Photos by L.G. Patterson
My friend Terri, who works in the kitchen with me, and I have come to a realization: we’re bar girls.
Now, slow down. I mean, we do LIKE a bar and have been known to frequent a location where libations are present, but we’re talking about dessert bars. Bars are perfect, more than cake or pie, probably even more than cookies. You can cut them small, like we do for catering, or large, for care packages for my boys. There may not be time for five sheets of cookies or the patience to stack and frost a beautiful cake. But a 9×13 pan full of brownies, lemon bars, peanut butter blondies or a lovely fruity crumble bar with extra crumble? There’s always time to get that in the oven!
Right now, we’re really obsessed with all things rhubarb, and these bars hit all the right notes: tart with strawberry sweetness. Did I mention a pile of extra crumble? We can make these in the spring with fresh fruit and when we’re really hungry for them in the winter, there is always frozen rhubarb to get us through. I think you’ll find them perfect in these lovely spring weeks. Cut a big one and share some with friends. Become a bar person.
Strawberry Rhubarb Bars
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup milk
Strawberry Rhubarb Filling Ingredients
- 2 and 1/2 cups chopped strawberries
- 1 and 1/2 cups sliced rhubarb (half-inch pieces) If you can't find fresh, use frozen. They will cook better if you use both the strawberries and rhubarb either fresh or frozen.
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. To make cutting easier, I line the bottom and sides of a 9×13 pan with parchment paper, leaving an overhang on the sides to lift the finished bars out.
- Crumble mixture for the crust and topping: Whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt together in a large bowl. Add the cubed butter and using a pastry cutter, two forks or a food processor, cut in the butter until all the flour is coated and resembles pea-sized crumbles. I prefer to put it all in the food processor; it’s much quicker.
- Whisk the egg, milk and vanilla together in a small bowl. Pour over the flour/ butter mixture and gently mix together.
- You will have about six cups of the crust/crumble mixture. Set two cups aside. Pour the remaining into the prepared pan and flatten down with your hands or a flat spatula to form an even crust. It will be a little crumbly — that’s okay. Set aside.
- Strawberry rhubarb filling: Gently mix all of the filling ingredients together. Spread over the crust. Sprinkle the remaining crumble mixture all over the filling. Sprinkle the oats on top. With the back of a large spoon or flat spatula, lightly press the topping down so it’s snug on the strawberry rhubarb layer.
- Bake for about 42-50 minutes or until the top is lightly browned and a toothpick comes out *mostly* clean (with a few jammy strawberry/rhubarb specks). Mine take about 45 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow the bars to cool completely on a wire rack.
