Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble Bars

You know when you have these stories in your head from growing up, and then you ask a parent about it and they’re all, “uh, no that was literally one time”? I think that’s my growing up experience with Strawberry Rhubarb pie. I have this distinct memory of my aunt “always making” SRP, but I’m 99% sure it was probably just one time.

To me, strawberry + rhubarb is a quintessentially summer flavor (okay, along with basil, but I digress). I’ve been playing around with rhubarb a lot this year (rhubarb ricotta cake coming at ya next week!) and I am 100% in love. We might even need to make a s + r ice cream topping, what do you think?

These are sweet, tangy, buttery, soft and have a little crunch – oh and just ever so slightly salty to balance the sweet tangy flavor of the strawberries. And I promise, it’s pretty easy to put together!

For this, I used fresh strawberries and rhubarb. You might be able to use frozen strawberries, but I’ve never tried. I’m also not an expert at buying rhubarb but I just look for the most colorful stalks with the least amount of bend. I think of it like celery – if the stalk is soft like an about-to-go-bad celery stalk, I skip it. Is that right? Worked for me so far!

So, you’ll prep the filling, then work on the shortbread-like bottom and then the crumble topping. You layer it all up, bake it, allow it to cool, slice and enjoy. Pretty straightforward! I’ve had the best results storing these in the fridge so the butter in the bars doesn’t soften into mush. (Trust me on that one, k?)