Rhubarb Dream Bars are the perfect use for your backyard rhubarb or if you can get some from a neighbor or your local farmers market. The bars are sweet/tart and easy to make. A real rhubarb lover’s dream!
These Rhubarb Dream Bars are easy to make and a great way to use up all that wonderful rhubarb you have growing in your garden! You can freeze rhubarb too so that you can use it at a later date.
I planted even more rhubarb to make more desserts and recipes like Old-Fashioned Rhubarb Pudding Cake, Rhubarb Meringue, Blueberry Rhubarb Jam, Strawberry Rhubarb Jam, No-Churn Rhubarb Ice Cream Recipe, and Rhubarb Strawberry Cobbler, to name a few.
Recipe Ingredients
Crust
- All-purpose flour – Just regular flour; I have not tried to make these gluten-free.
- Sugar – Regular granulated sugar works well here.
- Butter – This needs to be at room temperature. I like to use salted butter for the crust.
Filling
- Large eggs – This is the size I always have on hand.
- Sugar – I use white sugar and prefer it over brown sugar for this recipe.
- All-purpose flour – This works as a thickener for the filling.
- Salt – It brings out the rhubarb flavor.
- Rhubarb – I have used both fresh and frozen rhubarb for this recipe.
How To Make Rhubarb Bars
- Preheat oven to 350F. Line the bottom of an 8×8″ pan with parchment bringing it up the sides so that it will be easy to remove the squares after. Whirl the crust ingredients in a food processor and then press into the prepared pan. Bake for 15 min., crust will still remain very pale in color.
- While the crust is baking, mix together eggs, sugar, flour, and salt in a medium bowl and whisk well. Stir in rhubarb. Pour onto the hot crust and continue to bake for 40-45min.
- Let the bars cool and remove with the parchment paper. Cut into squares. You can dust them with a little powdered sugar if you like before serving.
Variations
You can try making these dream bars with other fruits too. Try any of the following:
- Strawberries
- Blueberries
- Blackberries
- Pineapple
- Cherry
- Plus you can add in ingredients like coconut and nuts too.
These dessert bars are super easy to make and bursting with the taste of fresh rhubarb. Plus they are pretty in pink for a summer treat!!
They are a tried and tested recipe here on Noshing With The Nolands and one of our most popular recipes now.
Luscious creamy filling with the just-right sweet/tart flavor from the rhubarb. You can use frozen rhubarb for this recipe too.
They are also very easy to make and something that a lot of people enjoy as they are not a huge dessert and are very portable for a BBQ, picnic, or any gathering.
Recipe Pro Tips!
Expert Tips
Getting a ruby red rhubarb will give you the prettiest result with a bright pink dream bar.
If the middle hasn’t completely baked but the outside is done then cover the edges with foil and continue to bake.
I have also used frozen rhubarb for this recipe.
Make Ahead & Storage Instructions
These rhubarb dream bars can be stored in an air-tight container and refrigerated, but they are best eaten right away.
I find they get gooey if frozen. So make them as you need them.
DO YOU LOVE RHUBARB AND WANT MORE?
We love rhubarb and want more all the time. That is why we always freeze some for later. Here are some more of our favorite recipes.
Rhubarb Bars Recipe
Ingredients
Crust
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup butter room temperature
Filling
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup flour
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 2 cups diced rhubarb
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Line the bottom of an 8×8″ pan with parchment bringing it up the sides so that it will be easy to remove the squares after. Whirl the crust ingredients in a food processor and then press into the prepared pan. Bake for 15 min., crust will still remain very pale in color.
- While crust is baking mix together eggs, sugar, flour and salt and whisk well. Stir in rhubarb. Pour onto the hot crust and continue to bake for 40-45min.
- Let the bars cool and remove with the parchment paper. Cut into squares.
Video
Nutrition
Recipe adapted from Food.com.
Comments & Reviews
Diane Dubreuil says
The Rhubarb Dream Bars are delicious! Very easy to make. I left them in the oven for the full 45 minutes because I wanted them to have some golden color around the edges. This is something I will make again.
Tara Noland says
So glad you enjoyed them, and thanks for sharing with us!!
Lara says
What type of flour please?
Tara Noland says
All Purpose Flour, I will note that on the recipe.
Marjorie says
Your recipes look so wonderful and would love to receive some of them.
I’m going to make your rhubarb squares.
Sincerely Marjorie.😊
Tara Noland says
Hi Marjorie, you can sign up for our newsletter on the front page so you won’t miss a thing, it is just above our latest recipes.
C says
I came for the recipe and always read reviews before trying a new one, not for deer stories! So this one will never see the light of my kitchen.
Tara Noland says
Now that is funny, if you kept reading there are tons of comments below that, your loss.
Wanda says
Delicious recipe! My new favourite for using rhubarb. Quick and easy yet SO tasty. I, too, had to cook it a bit longer but ovens vary so it’s good to experiment…a good excuse to make them over and over. Thank you so much.
Tara Noland says
So glad you liked them!! Thanks for taking the time to tell me too!!
Anne says
Your rhubarb dream bars are amazing – best recipe! I added strawberries the other evening and they were even better! One guest said ” these have a strange taste – tastes like more!!!”
