Rhubarb season is elusive here in New Orleans, but it’s here… I think.
It’s here insofar as the cashier at Whole Foods wants to call rhubarb ‘red celery’ which is fully fine by me because she’s not wrong but not fully correct all at once.
I feel like I’ve indulgently enjoyed more than my fair share of sweet strawberries lately and I’ve been craving the sour bite of rhubarb alone.
These pie bars are a call back to waaaay back in the day Joy the Baker when I made these sweet and charming Blackberry Pie Bars. A very chill 10 YEARS LATER I’ve revisited the proportions, adding a bit of firmness and several handfuls of rhubarb to make these sweet, buttery crisp, and lightly tart squares.
A press-in crust, a creamy sweet filling, a satisfying way to present springs most beautiful dessert vegetable.
Sprinkled with a shower of cinnamon spiced powdered sugar.
Is this your Mother’s Day dessert? Why yes, yes it is.
In past rhubarb news: Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble Pie.
This recipe is simple. We’re making a buttery and sweet cookie press-in crust and reserving some of the crust to crumble as a topping. It’s a classic lazy baker move that pays off in spades, honestly.
For the crust we’ll need flour, sugar, salt and butter. Simple, right? If you want to add extra favor, a bit of fresh grated nutmeg or lemon zest is all very nice.
For the filling we’ll need eggs, sour cream, sugar, vanilla, cornstarch and flour. Enough to keep things creamy and thicken the filling nicely. It’s a simple and sweet filling so a splash of almond extract or a zesty zest of some lemon is a nice addition.
We’ll start by making the crust so it can bake in the oven while we make the filling.
Whisk together the flour, sugar, and a good pinch of salt.
Add the cold butter and start working the butter into the dry ingredients.
I like to use my hands but a stand mixer will keep your hands clean and incorporate the butter really quite well.
I like to get in there and break down the butter into a shaggy crumble.
I make my fair share of pie crust every month and keep the butter chunks pretty pronounced in my crust. We’ll break the butter down a bit more for this press-in crust. If you’re using your finger, you’ll notice that the dry ingredients will start to hold together as they’re coated in fat. That’s a good place to be.
Press a majority of the crust into a parchment lined baking sheet. We’ll save a hearty handful of the crust to crumble across the top of the filling as it bakes.
While the crust bakes to lightly crisp we’ll whip together the filling. Eggs to start.
Sour cream and granulated sugar are incorporated to a thick and glossy mixture.
Vanilla extract will add a depth of flavor and because we have the right to be totally extra, adding either a dash of almond extract or a bit of lemon zest is also a very very good idea.
To the wet ingredients we’ll add flour and cornstarch to thicken the mixture. Whisk until well combined and no lumps remain.
I chose thick matchsticks for these bars so I sliced my rhubarb into three inch long sticks and, because those babies were thick, I sliced each three inch stick in half.
You can absolutely choose your own adventure. Maybe you’d like little crescent moon shapes.
Pour the eggy sweet filling into the slightly cooled crust.
And line up the rhubarb bars across the square pan. Cozy them up. More is more.
Sprinkle generously with the rest of the crust and call it a crumble.
Bake to golden around the edges and firm through the center. The rhubarb will cook to tender and the crumble will crisp up nicely. It’s all meant to be.
Allow the bars to cool to room temperature before slicing.
But once you slice into them, they’re soft and tender, firm in filling, sweet and tart through rhubarb.
They’re a sweet delight. The invitation is yours.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cups sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into cubes
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cups granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- a splash of almond extract or 1 teaspoon of lemon zest (optional)
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- pinch of salt
- 5 stalks of rhubarb or about 4 cups of rhubarb cut into 3 inch sticks
- Top with cinnamon spiced powdered sugar if you'd like
Instructions
- Place a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and line a 9-inch square baking dish with parchment paper and lightly grease the parchment paper. Set the pan aside.
- In a medium bowl stir together flour, sugar, and salt. Add the chilled butter and with your fingers, work the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture forms a crumbly but cohesive dough.
- Reserve a heaping half cup of the dough and press the majority of the dough into the bottom of the prepared pan. Place the crust in the oven and bake for 12 minutes. Remove and allow to cool slightly.
- While the crust is baking mix together the filling. In a medium bowl whisk together eggs, sugar, and sour cream until well combined. Whisk in the vanilla extract and almond or lemon.
- Add the flour, cornstarch, and salt. Whisk until thoroughly combined and no lumps remain.
- Slice the rhubarb into 3 inch sticks. Depending on the thickness of the rhubarb you may have to slice it in half - I did.
- Pour the filling liquid into the par-baked crust. Line the rhubarb up in the pan in rows, three across and three widthwise.
