Strawberry rhubarb crumble bars are the perfect summertime dessert. Not only are these gluten-free, but they use natural sweeteners and coconut oil instead of butter. Since there is no butter in these, they are also a dairy-free dessert! I love no-fuss recipes like these, and with them being bars, they are easy to eat and a great alternative to a crisp or crumble as you don’t need a bowl to eat it.
I love the tartness of rhubarb, and I especially love the combo of rhubarb and strawberries together. I grew up having rhubarb, as we had it in the garden when I was a kid. Where we lived, it grew very quickly and the plants would get huge. I remember eating it by the stalk, dipping each bite in a little bowl of sugar.
I think you’ll love how simple these bars are to make, and with them being less than 10 ingredients, most of the time spent is oven time, which is hands off time! In these I used an all purpose gluten-free flour blend from a local gluten-free bakery in town (Delish Gluten-Free), but use whatever one you have available, as there are a lot of options out there. But I recommend NOT using a bean-based flour such as the Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free Flour as I find it gives off a beany taste even after its baked. I’d use one that’s more of a base of rice flours, starch and tapioca. Some great options include Pamela’s Gluten-Free All-Purpose and Glutino All-Purpose Flour.
If you aren’t gluten-free, simply substitute for all-purpose flour. You might even be able to mix all-purpose flour with some whole wheat flour. But I wouldn’t do more than a 50/50 ratio. I’d actually use more like 1 1/2 cups all purpose and 1/2 cup whole wheat flour. Any more than that it will lose the taste of being a shortbread style crust.
I hope you give these a try if you have some rhubarb around! I’d love to know what else you make with rhubarb! Let me know in the comments 🙂
- 2 cups fresh rhubard, diced
- 2 cups fresh strawberries, sliced
- 1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 6 stevia packets (or 2-3 Tbsp of your favorite sweetener)
- 3 Tbsp cornstarch
- 2 cups gluten-free flour
- ½ cup coconut oil, melted
- ½ cup cane sugar (or coconut palm sugar)
- 20 drops vanilla stevia (optional)
- Preheat your oven to 375 degress F.
- In a medium sized bowl, mix together the chopped rhubarb and strawberries, lemon juice, stevia packets and cornstarch. Gently mix together well until the cornstarch has coated all the fruit. Taste and add additional sweetener if desired depending on how ripe your fruit is.
- In another bowl, mix together the gluten free flour, melted coconut oil, cane sugar and stevia drops (if using). Mix together well, clean hands work well.
- Press just over half of the crumble mixture into a lightly oiled or sprayed 8x8 pan. Press it in firmly and evenly.
- Pour in your fruit mixture and spread evenly over top.
- Sprinkle the remaining crumble mixture over the fruit. Try to crumble with about pea sized shape pieces of dough or else it might have a harder time cooking though.
- Place in the oven and bake for about 50-55 minutes. I found with mine, it remained a light color on top.
- If you'd like your bars to be golden brown on top (like pictured), when done baking, keep the bars in the oven, switch your oven to BROIL high, and allow to broil for another 4 minutes or so until topping is golden. Keep a close eye, as it happens fast.
- Cut into 16 bars.