Strawberry Rhubarb Bars
Strawberry rhubarb bars are like a mouthful of spring sunshine! A creamy, custard filling studded with fresh strawberries and rhubarb is surrounded by a buttery, crumbly crust. Strawberry rhubarb bars are perfect for a backyard barbecue!
I'm a little ashamed to admit this, but I only recently tried rhubarb for the first time.
I know! And I call myself a food nerd! For shame. I hope they don't revoke my license!
For some reason, it was just never really on my radar. Maybe because fresh rhubarb is so fleeting. I only ever see it in the produce section for a few weeks out of every year.
Well, once I finally did try it, I was instantly hooked. My first taste was in the form of a thick, juicy slab of strawberry rhubarb pie, with a crumbly, sweet streusel topping, and after that, there was no looking back. Strawberry rhubarb pie is now my absolute, hands-down favorite.
I had originally planned to share my own strawberry rhubarb pie, but when I spotted this recipe it sounded so good, I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to tinker around.
Oooooh, I'm so not sorry! This one's a winner, fo sho.
I started by cutting cold butter into flour, sugar, salt, and lemon zest, to form the crust. Most of that mixture gets pressed into the bottom of an 8x8" square baking dish, and par-baked until just beginning to brown.
While that was going, I gave the rhubarb a rough chop. Isn't it so pretty? I just love the jewelly red stalks against that chartreuse interior. So striking!
I also diced up a few sweet, ripe strawberries.
And mixed up the custard: the original recipe calls for plain Greek yogurt or sour cream, but I didn't have any on hand, so I just used a container of strawberry Chobani, and cut back on the sugar by ¼ cup.
Once the bottom crust was slightly cooled, I topped it with the rhubarb, and the strawberries, and then poured the custard on top.
I sprinkled the remaining crust mixture all over the top, to make a little streuselly layer, and baked the whole glorious concoction to golden perfection!
Don't they look heavenly? They really are...
The crust is so crumbly and buttery, it's sandwiched around this creamy, custardy goodness, and the sweet and tart fruit is just like a mouthful of sunshine!
If you've never had rhubarb before, I can tell you it has kind of a tart and floral flavor. But what I really love most about it is the way it seems to intensify the strawberry flavor. Somehow, when paired with rhubarb, strawberries taste even more strawberry-y. Strawberry-ish? Strawberry-like? The strawberries taste awesome. Strawberries good. Derp....
The bars come together quickly and easily, and they cut so nice and cleanly! They are a lovely springtime dessert and would be perfect to bring to a barbecue or potluck.
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Ingredients
For the Crust & Topping
- 1 ½ cups (187.5 g) all-purpose flour
- ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 ½ teaspoons lemon zest, (zest of half of a lemon)
- ¾ cup (170.25 g) unsalted butter, (1 ½ sticks), cold
For the Filling
- 2 cups (244 g) roughly chopped fresh rhubarb
- 2 cups (288 g) roughly chopped fresh strawberries
- 2 eggs, (large)
- ¾ cup (150 g) granulated sugar
- 6 ounces (170.1 g) strawberry Greek yogurt
- 6 tablespoons (88.72 g) all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ½ tablespoons fresh lemon juice, (juice of half of a lemon)
Instructions
To Make the Crust
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F, line an 8x8" baking dish with parchment, and lightly grease.
- Combine the flour, sugar, salt, and zest in a bowl and cut in the butter until crumbly.
- Press ¾ of the mixture into the prepared dish, and bake for 20 minutes.
To Make the Filling
- Top the cooled crust with rhubarb and strawberries, and pour the egg mixture over.
- Sprinkle the top with the remaining crust mixture, and bake for one hour.
- Cool completely, remove from baking dish, and cut into bars.
First of all these are the best ever ! My 6 kids and husband and mom said it's a step up from my pie! I did a little altering I exempt the yogurt and added extra eggs and 1cup sugar to the recipe instead of 3/4 cp ! Then i doubled in a 13×9 pan so typically this is my recipe for my pie except I never used lemons or a short bread except for lemon bars. But Wow is all I can say !!! Maybe not enough people have viewed these !sucks for them ! They are on the make all the time list thank God I grow the rhubarb ! Thanks for my family to yours God bless! Rena Holmes
Wow that's so great to hear Rena! I'm so happy you're enjoying the recipe!
Allie, I absolutely LOVE this recipe. I am making it for the second time in two weeks for company. It is now my favorite way to make rhubarb. The addition of the lemon makes it delightful. Thanks for sharing it!
Yay! I'm so happy to hear how much you like it! Thank you SO much for taking the time to let me know. 🙂