Oatmeal Rhubarb Bars The Best Butteriest Ever

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An Amish Recipe Is Always Amazing

I knew these oatmeal rhubarb bars would be fabulous the minute I saw the recipe came from the Amish. When we had our little manufacturing business, I was fortunate to make many trips to Pennsylvania to display our handmade products.

It was there that I became smitten with their culture. The markets were hard work, but we found time to leave the city and drive out to Amish country where we enjoyed family-style meals at long, groaning tables with total strangers.

The memories of those trips are golden for me. Food is a large part of Amish life; they work close to the land, which means they use locally grown and produced ingredients in their cooking.

Amish families often work together and enjoy large family meals together every day. They are extremely hospitable and always ready to share a meal with guests. The Amish are legendary good cooks!

Why You'll Love Oatmeal Rhubarb Bars

Every spring, as faithful as Old Faithful, rhubarb arises from its slumber and starts pushing up stalks topped with leaves the size of an elephant's ears. Please don't eat those leaves, they're poisonous! Only the stalks are edible! Rhubarb is amazing in dozens of desserts, but this one is 5-star!

We have two venerable old rhubarb plants. One is from stock that's over 100 years old. Both produce heavily. Our rhubarb is a green stem variety; the stalks only have a little red, as shown in the picture.

It's every bit as tasty, though! Unlike tomatoes, red is not an indicator of ripeness or flavor! If you are lucky enough to have red rhubarb, your oatmeal rhubarb bars will be not only delicious but beautiful!

Start by chopping rhubarb finely and put it in a heavy saucepan with sugar, cornstarch, and a surprisingly small amount of water.

While the filling cooks, make the crust and topping. If you have a food processor, it is a snap to make!

The oatmeal rhubarb bars have the simplest, most delicious brown sugar oatmeal base. Reserve about one and one-third of a cup of the yummy crumble to sprinkle over the top of the rhubarb before baking the bars.

Press the rest of it into a 13" by 9" pan. Make sure you don't leave any cracks in the surface of the crumb crust that would allow the rhubarb to seep under it.

Stir the rhubarb from time to time as it cooks over medium-high heat for about ten minutes while you make the crust. The filling will become thicker and clearer, and the rhubarb should soften as it cooks.

When you take it off the stove, stir in one teaspoon of vanilla. I've never put vanilla in a rhubarb recipe, and I am amazed at how much flavor it adds!

Let the rhubarb mixture cool for another ten minutes or so and let it thicken. Finally, pour the rhubarb mixture over the crust and sprinkle the reserved crumble on top as evenly as you can.

Bake the bars in a 350-degree oven for about thirty to forty minutes until the top is a beautiful light golden brown. Be sure to let the oatmeal rhubarb bars cool completely before you cut them.

I cut the thirteen-by-nine pan into 24 bars, but my husband decided to top his with whipped cream as a dessert and took two, so if you decide to try it, you might cut the squares a little bigger!!

PRINTABLE RECIPE CARD

Yield: 24 bars

Oatmeal Rhubarb Bars

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This wonderful Amish recipe makes perfect oatmeal rhubarb bars with the butteriest oatmeal crust a tangy sweet rhubarb filling. This recipe is a keeper for sure.

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 40 minutes

Total Time 1 hour

Ingredients

OATMEAL CRUST

• 2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup of butter, room temperature
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1 cup brown sugar, packed

RHUBARB FILLING

• 3 cups chopped rhubarb
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 2 Tbsp cornstarch
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 tsp vanilla

Instructions

1. Put the chopped rhubarb, sugar, cornstarch, and water in a heavy saucepan on medium-high heat. Cook, stirring occasionally while you make the crust.
2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
3. Grease or spray a 13" by 9" pan.
4. Combine the butter, oatmeal, flour, brown sugar, salt, and baking soda in a medium bowl or food processor* and stir or pulse until all the ingredients are evenly moistened with butter.
5. Reserve 1 1/3 cups of the crumbs for the topping and press the rest of the mixture firmly into the pan. Make sure there are no cracks in the crust where the rhubarb mixture could seep through.
6. Continue cooking the rhubarb mixture for about five to ten minutes. The filling will become thicker and clearer, and the rhubarb will soften as it cooks.
7. Take the rhubarb filling off the stove, stir in the vanilla, and let it cool for about ten more minutes, allowing it to thicken even more.
8. Spread the rhubarb mixture evenly over the crust and sprinkle the reserved crumbs evenly over the top of the rhubarb.
9. Bake for 30 to 49 minutes or until the top is a beautiful light golden brown.
10. Allow the bars to cool completely before cutting.
11. Refrigerate any leftover bars or freeze them for up to three months.

Notes

*If you make the crust in a food processor, the oatmeal will become finer in texture than if you make it with a bowl and spoon.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

24

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 205Total Fat: 8gSaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 20mgSodium: 102mgCarbohydrates: 32gFiber: 1gSugar: 20gProtein: 2g

We adore rhubarb in rhubarb bread, rhubarb custard pie, or no-churn rhubarb ice cream. Hungry for more? Type rhubarb in the search bar and keep watching for more rhubarb recipes, including how easy it is to freeze rhubarb for later!

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