Easy Old Fashioned 5-Ingredient Oatmeal Rhubarb Bars

Why I love these bars

Using only 5 pantry staple ingredients makes this one of my favorite rhubarb desserts because it's so fast and simple. This oatmeal rhubarb bar recipe calls for melted butter so there's no need for a pastry blender. With a baked crust, tart rhubarb filling and a streusel topping made from the remaining crumble mixture, it all bakes together in 3 distinct layers. It's a great recipe that comes together in just minutes.

Old fashioned rhubarb bars are great topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream while still warm from the oven but once cool, they pack well for school lunches or a potluck dessert, too. (Got strawberries AND rhubarb? Try this strawberry rhubarb shortcake and for another healthy lunchbox treat, banana rhubarb muffins are great.)

Ingredients

The great thing about these bars is that they only take 5 to 6 ingredients and you'll have this easy spring dessert baked up in no time! Easy, yummy rhubarb bars are great if you need to bake up dessert for unexpected guests.

• Oatmeal - You can use old-fashioned oats or quick oats for this recipe since they are used as a crisp topping and a shortbread crust style.
• Rhubarb - Chopped fresh rhubarb or frozen pieces will work equally well.
• Butter - Salted or unsalted butter both work fine. I've used salted here but if you use unsalted butter, add a quarter teaspoon of salt to the flour, sugar and oats and stir in.

Substitutions + Variations

There are a few good variations or substitutions you can make to these old-fashioned rhubarb bars if you want or need to.

• Sugar - I call for brown sugar in this recipe for it's yummy, caramel-like flavor but if you don't have any, you can sub demerara sugar, white sugar or coconut sugar. Use an equal amount of whichever sugar you choose.
• Fruit - Make these with half rhubarb and half other fruit. Halved fresh strawberries or sliced apples work great. Add 1 teaspoon of lemon juice to the fruit mixture and toss in a large bowl before spreading over the bottom crust.

Step By Step Instructions

These oatmeal rhubarb bars use the same mixture for the pressed, shortbread-style crust and the crumble topping. A great time saver.

Step 1. Preheat your oven to 350'F and line an 8 inch square pan with parchment paper. In a medium bowl, blend flour, oats, sugar and salt (if you have unsalted butter), together.

Step 2. Pour in the melted butter.

Step 3. Stir until well combined.

Step 4. Press ⅔'s of the oat flour and sugar mixture into the bottom of the pan.

Step 5. Add chopped rhubarb and arrange evenly over the bottom crust. Sprinkle remaining oat crumble over the top of the bars.

Step 6. Place pan into the preheated oven and bake 30 minutes until golden brown.