Tara Noland says
LOL, strawberries do partner with rhubarb so nicely!!
Min says
Simple and easy recipe. Outcome is a luxuriously delicious bar perfect for tea or coffee.
Tara Noland says
So glad you enjoyed it!! Cheers!!
Li says
I was looking for a new rhubarb dessert and stumbled on your delicious recipe. I love how easy and tasty this is! I had almost 2.75 cups of fresh rhubarb to use. I ended up baking it about 20 minutes longer than the recipe indicated, so that the filling was more firm/less gooey, but I will definitely be making this again! Thank you!
Tara Noland says
So glad you liked them, they are a very popular recipe!
Peggy says
I’m always looking for rhubarb recipes and most of them disappoint. But this is a great recipe. The only change I did was to use the food processor (used to make crust) to mix the filling and then put the rhubarb in and pulse – making the rhubarb into small bits. Great flavor profile.
Tricia says
I have tons of rhubarb is there any easy recipe that freeze well because I’m the only one that likes rhubarb in my family
Tara Noland says
Here are some suggestions for you, https://noshingwiththenolands.com/how-to-freeze-rhubarb/, https://noshingwiththenolands.com/strawberry-rhubarb-jam/, https://noshingwiththenolands.com/streusel-topped-rhubarb-muffins/, https://noshingwiththenolands.com/blueberry-rhubarb-jam/, https://noshingwiththenolands.com/no-churn-rhubarb-ice-cream-recipe/, https://noshingwiththenolands.com/old-fashioned-rhubarb-loaf/ and https://noshingwiththenolands.com/rhubarb-strawberry-crisp/.
Beth says
Oh this was delicious. I doubled the recipe and used a 9 x 13 pan. Loved lining the pan with parchment paper. Thank you.
Tara Noland says
Glad you enjoyed an even bigger pan of these dream bars. The lining of the pan with parchment makes life so much easier.
Carmen says
The recipe looked delicious and I was happy I had finally I had finally found what I was looking for. BUT an ad kept popping up, completely covering the recipe. . .so annoying. I wasn’t able to copy it down. I think I’ll stick with cookbooks from now on. Sigh. . ..
Tara Noland says
I am sorry that happened to you and it shouldn’t. You can report the ad in question. You can also print the recipe out. Technology as I am sure you know isn’t always perfect and glitches happen. The unfortunate thing is that you will now miss out on a fabulous recipe. Unfortunately in our world sometimes perseverance is needed.
Nicola says
Absolutely love these, make them all the time with all kinds of fruit! Recently tried figs and it came out delicious. Are the dream bars themselves freezable? Made a big batch and would be good to keep some aside!
Tara Noland says
I am so glad you like them! I have never tried to freeze them, they may come out soggy not sure. Maybe try a few and see.
Marilyn Curtis says
I made the dream rhubarb bars, but they were far from a dream – more like a nightmare. The crust was fine, but the filling was very dry. I could not use a whisk to stir. It was very dry. Was some liquid omitted?
Tara Noland says
I don’t know what to say as everyone raves about this recipe, I can’t imagine them being dry at all. Read the other reviews!
Angie says
This is my second year in a row making these bars. They are fabulous! I bake them until they’re starting to get golden. Use a metal pan. Follow the recipe exactly as written. They are meant to be creamy-ish or gooey or custard-y. That is what makes them so amazing. Everyone who tried these loves them. Let them cool in the pan and when fully cool take them out and slice to eat. The best!!!
Tara Noland says
I am so glad you enjoy these Angie, yes the top is meant to be custardy or gooey and yummy! Great use of rhubarb!
Isabel says
Delicious! I am always on the lookout for rhubarb recipes, and this is a keeper!
I upped the rhubarb to about 21/2 cups and added some cornstarch to compensate. I think next time I will try 3 cups.
Thanks for sharing!
Tara Noland says
So glad you enjoyed it!
Lily says
This recipe looks great. Do you think it would work with brown sugar? I’ve run out of white sugar. If not, I’ll make it another day when I’ve had a chance to go shopping! Thank you.
Tara Noland says
I have not tried brown sugar in the recipe so I am not sure how it would work, sorry.
Marie says
Finally I found the perfect rhubarb recipe! Some recipes can turn out a bit bland, but not this one. With simple ingredients you get the perfect combo of crip crust, sweet almost caramel like filling which goes perfect with the tart rhubarb. I absolutely adore this recipe! I used frozen rhubarb which worked well – I just had to increase the final baking time a bit. Next time I might up the amount of rhubarb a bit as I love the tart sting.
Tara Noland says
So glad you love it!! We have rhubarb coming up like crazy now so I can’t wait to make them again!
Mitzie says
Took these to a luncheon and everyone loved them. One lady said you nailed it with this recipe.
Will be makings them again soon.
Thankyou.
Tara Noland says
So glad they turned out so wonderfully for you. Enjoy your rhubarb.
GLORIA says
I made these fantastic rhubarb dream bars earlier today. My husband and I almost ate the whole pan of bars ourselves before they were cool. The only change I made was I added an extra cup of rhubarb, but I didn’t change anything else. They were plenty sweet for us. Thank you so much for sharing the recipe with the world!