Strawberry Rhubarb Squares are a delicious and easy dessert recipe that’s perfect for summer!
Sometimes recipes don’t turn out the way I want. And often, that’s a bad thing. Or even a terrible thing (usually depends on how expensive the wasted ingredients are). But sometimes a recipe doesn’t turn out as expected, and it’s a fabulous discovery. Take potato chips for example. You know the story, don’t you?
Seems that some aggravated chef dumped some potato scraps in hot oil and when they came out, they were, well, awesome. Chocolate chip cookies were a mistake too. Legend has it that Ruth Wakefield was going for marble cookies. She assumed the chunks would melt and marbleize in her cookies, but when they stayed intact, chocolate chip cookies were born, and Ms. Wakefield earned a lifetime supply of chocolate chips.
Well my friends, this recipe was kind of a mistake. I thought I was making blondies. Y’know. The classic chewy, non-chocolatey cousin of the brownie? Well that didn’t happen. The top of this is chewy and all crackled, like a blondie. But the bottom? Oh goodness. It’s filled with sticky, gooey, yummy fruit. It’s kinda cakey, but not really.
I think these Strawberry Rhubarb Bars are a treat with an identity crisis. But that’s fine because they are 100% delicious.
- ½ cup chopped strawberries*
- ½ cup chopped rhubarb*
- 2 Tablespoons brown sugar
- 3 Tablespoons flour
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 sticks (1 cup) margarine
- 1 ¾ cups brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 cups flour
- *If using frozen fruit, let it defrost then drain as much of the liquid as possible.
- Preheat oven to 350. Line a 9x13 pan with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a small bowl, combine the chopped strawberries and rhubarb with the brown sugar, flour and cinnamon. Set aside.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat together the margarine and brown sugar until smooth. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating to combine after each addition. Beat in the vanilla extract and baking soda. Beat in the flour until just combined. The texture will be that of a loose dough.
- Spread about half of the dough on the bottom of the prepared 9x13 pan. I found this easiest with slightly damp hands, or a very slightly damp rubber spatula. Spread the strawberry rhubarb mixture over the dough. Place the remaining dough over the fruit mixture. You won’t be able to spread it the same way, but the best way to cover the fruit is to flatten a small amount of dough between your palms and place it over the fruit mixture. (Don’t worry if it doesn’t look so neat, it will spread and become neater as it bakes.)
- Bake the blondies at 350 for 50-55 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with just crumbs clinging to it. The top should be crackled a bit.
- Remove from the oven and set it aside to cool before cutting it up.
If you like these, you’ll love:
Strawberry Chocolate Hand Pies
Strawberry Lemonade Sandwich Cookies
Tools you need for this recipe:
Thanks for coming by folks! I hope you love these as much as I did! -Miriam
These “treats with and identity crisis” look amazing! 🙂
Really good, will definitely make it again. I needed to double the rhubarb and strawberry mixture.
They look yum! Do you think they would be good with only strawberries? (Having lived in Israel all my life, I never met a rhubarb 🙂 )
That should be fine. You might want to reduce the sugar a bit, as strawberries are much sweeter than rhubarb.
OMG!!! Just made these, tasting them while theyre still hot and theyre insanely delicious!
Do u know if i can freeze?
ThAnk you!
Can I use oil instead of the margarine?