- Sprinkle on the remaining crust mixture. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the center no longer jiggles in waves but feels more set. Remove from the oven and allow to cool to room temperature before slicing. Slice into 9 squares. Maybe shower with cinnamon powdered sugar, maybe don't. Serve at room temp or chilled.
- Squares will last up to five days well wrapped in the refrigerator.
erin
it’s alas winter in new Zealand but i desperately want to make these. what fruit do you think would be a great substitute?
Julie
Delicious – but they took WAY longer to bake than quoted. Be sure the bottom layer is almost fully baked before adding the topping. I baked the cookie layer for 12 minutes and the filling for 30 minutes and they looked done. But once cooled, they were still really gooey – not even close to crisp! I re-baked for about 20 minutes which helped a little. Still delicious. Will make again and bake for much longer.
Amy
I made these with Robin Hood gluten-free flour and they worked great :) Just an FYI.
I’m also revisiting the blackberry bars at the moment – with these proportions, but blackberries as I had a ton in my freezer. Thawed, drained off watery juices, and tossed on top before adding crumbs – they look delightful!
Gemma
My filling came out too runny, overmixed or oven temp off maybe? I did make it with a 2.5 year old so things could have easily gone amiss!!
Elizaveta
So good!! Couldn’t get rhubarb so made them with strawberries instead.
Schlachtplatten
I made these today and they are delicious! I did reduce the amount of sugar in the topping though (just 1/2 cup).I would also slightly use less butter next time though this might be because the butter in Europe is different from American Butter. Thanks for a great recipe!
Michelle
I just made these and they are DELICIOUS, definitely a new fave! I used two thirds rhubarb fresh from my garden and put frozen raspberries on the other third as my partner isn’t fond of red celery!! Will definitely and then again many times trying other fruits.
Aviva
I made these this weekend and they came out AMAZING.
andrea
Hi. I made these yesterday and they were delicious, but very moist all around. They were hard to pick up with out crumbling. I am not sure if I need to cook the base longer, or the whole thing longer. Any thoughts?
Stephanie K.
Made these as dessert for Mother’s Day, and they were so delicious! I used the almond extract variation and loved it! I did under-bake them a bit…They were still slightly wobbly when I took them out. Still tasted good, but next time I will make sure that they firm up… Despite that, they were still a hit with the fam!
LJ
Just made this and waiting for it to cool. Had a rough day and this was my way of self-love. Thanks for posting and sharing, Joy. Xoxo LJ
Jan
I made these yesterday. I think this recipe is my new “go to” bar for spring. I will make one change though, but only as a personal preference, I will just cut the rhubarb in smaller pieces when I make it just for us. If I take it somewhere I will make it according to directions as it is so pretty. :)
Jen
I made these today and they were SO good! I have been hoarding rhubarb whenever I see it in the stores, and this was a great use of some of my stash. :)
Prissy
Looks like a delish use for rhubarb to me. I’ll be looking for some at my MIL’s house because no one there uses the patch of it anymore.
Maybe I missed this before, but what’s that vanilla bottle that looks pourable? I make my own too and the one you have seems like it would be a great tool.
Antonio Wolfgang Bierbauer
Fantastisch und vom Moderator sehr gut platziert
Alison
I do like how you’ve called them “rhubars”. ? Top job!
Ruthie
Marvelous portmanteau you created there. ?
Deb
Yes, I too will have to watch my rhubarb grow a little more. Then, this will be made! I would not have thought of matchsticks. That is why I love you.
Linda Lucky Goodell
Can frozen rhubarb be used….in case I want to make these in the winter?
joythebaker
If they are thawed and well drained I think it’s possible!
Rhianna
Could you vary the fruit as the season progresses?
joythebaker
Absolutely!
joythebaker
Yes indeed!
Jacqueline
Would I be able to double the recipe and bake in a 9×13?
Annie
Can’t wait for my backyard rhubarb to grow a bit more so I can make these!
Also: would love to see more posts about your wardrobe / what you’re wearing. :) Love your style!
Leanne T
These sound absolutely wonderful, I can’t wait to try them! I love, love, love rhubarb!
Shannon Skinner
This is such a dreamy looking recipe, I can’t wait to give it a go!
Shannon | https://shannonmichelle1.blogspot.com
Jill
Omg, I can’t wait to make these!! My house came with a rhubarb patch and I’m always looking for more ways to use this delicious red celery :)
samantha stent
ok..was going to do the strawberry rhubarb crumble pie but looks like I will be souring up the cream I have in fridge and making these.. no shopping trip for strawberries to slow me down as the rhubarbs waiting in fridge for me too :-)