As I said in my previous post, I recently picked about 20 pounds of rhubarb from our garden, and there is still about 20 pounds left. Every year around this time we make about 6 batches of strawberry rhubarb jam. This year, even after the 6 batches, I still had about 10 pounds of picked rhubarb left, which is no problem at all in our house.
Living on the west coast (seems to be more of a southern fruit), I had never heard of rhubarb before I met my husband. Rhubarb cake is a staple dessert in Switzerland in the spring and summer. When I first tried it, I was not sure if I liked it. Rhubarb is very tart and must be combined with some sort of sugar, in my opinion.Anyway, needless to say, the cake grew on me (and my hips), and I fell in love with the fruit stalk.
Funny Fact: According to Wikipedia, Rhubarb is usually considered to be a vegetable; however, in the United States, a New York court decided in 1947 that since it was used in the United States as a fruit, it was to be counted as a fruit for the purposes of regulations and duties. A side effect was a reduction on imported rhubarb tariffs, as tariffs were higher for vegetables than fruits.
I needed to make a portable dessert for a bonfire this weekend, so I decided to make these strawberry rhubarb oat bars. I brought around 50 bars and within a hour all of them were gone, and received rave reviews. They oat addition to the crust gave it a cobbler taste a crunch.
The recipe is from Land o Lakes.
Filling
Crust
Combine 1/2 cup sugar and cornstarch in small bowl. Stir into fruit mixture. Continue cooking, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil (about 1 minute). Continue boiling until thickened (1 minute). Remove from heat. Set aside.
Heat oven to 350°F. Combine all crust ingredients in large bowl. Beat at low speed, scraping bowl often, until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Reserve 1 1/2 cups crumb mixture. Press remaining crumb mixture onto bottom of greased 13×9-inch baking pan. Spread filling over crust. Sprinkle with reserved crumb mixture.
Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until golden brown. Cool completely.
Looks so delicious! Perfect for summer!
Thank you, and your right…a perfect summer bar!