Upside-down Rhubarb Crisp

Spring rhubarb is in and I was able to grab about 6 stalks from the St. Lawrence market. I had a notion to make rhubarb crisp, but decided to go for a fancier look so I made it upside down. Big Critic took his obligatory one bite and replied “see, I don’t like rhubarb” meaning that I had two pieces for dessert. Little Critic got hers for breakfast and ate it all, so she must have liked it at least a little. I thought it was quite good, but I’m also looking forward to experimenting with other rhubarb recipes through the spring.

• 2 cups oats (Ont)
• half a cinnamon stick or ½ teaspoon of cinnamon
• ¼ cup butter (Ont)
• ¼ cup honey (Ont)
• ¼ cup maple sugar (Ont)
• Four stalks of rhubarb (Ont)

Place the oats and cinnamon into the food processor or Magic bullet to turn into flour. It doesn’t need to be really fine. Mix the oat flour, butter and honey together and place into a pie plate. It’s ok to use your hands for this part, but have everything ready, as you will be a bit sticky. Press the mixture into a thin layer on the bottom and up the sides of the pie plate. Slice the rhubarb into tiny pieces and place on top of the oatmeal crust. Sprinkle the top with maple sugar. Use regular sugar if you don’t have maple sugar. Bake at 375 for one hour. If you don’t want to go to this much trouble, switch the order and don’t turn the oats into flour. Just put the rhubarb in the bottom of the dish with the maple sugar, and combine the other ingredients and place over the top. This will give you a more traditional rhubarb crisp. An enjoyable Ontario treat either way.