Rhubarb custard bars are a lovely spring treat! With shortbread crust and rich custard they’re a great way to use up rhubarb from the garden.
With such a short growing season, rhubarb is a special spring treat. With a sturdy shortbread crust and rich, egg-based custard, baking these rhubarb custard bars is a terrific way to use rhubarb from the garden.
This is an old-fashioned dessert that’s pretty simple top make, and in one bowl to boot. It may seem like the bars contain a lot of sugar but you really do need it to take the edge off of the rhubarb’s tartness. A simple, rustic dessert (you really can’t mess it up) make sure to leave yourself some time as the bars must cool for a few hours before slicing.
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Use the JUMP TO RECIPE button at the top of the post, or scroll to the bottom of the post, to see the full recipe card with ingredient measurements and instructions.
Ingredients
Method
Preheat the oven and line a square baking dish with parchment paper.
In a mixing bowl, beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, about 1 to 2 minutes.
Add the flour and salt, and mix until the dough is crumbly with no visible white flour remaining.
Dump the dough crumbs into the prepared baking dish. Use your hands to first spread, then press the crust evenly into the pan creating a tightly packed shortbread layer.
Place the crust into the preheated oven for 24 to 26 minutes or until the edges turn slightly golden. Remove the crust from the oven and place it on a wire cooling rack.
While the crust is in the oven, make the custard. Using the same mixing bowl, combine the sugar, egg, and yolks. Mix everything together on low speed until smooth.
Add the flour and salt to the mixture and continue to mix on low until no visible streaks of flour remain — scrape the sides of the bowl down halfway through mixing.
Add the chopped rhubarb to the custard and fold it gently in until well coated.
Pour the rhubarb and custard mixture over the pre-baked shortbread crust.
Use a rubber spatula or fork to spread the rhubarb into an even layer. Place the baking dish back in the oven and bake the rhubarb custard bars for 42 to 45 to minutes, or until the custard is set. Place the baking dish on a wire rack and cool the bars completely before slicing.
Tips & Notes
Don’t worry if a bit of your custard turns slightly pale gold in places while baking — this is normal!
Add lemon zest, orange zest, or a couple of teaspoons of finely chopped fresh ginger to the custard if you like.
Frozen rhubarb will probably work well here, however, we haven’t tested it.
These bars don’t freeze well and are best fresh, so try to eat them within a couple of days.
Substitutions
Replace half of the rhubarb with sliced strawberries if you want it a bit sweeter. Strawberries contain more water than rhubarb so the custard may take longer to set in the oven.
To make this recipe dairy free, use a good vegan butter.
To make gluten-free rhubarb custard bars, sub a good GF flour blend (like the Bob’s Red Mill one) for the all-purpose flour. There are probably other flours that will work as it’s a shortbread base and doesn’t need to rise, but we haven’t tested any.
More Rhubarb Recipes
Rhubarb Scones with Fresh Ginger
Rhubarb Upside-Down Cake
Apple Rhubarb Pie
Rhubarb Clafoutis
Gluten-Free Rhubarb Crisp
Recipe
Rhubarb Custard Bars (One Bowl)
Rhubarb custard bars are a lovely spring treat! With shortbread crust and rich custard they’re a great way to use up rhubarb from the garden.
Ingredients
For The Crust
- ½ cup plus 2 tbsp (141 g) butter, room temperature to soft
- ¼ cup (50 g) sugar
- 1-¼ cup (188 g) all-purpose flour
- ¼ tsp salt
For The Custard
- ¾ cup (150 g) sugar
- 1 large egg plus 2 egg yolks
- ¼ cup (38 g) all-purpose flour
- ¼ tsp salt
- 3 cups (450 g) rhubarb, fresh or frozen, chopped into 1-inch (3-mm) pieces
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC) and line a 9-inch (23-cm) square baking dish with parchment paper.
- In a mixing bowl, beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, about 1 to 2 minutes.
- Add the flour and salt, and mix until the dough is crumbly with no visible white flour remaining.
- Dump the dough crumbs into the prepared baking dish. Use your hands to first spread, then press the crust evenly into the pan creating a tightly packed shortbread layer.
- Place the crust into the preheated oven for 24 to 26 minutes or until the edges turn slightly golden. Remove the crust from the oven and place it on a wire cooling rack.
- While the crust is in the oven, make the custard. Using the same mixing bowl, combine the sugar, egg, and yolks. Mix everything together on low speed until smooth.
- Add the flour and salt to the mixture and continue to mix on low until no visible streaks of flour remain, scraping the sides of the bowl down halfway through mixing.
- Add the chopped rhubarb to the custard and fold it gently in until well coated.
- Pour the rhubarb custard mixture over the pre-baked shortbread crust. Use a rubber spatula or fork to spread the rhubarb into an even layer.
- Place the baking dish back in the oven and bake the rhubarb custard bars for 42 to 45 to minutes, or until the custard is set. Place the baking dish on a wire rack and cool the bars completely before slicing.
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