Rhubarb Strawberry Crumb Bars
The world needs more rhubarb dishes like these rhubarb crumb bars. It’s fun to say. You can freak people out by telling them the leaves are poisonous. It looks like a funky red celery stalk. It magically transforms when cooked from firm and crispy to melting-ly soft and it has an amazing sweet-tart tang.
Rhubarb Crumb Bars Recipe
Here in Southern California, it seems like we hardly ever see anyone using rhubarb. You’ll find the few tired stalks in the grocery produce section, and the better farmers’ markets will always have a farmer or two with their freshly hacked red canes, but I can’t remember the last time I saw rhubarb on a restaurant dessert list or in a bakery’s selection. Maybe we just aren’t hitting the right places.
Yet despite it’s So Cal scarcity, anytime we make something with rhubarb when we have guests over, they go nuts. All the sudden it becomes Prairie Home Companion time and everyone starts recalling tales of their youth and home town stories. “I haven’t had rhubarb in forever! Reminds me of back when…”
Maybe it is a good thing we don’t get spoiled with regular rhubarb delights. It’s kind of nice having an ingredient remind us of our innocent years. It takes me back to the house of one of Dad’s cutting horse buddies (who was also our Jr. High P.E. teacher) and the evenings spent there where us kids tried to play pool while the adults gabbed about boring adult stuff, and all summer long there was almost always a rhubarb pie perched on the counter top. Regular Norman Rockwell times.
In preparing for this dish, I was determined to avoid the cliche of the rhubarb-strawberry pairing. “Sure they are fantastic together, but it’s… too cliche,” I kept protesting in my head. However one of our photo gigs this past week was to shoot a local strawberry farm for Whole Foods, and the berries were sooooo good. So Cal rocks the strawberry fields, and when they are in season, it is hard to get them out of your head.
My no-strawberry will power lasted until literally a hour before I had time to make the crumb bars to shoot. But that last trip to the market to get eggs gave me just enough of an excuse to deviate over to a nearby farmer’s stand and get a 3-pack of juicy, sweet gorgeous strawberries.
So this bar recipe is now a Strawberry-Rhubarb Crumb Bar recipe. If you have more will power than I, just double the rhubarb and leave out the strawberries. You can always save the pardoned strawberries for Strawberry Mojitos.
These bars are rhubarb rock stars. The base batter bakes into a wonderful soft, moist cake. The next layer is the sweet-tart dynamic duo of the strawberries and rhubarb which have baked down to a tender tang. Then everything is finished off with a brown sugar streusel topping. If you really want to go crazy, whip up a batch of fresh whipped cream and top the bars with a little heaven. Mamma.
-Todd
Step by Step
coat rhubarb & strawberries w/ brown sugar, flour
spread batter in bottom of pan
layer rhubarb, strawberry mix, then add streusel topping then bake
add big dollop of whipped cream to celebrate rhubarb!
Strawberry-Rhubarb Crumb Bars
Ingredients
For the Crumb Topping
- 1/2 cup (115g) unsalted Butter , melted, plus room-temperature butter for pan
- 3/4 cup (160g) packed Brown Sugar
- 1/4 teaspoons (2g) Kosher Salt
- 1 1/4 cups (160g) all-purpose Flour , plus more for pan
For the Bars
- 1/2 lb. (225g) Rhubarb , cut into 1/2" pieces
- 1/2 lb. (225g) fresh Strawberries , hulled and sliced 1/4" thick
- 1 1/2 Tablespoons (15g) Brown Sugar
- 1 1/3 cups (200g) all-purpose Flour , divided
- 3/4 teaspoon (3g) Baking Powder
- 1/2 teaspoon (3g) Kosher Salt
- 3/4 cup (170g) unsalted Butter , room temperature
- 1 1/4 cups (140g) Confectioners' Sugar
- 2 large Eggs , beaten
- 3/4 teaspoon (3ml) pure Vanilla Extract
Whipped Cream Topping (optional)
- 1 cup (240ml) Whipped Cream
- 1 Tablespoons (9 g) Confectioners' Sugar
- 1 teaspoon (5ml) pure Vanilla Extract
- confectioners' sugar for dusting the top
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a 9" square baking pan with parchment paper, leaving a 2" overhang on two sides (use a swipe of butter on edges of pan to help keep parchment flush with pan. Butter and flour parchment and pan, tapping out excess flour.
