My garden is literally overrun by my rhubarb plant this year. I was told when I first planted the little guy 4 years ago that each year the winter snow will melt, the plant will look dead and then one day as it gets warmer and drier the plant will quickly turn green and spring back to life, getting bigger and bigger every year. Well that is exactly what it has done. Now it is affectionately called “the beast” in our house.

I cut my first bounty of it today to make these delicious dessert bars and to give away a ton of the reddest stalks to my friends who like to cook/bake too. This recipe required using a bunch of bowls, which I don’t love because it means more cleanup but it was an otherwise simple recipe with simple ingredients.

Since I’m at a 6,000+ foot altitude baking times always vary for me. So I checked the bars after just 40 minutes and that was the right amount of time. They were baked through and still chewy. I’m saving a few for the two of us and bringing the rest over to a friend’s house tonight for her and her husband to enjoy too. Hope they like them! Here are my rhubarb bars:

Rhubarb Crumb Bars

Recipe by: Martha Stewart, Everyday Food, May 2009

Prep Time: 25 minutes
Total Time: 1 1/4 hours, plus cooling
Makes: 16 individual squares
Ingredients

For the Streusel

• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus room-temperature butter for pan
• 1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup all-purpose flour, (spooned and leveled), plus more for pan

For the Cake

• 1/2 pound rhubarb, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1 tablespoon light-brown sugar
• 1 cup all-purpose flour, (spooned and leveled)
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF. Butter an 8-inch square baking pan. Line with parchment paper, leaving a 2-inch overhang on two sides. Butter and flour parchment and pan, tapping out excess flour.

2. Make the streusel: Whisk together butter, brown sugar, and salt. Add flour and mix with a fork until large crumbs form. Refrigerate until ready to use.

3. Make the cake: In a medium bowl, combine rhubarb, brown sugar, and 1/4 cup flour. In another medium bowl, whisk 3/4 cup flour, baking powder, and salt. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat butter and confectioners’ sugar until light and fluffy; beat in eggs, one at a time. With mixer on low, beat in vanilla, then flour mixture. Spread batter in prepared pan. Sprinkle with rhubarb and top with streusel.

4. Bake cake until golden and a toothpick inserted in center comes out with moist crumbs attached, 45 to 50 minutes. Let cool completely in pan. Using paper overhang, lift cake from pan. Cut into 16 bars.