Rhubarb Bars

I've always thought of July as rhubarb season. I'm not actually sure if that's correct, but that's usually the time each year when rhubarb starts appearing in my fridge. So, as far as I'm concerned, July equals rhubarb, and rhubarb equals tasty desserts. I still remember the first time I helped my mom bake with rhubarb... Little Jaden thought we were making a strawberry tarte, and then Momma started dumping sour celery into it. While at first I was hesitant-- why chance wasting perfectly good strawberries?-- it ended up being delicious, and since then I've had one more thing to look forward to every July.

This year the task of baking our annual rhubarb dessert fell on me, and the recipe that I chose (you can find the original recipe here) was for some classic Rhubarb Bars. All I did was read the description-- "a shortbread crust and tangy rhubarb custard filling"-- and I was sold. And when I pulled my bars out of the oven, I was even more pleasantly surprised. The sugary filling crystalized on top, making it almost like rhubarb crème brûlée. All I had to do then was top it with a scoop of ice cream, and it became the perfect summer dessert for this hot rhubarb season.

P.S. I looked it up, and it turns out that rhubarb season is actually April-June... So, I think that makes July the season for baking with rhubarb, since ripe fruits are the best for baking with. 😉

Rhubarb Bars

Ingredients:

For the crust:

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1/4 cup powdered sugar
• 3/4 cup butter (cold, cubed)

For the filling:

• 3 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 4 cups rhubarb (diced)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350℉. Grease a 9x13 inch baking pan with cooking spray.
2. In a large bowl, combine flour and powdered sugar. Add in cubed butter, then cut in using a pastry blender or fork until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
3. Pat the crumbs into pan. Bake crust for 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned.
4. While crust is in the oven, mix eggs, sugar, flour, and salt until all ingredients are incorporated. Stir in diced rhubarb.
5. Pour rhubarb mixture over hot crust. Return bars to oven and reduce temperature to 325℉. Bake for 28-32 minutes or until the filling has set and crystalized on top.
6. Cool for 30 minutes on counter, then refrigerate until chilled before cutting into bars. Top with ice cream (if desired) and enjoy!