Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp Bars

I can tell spring is here and summer is around the corner, because rhubarb has been all over my Instagram feed.  I’ve had bakery desserts with the red celery-like stalk, but I had never made anything with it myself.  Everyone else is doing it, so why not?  The grocery store had a crazy deal on gorgeous juicy strawberries (2 pounds for $3!) last weekend and the rhubarb looked great, so last weekend was a good a time as any to take the plunge!  It was meant to be.  I also took the opportunity to nibble on a piece of raw rhubarb because I’d only ever had it baked in a dessert.  And boy there is a reason why rhubarb isn’t served raw – my mouth puckers just thinking about the bitter tartness!

Admittedly, I bought far too much rhubarb, and ended up doing some experimenting with the extras.  I made a rhubarb puree and then combined it with a lemon bar.  I think I need to tinker with the recipe some more, because Kevin said it tasted like a Fig Newton.  It was not supposed to taste like a Fig Newton.  Also, let it be known that I am fairly certain they used rhubarb puree for the Psychomagnotheric Slime in Ghostbusters II.  It was bright pink jelly, and I of course forgot to take a photo of it.  Fortunately, no psychokinetic events took place during the making of this puree.

But I digress.

Smitten Kitchen’s social media channels have had rhubarb recipes on repeat lately, and the recipe for Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp Bars in particular caught my eye.   You can double the recipe in a 9×13 dish, but the bars come out a little too thick for my liking.  If I double, I just use two 8×8’s.  The recipe was also originally written as a one-bowl recipe, but the OCD in me always kicks in and I use a separate mixing bowl to guarantee the crust/topping is mixed evenly.  Deb’s recipe also calls for lemon juice and corn starch and extra sugar for the filling, but I really don’t think it’s necessary.

I almost never prefer baking with whole wheat flour over all-purpose, but this is an exception.  I’ve made this recipe far too many times playing with the ratios of all-purpose to whole wheat.  But my favorite way to do it is with whole wheat flour.  It’s denser (in a good way) – more oomph to it.

Here is the recipe as adapted from Smitten Kitchen.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup rolled oats
• 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon table salt
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 1 cup small-diced rhubarb (from about 1.5 medium stalks)
• 1 cup small-diced strawberries

DIRECTIONS:

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees. For easy removal and clean-up, line bottom and two sides of 8×8 baking dish with parchment paper.
2. Mix together oats, flour, brown sugar and salt in a large bowl. Pour melted butter over, and stir until clumps form. Set aside 1/2 cup of the crumble mixture. Press the rest of the crumb mixture evenly in the bottom of the pan.
3. Spread the fruit evenly over the crust. Scatter reserved crumbs over fruit and bake bars for 35 to 40 minutes (firmer fruits will take longer), until the fruit is bubbly and the crisp portion is golden.
4. Let cool in dish. Cut into squares before serving with (obviously) a scoop or two of vanilla ice cream. Store leftovers in fridge.

They’re best when served fresh and room(ish) temperature if you can wait that long. But leftovers can be stored in the fridge, where the crust will firm up a bit more.