These Sweet Rhubarb Snack Bars are so delicious! Rhubarb is a red and green plant that resembles celery stalks, whose tartness is easily tempered when paired with fruit and sugar. Rhubarb is seasonally available at your local farmer’s markets from May through July. 

I originally found a recipe for rhubarb bars in The Hayday Cookbook by Maggie Stearns & Sallie Y. Williams, a book I picked up years ago from a local antique store. I’ve adapted their recipe to suit my own tastes.

Makes approximately 24 bars

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Butter the bottom and sides of a 9×13 inch baking dish. Set aside.
3. In a medium-sized bowl, sift all dry ingredients (all-purpose flour, white whole wheat flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and spices).  Mix to combine.
4. In a separate large bowl, whisk eggs, safflower oil, brown sugar, and vanilla extract until thoroughly combined.
5. Gently fold all of the dry ingredients into the wet mixture until the entire batter is moistened but not slurpy. Be careful not to overmix the batter, as this will lead to dense, tough, or deflated bars.
6. Gently stir in rhubarb, chopped walnuts, and almonds.
7. Pour the rhubarb batter into the greased 9×13-inch baking dish and bake for 25-30 minutes.  
8. While the bars are baking, prepare the icing.  Whisk confectioners’ sugar, softened butter, vanilla, and milk in a small mixing bowl until fully combined. The icing should be runny. Add small amounts of milk if the icing is too thick until the right drizzling consistency is desired.
9. Test the bars for doneness by placing a toothpick or cake tester into the middle of the bars; when you remove the tester from the bars, there should be no residual batter on the tester.
10. Cool the bars and then drizzle the icing over the bars. Cut into 24 pieces.

Note: You can wrap 6 of these sweet rhubarb snack bars in parchment paper and aluminum foil and freeze them for a future picnic or hike.  They will keep up to 3 months in the freezer.

Recipe compliments of OPL Master Naturalist and Home Chef Yvonne Dwyer

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