚c. Cut a piece of parchment slightly larger than the pie dish. Line with the parchment paper and fill with pie weights or dried beans, filling right to the bottom of the crimps.
- Place the pie tin on a baking sheet, and place in the oven. Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until the edges are slightly golden brown. Remove from the oven, remove the parchment paper and beans. Return to the oven and bake for a further 2-3 minutes, until the inside of the crust is set and barely golden.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely.
STRAWBERRY RHUBARB PIE FILLING
- Combine the strawberries, rhubarb, vanilla, salt, and 100g of the sugar in a medium saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the mixture comes to a boil.
- Continue to cook for a further 5 minutes. Combine the remaining 150g sugar and corn starch in a small bowl. Turn the heat to low and add the sugar mixture to the saucepan. Stir well until thickened. Remove from the heat and transfer to an airtight container or sheet pan.
- Press a piece of plastic wrap directly against the surface of the filling. Allow to cool completely, or store in the fridge until ready to use.
CRUMBLE PIE TOPPING
- Place the butter in a medium saucepan. Cook until the butter has melted, and then continue to cook, swirling the pan often, until the butter foams and turns golden brown and nutty - this should take 3-4 minutes.
- Weigh out 150g (see Notes section below) of the brown butter and set aside. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together all the other ingredients. Add the brown butter and mix with a spatula until the mixture forms lumps. Store in an airtight container in the fridge until ready to use.
ASSEMBLY
- Preheat the oven to 400°f / 205°c. Place the cooled par-baked pie crust in the pan on a baking sheet. Transfer the cooled strawberry rhubarb filling to the pie crust and smooth down with a spatula, ensuring that there are no large air bubbles.
- Top the pie with the streusel - there will be quite a lot of it. Spread it so it is evenly spread over the surface of the pie.
- Cover the pie with foil and place in the oven. Bake for 40 minutes with the foil on, then remove the foil and bake for a further 20 minutes until the streusel is golden brown and the filling is bubbling.
- Remove from the oven and leave to cool completely before slicing and serving.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container either at room temperature or in the refrigerator.
Notes
You may notice that there are two quantities of butter in the recipe - the initial quantity of butter, then a second measurement in the method which is the quantity of brown butter. The larger initial quantity is to account for water loss when browning - read more about that in my FAQ.
Please note that if you use the 2x button to double the recipe, this only doubles the ingredients list and not the quantities within the method, so you need to weigh out 300g brown butter to use in your crumble.
Keywords: Strawberry Rhubarb, Strawberry, Rhubarb, Pie, Crumble Pie, Crumb Pie
Comments
I made this and it was delicious! The malted milk in the crumble is bomb!!
★★★★★
So so good!!
★★★★★
My first strawberry rhubarb pie and probably the only recipe I’ll ever use!
★★★★★
This was a real hit with a die-hard rhubarb pie family! The brown butter streusel (I omitted the malted milk powder) elevates it from a standard yummy crumble to something more decadent. I'm convinced now that brown butter really does make everything better. I find the filling a bit sweet, so I'll be adjusting the strawberry/rhubarb ratios next time - wonder if there's any way to keep the texture but add more tartness?
One tip - if you make things ahead, include time to bring the streusel back to room temp. It was like a rock right out of the fridge. Maybe that's because I also swapped out the almond flour for more AP flour & oats, but it all worked out in the end.
This weekend I'm making this again but in mini-form using a muffin pan. I love that this recipe is delicious, and still works after some modifications. This is now my go-to rhubarb pie recipe!
★★★★★
So happy you loved! Yep you should be able to play around with the strawberry to rhubarb ratio! You could try reducing the sugar a touch but make sure you cook it enough so that it is thick! A sneaky way to get around the cold streusel is to spread it out on a sheet pan or something similar with a lid so it is already pre clumped, and then sprinkle that on if that makes sense, rather than having to break up a rock of streusel?
This recipe finally helped me achieve the most perfect/sturdy af pie crust of my dreams! I was so giddy when I rolled it out and was tempted to walk around my neighborhood to show it off. The Crumb topping on this pie is also next level and I was tempted to eat it by the handful! This pie is worth every bit of effort and time it takes. If you love Strawberry and Rhubarb you'll love this pie.
★★★★★
I followed the recipe completely and the result was exactly as promised- a beautiful pie! I was unsure about the amount of streusel but thankfully I used everything as the recipe said and it made it taste so wonderful. Also, I'm left with an extra pie dough to use for next time. Thank you Erin!
★★★★★
Erin’s instagram pie dough tutorials gave me the confidence to attempt to make the dough from scratch. Followed the recipe word for word and it came out perfect! Your clear instructions and videos make it so easy, thank you
★★★★★
This was amazing and I am so thrilled I found rhubarb out of season- going to make for our Thanksgiving in US next week! It’s worth every minute. It really was one of best I’ve ever had. Wondering if we can make any elements ahead of time? Or keep in freezer leading up to Thanksgiving and just reheat?
Hi! You can make the pie crust ahead of time and store in a disc of dough, and also pre cook the filling and make the streusel topping!