Strawberry Rhubarb Galettes

When the first berries of the season finally hit the market, it’s time to make Strawberry Rhubarb Galettes. The combination of tart rhubarb and fresh juicy strawberries is the first thing I crave when berry season comes on.

I love these little tarts because they’re rustic and forgiving. They don’t need to be perfect to look and taste amazing. They’re also shaped into individual galettes so everyone gets their own little pie, no messy slicing required.

Homemade pie dough tips

Many, many people are too intimidated to make their own pie dough. This is such a shame, because it’s really not that complicated, and homemade pie dough makes a HUGE difference. These are my best pie dough tips:

Keep everything cold. Especially the butter. Keep your cubed butter and ice water in the refrigerator until ready to use. This helps ensure the butter doesn’t mix into the dough too much.

Leave chunks of butter in the dough. Making pie dough is different from making cookies or cake. You want to leave behind little flecks of cold butter. This is what gives pie crust its flakiness. As the butter chunks melt in the hot oven, they create steam, leaving behind little open pockets.

(Optional) Add a little vodka or vinegar. While this isn’t completely necessary, adding some vodka or vinegar will help the raw dough from becoming discolored if it sits in the fridge for a few days. Some people believe it can also add to the tender, flaky texture of pie dough, but there’s mixed evidence that this is true.

Don’t overmix it. Add just enough cold water until the dough forms a shaggy mass. It may seem a little bit dry at first, but when you finish folding it together with your hands, it will all come together. 

Chill the dough thoroughly. You’ll want to chill the dough before you roll it out. The gluten needs some time to relax before you roll the dough. Plus, you don’t want that butter getting soft!

You’ll also want to chill the tarts after you’ve shaped and filled them, before you put them in the oven. This step is super important! Chilling at this stage will help them hold and keep their shape while baking.

Use an egg wash. Egg wash is simply an egg beaten with a little water or milk. Brushing this onto exposed pie dough before baking gives it that beautiful golden brown color and a more professional look.

Making the strawberry rhubarb galettes

Now that you’ve made a super awesome homemade pie dough, it’s time to make the strawberry rhubarb filling. 

All you need to do is mix all the filling ingredients together and let it sit for a while. Dice the rhubarb into small pieces and slice the strawberries. Then toss the fruit with vanilla bean seeds, sugar, salt, and lemon juice in a large bowl.

Allow this mixture to macerate for at least 20 minutes. This will help soften the fruit, get the juices flowing, and heighten the flavors. Then strain it, but reserve the syrup for later! We’ll be using it to glaze the strawberry rhubarb galettes after baking. Yum!

Galette tips

To assemble the galettes, we’ll roll out our pie dough and cut it into circles. Then we’ll spoon the filling onto each dough circle and fold up the edges. Follow these tips to make the best galettes:

Roll the pie dough out to about ¼ inch thickness. This is a little bit thicker than typical for pie, but since these individual galettes aren’t going to have a pie pan to support them, they benefit from the extra thickness.

Sprinkle a dry mix onto the dough. I always do this when making galettes because it helps prevent the tarts from having a soggy bottom. For these tarts, I used a mixture of flour, plain breadcrumbs, and sugar. Sprinkle this mixture onto the dough rounds before you add the fruit filling.

Don’t overfill the tarts. It’s easy to overestimate how much filling you can fit into each pie. You won’t need more than a couple tablespoons of strawberry rhubarb filling per galette. Start with one tart first and fold the edges up to make sure you have the right amount before filling all the tarts.

Chill thoroughly before baking. It’s worth repeating – place the filled tarts in the refrigerator or freezer for at least twenty minutes before baking. If you don’t, the butter will get soft and the tarts will flop open while baking and become a giant mess. Trust me.

Brush the galettes with strawberry-rhubarb syrup. Remember that gorgeous syrup we reserved after making the filling? Brush some of that onto the tarts right after they come out of the oven. It gives them a gorgeous shine and an extra flavor boost!

Serving the strawberry rhubarb galettes

These tarts are amazing served both warm or cold. I recommend eating them with a dollop of soft homemade whipped cream or a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

I have also enjoyed them for breakfast, cold out of the cooler, on camping trips with a cup of hot black coffee.

Keep the tarts refrigerated in a sealed container. They’re best served within four days.