Strawberry Rhubarb Crumb Bars
Strawberry Rhubarb Crumb Bars are the perfect spring dessert, where tender, buttery cake meets sweet strawberries and tart rhubarb.
Every once in awhile, I dare myself to just chuck out all the loose recipes I have stashed away to try “some day”. Because keeping them organized can be a royal pain.
But then…I wouldn’t be able to enjoy and share some pretty wonderful recipes that have caught my eye over the years.
Like these Strawberry Rhubarb Crumb Bars. This recipe is such a great spring treat!
I think strawberries are just the perfect rhubarb partner, and can’t let spring go by without making my mom’s Super Simple Rhubarb Sauce, an Old-Fashioned Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp, and refreshing Rhubarb Mojitos.
Check out ALL my rhubarb recipes here.
And for my Rhubarb 101 over at The Pioneer Woman‘s site, go here!
These bars are full of butter, giving wonderful flavor and moist, tender texture. I love how the sweet strawberries and tart rhubarb play with the buttery crumb.
Our daughters absolutely love these bars. They make a sweet little after-school spring treat near the end of the school year. And I have to admit, they make a great little breakfast!
Like this recipe? Pin it!
Strawberry Rhubarb Crumb Bars
Ingredients
for the streusel:
- 1/2 c. unsalted butter, melted, plus room temperature butter for pan
- 3/4 c. packed light brown sugar
- 1/4 tsp. kosher salt
- 1-1/4 c. all-purpose flour
for the bars:
- 1/2 lb. rhubarb, cut into 1/2'' pieces
- 1/2 lb. strawberries, hulled and sliced 1/4" thick
- 2 T. light brown sugar
- 1-1/2 c. all-purpose flour, divided
- 3/4 tsp. baking powder
- 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
- 3/4 c. unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1-1/2 c. powdered sugar, plus more for dusting finished bars
- 3 large eggs
- 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350° F. Butter a 9'' square baking pan and line with parchment paper, leaving a 2'' overhang on 2 sides. Butter and flour parchment paper and pan, tapping out the excess flour. Set aside.
for the streusel:
Whisk together the butter, brown sugar, and salt. Add flour and cut with a rigid pastry cutter or fork until large crumbs form. Refrigerate until ready to use.
for the bars:
In a medium bowl, combine rhubarb, strawberries, brown sugar, and 1/4 cup of the flour. In another medium bowl, whisk the remaining 1-1/4 cup of flour, baking powder, and salt. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat butter and powdered sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. With mixer on low, beat in vanilla, then flour mixture. Spread batter in prepared pan. Top with rhubarb and strawberry mixture, then top with prepared streusel. If you like to have some of the pretty red of the rhubarb and strawberries show on top (I do!), poke a few pieces up through the streusel.
Bake until golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with just a bit of moist crumbs attached, about 50 to 55 minutes. Let cool completely in pan. Run a knife around the edge of the pan and, using the parchment paper overhang, lift cake from pan. Cut into bars and dust with powdered sugar. Serve as is, or with some freshly whipped and sweetened cream...so lovely!
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 1620Amount Per Serving: Calories: 212
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Hungry for more rhubarb? Check out a couple very special family recipes using rhubarb:
This post was originally published April 2102 and has been a popular reader favorite. Some of the photographs and text were updated June 2017.
Wow, these look so pretty! I absolutely love the crumb topping!
Thank you, Jen!
Oh god these look absolutley amazing!!!!!! My Nan always used to make rubharb crumble so it reminds me of those days. This will be one for the weekend!
Let me know what you think, Harriet!
I went to the supermarket today and there was no rubharb! Do you think these would work with apples or pears instead?
Good thing you didn’t throw out the recipe! Your crumb bars look great. I have never baked with rhubarb but am determined to do so soon. Anything with a streusel topping is very appealing to me and I’d love to enjoy a square with coffee!
Excellent with coffee!! :)
Have you ever tried scanning the loose recipes and saving to a “cookbook” on your computer. It’s not real pretty, but better than a pile of clippings on your desk. I usually save them with the first word as the section of cookbook you want it to go under: such as: PORK, COOKIE, etc then adding the name of the recipe. It helps keep them sorted.
I like that idea. I might have to hire my daughters for some PT summer help, though!! :)
These look fantastic. I never thought to put rhubarb in my crumb bars before. I love crumb bars, so I’ll be trying these out soon!
Thank you, hope you like them, too!
This is gorgeous girl!!! I love to see your blog exploding… I am seeing your stuff everywhere! It is AWESOME that you are getting the recognition you deserve… your talent is unequaled! :)
Hello my dear friend, thank you so much!
These bars look fantastic and beautiful, too. I am totally adding them to my “must try list”. :)
Brenda, these are absolutely beautiful. I’ve never been a big rhubarb fan, but with strawberries I know I could do it, and I haven’t gone near rhubarb in years. It’s time to begin anew! I can’t get over how gorgeous these are and I know they taste just as good! Evernoted!! (My mom will love me if I surprise her with these next weekend!)
Rhubarb and strawberries are a delicious – and very pretty – combo. You can do it…you can do it…you can do it!
I love adding rhubarb to bars like this! Yum!
If those bars taste half as good as they look……oh man I can’t wait to make this recipe. It is 7:29 am and seeing this post woke me up more than my coffee! Thanks!
Thank YOU!! :)
Strawberries and rhubarb are such a great combination and I can’t stop thinking about that crumb topping!
oh these look great, I just love the colors and that YUMMY crumb topping!
I’ve never had rhubarb before, but these bars look absolutely amazing. The cake part looks so buttery and moist. The strawberries and rhubarb contast so perfectly against that yellow cake layer. It looks like spring :)
If you like tart, rhubarb is it! Sweet strawberries are the perfect partner.
What gorgeous looking crumb bars. I also have a huge list of recipes that I hope try out some day which are all lined up in an excel sheet, but it’s slowly being transferred to Pinterest – makes life so much easier!
Thank you, Chung-Ah! I like your idea of using Pinterest!
I love crumb bars, Brenda, anything that has streusel topping just calls my name. These look fabulous!
where did u find the rhubarb??? lovely post!
Hi Amanda! I broke down and bought some…have never bought rhubarb before! Over the past week, though, my plant has really stretched out, with a few stalks over 6″ long already. If I think we’ll bump into each other this spring, I could surely bring you some. I bet you preserve it?!
Oh my gosh, if you had extra I would love some! I love to preserve it – I have a rhubarb salsa and a rhubarb strawberry mint jam that i make that i would definitely swap with you!
I love, love, love rhubarb! Oftentimes I think strawberries just take away from the rhubarb (again, I love rhubarb) but these bars look positively scrumptious.
These bars can be made sans strawberries, too. Just double the rhubarb!
I’m SUCH a sucker for rhubarb! I can’t wait to get my hands on some this season! These look absolutely delicious. :)
Hi Laurie! It took me many years to appreciate rhubarb. I always thought Mom (I know she’ll be reading this comment…) was crazy when I was kid, for her love of it. Now I find myself checking on the rhubarb plant, waiting for it to be ready to use! Do you have a plant? If not, if our paths cross this spring, I’d love to give you some!
I love everything about this cake – – the sponge like base, the burst of colour and then the sweet tender crumbs… Im having sweet fantasies just thinking about it ;) delicious!!
Thank you! :)
I just made a similar bar. We have four rhubarb plants so I am always trying new rhubarb recipes!
Wow, that’s ALOT of rhubarb! :)