Make the Crumb Topping
- Whisk together butter, brown sugar, and salt. Add flour and mix together using a fork or your fingers to create large crumbs. Refrigerate until ready to use.
Make Cake
- In a medium bowl, combine rhubarb, strawberries, brown sugar, and 1/3 cup (50g) of flour. In another bowl, sift or whisk together remaining flour, baking powder, and salt, then set aside.
- In a mixer, beat butter and confectioners' sugar until light and fluffy. Slowly add eggs and vanilla extract. Stir in flour mix until just incorporated.
- Spread batter in prepared pan. Top with rhubarb/strawberry mix then spread the crumb topping mixture evenly over the top.
- Bake 50-55 minutes or until golden and a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool in pan, then remove from pan using the overhanging parchment tabs.
- While bars bake, whisk together whipped cream, confectioners' sugar, and vanilla extract to firm peaks. Set aside in refrigerator until ready to serve.
- Slice bars to preferred size, dust with confectioners' sugar and serve or top with whipped cream and serve.
Nutrition Information per Serving
Love rhubarb? Here’s more great rhubarb recipes for you.
This gives mea FANTASTIC idea — Rhubarb Strawberry Empanadas. Wish us luck! YUM! As always your photos are so inspisring!
Gorgeous photo, nicer than Martha’s(!). My husband’s a big rhubarb fan, and my parents grow it, but I’ve never been tempted until seeing these bars. Great tip about the beet!
Rhubarb is on every second dessert menu in Montreal restaurants. We love it up here. I also love that at neighbor lets me raid his patch every spring.
What a lovely recipe—I can’t wait to make it!
Lovely photos! I really enjoy looking at your blog.
I am seeing Rhubarb all over the place lately and it makes me smile! Rhubarb reminds me so much of Spring…and I am sure happy that Spring is finally here! These crumb bars sound fantastic and I can not wait to try them. Stunning photography as always!
Oh man those bars look incredible! I’m definitely saving this recipe! Rhubarb needs to be put to use more often.
love it! I just bought my first rhubarb ever at the store last week and made a crumble with it—so delicious. Can’t wait to try your recipe next!
These bars are calling my name!!
My husband grew up with a bowl of stewed rhubarb sitting on the dinner table every night during rhubarb season. So, to say that we are rhubarb fans and that these bars look fantastic would be an understatement. Lovely!
I live in Los Angeles now, but was raised in Minnesota. I have fond memories of eating rhubarb stalks straight from the ground. Kids loved it that way!
So what is your most reliable source in LA for rhubarb? I’ve only found it once at Whole Foods, and sorry stalks they were! You’d think they’d at least carry it frozen, but no. I’ve had no luck at farmer’s markets, either. Can you recommend any places (in LA) that are carrying it right now? I’m dying to make these crumb bars!
Leah- we’ve seen them often at the Santa Monica’s farmers market on Wednesday. And we’ve been fortunate to find them at Whole Foods and other local markets as well. Maybe they were just sold out when you were there. Try again! good luck!
Really lovely, beautiful. Congrats!
This is a perfect spring/summer recipe! These sound fantastic and your photos are gorgeous as usual!
Hi Todd and Diane: It must be rhubarb and strawberry week! I posted a recipe on strawberry rhubarb crisp over the weekend. It was delicious. These look wonderful and would be fun to bring to work for a Friday afternoon snack with friends. You always make everything look so pretty and tasty. I wish we could grow rhubarb here, but it gets too hot and humid.
This is just beautiful! I couldn’t resist the fresh local berries either – they’re just too good right now!
I was in Vegas over the weekend and had rhubarb for the first time (it really is hard to find in Orange County) when I had dinner at Bouchon. They made a salad with heart of palm, rhubarb and cipollini onions. I can’t wait to try and recreate it. I just have to go to Whole Foods to get the rhubarb.