The anticipation of rhubarb season just didn’t bring the usual amount of joy to my life as it has for every other year for the past 10 years or so. I usually spend all Spring waiting for it to pop up, and getting excited for the things I want to make. This year I kind of didn’t really care, until my friend Erin messaged me that she had a bumper crop of rhubarb in her backyard, and wanted to come drop some off to me (along with other treats!).

I was SO EXCITED to see her, and we had such a lovely (socially distant) visit back at the end of May. I knew right away what I wanted to make, which was these Brown Butter Rhubarb Bars from Bon Appétit*. The past couple of years I’ve written about how I feel like I’ve made every rhubarb recipe on the internet, so it’s always a nice surprise when a new one pops up that I’m actually excited about.

These bars are DELICIOUS. Yes, anything with all that butter in it is going to be good, but the toasted pecans are also just next level. I’m always skeptical of adding nuts to my baked goods, but they are so fantastic in these. I think you could also make these with any type of fruit; blueberries or even peaches would be awesome.

I ate so many of these myself before packing up the rest and delivering the rest to my parents, the #1 rhubarb fans in my life. They loved them!

*It feels weird to be writing about a Bon Appétit recipe right now, after everything has come to light regarding the racism and unfair treatment of BIPOC in the Test Kitchen. As if Sohla hasn’t been compensated for any of her on-camera work when she’s cooking circles around everyone there!?! I listened to her on The Sporkful podcast and she spoke openly about her experiences, not only over the past year working there, but even in the Zoom meeting where she called for Adam Rapoport’s resignation to his face. The Test Kitchen staff is currently refusing to film any new videos until Sohla and the rest of the BIPOC staff have new contracts and and back-pay for all their work, so I think I’ll refuse to make any more BA recipes until they do.

Brown Butter Rhubarb Bars

Source: Bon Appetit

Ingredients

Filling

• zest and juice of 1/2 grapefruit or one orange or lemon
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 lb rhubarb (about 4 cups), cut into 1/2″ pieces

Crust & Crumble

• 1 1/4 cup pecans (you could also use almonds or hazelnuts)
• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, cut into pieces
• 1 1/4 cups flour
• 1 1/4 cups oats
• 1/4 cup + 1 tbsp brown sugar
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt

Directions

1. To make the filling, add the zest, juice, sugar and salt to a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, then reduce to simmer, stirring for about a minute until the sugar is dissolved. Add the rhubarb and simmer, stirring occasionally for 10-12 minutes until rhubarb has completely broken down. Set aside to cool while you make the crust/crumble.
2. For the crust/crumble, first toast the nuts in a 350° oven for 5-8 minutes. Let cool, then coarsely chop. Leave the oven on.
3. Next, brown the butter by adding the butter to a small saucepan. Cook over medium heat until the butter melts, then foams, then darkens in colour and smells toasty and nutty, swirling often. Let cool.
4. Now get an 8×8″ square baking pan ready by lining it with parchment paper.
5. To make the crust/crumble, add the flour, oats, brown sugar, sugar, baking soda and salt to a large bowl. Stir together to combine. Add the butter, and stir again until mixture is evenly coated and starts to clump together (almost like granola).
6. Add 3 cups of the mixture (roughly) to the pan, and press into an even layer. Pour the rhubarb filling overtop and use an offset spatula to spread into an even layer. Crumble the remaining crust mixture over the top.
7. Bake for 40-45 minutes. Let cool before cutting into squares.