Rhubarb Lemon Bar Food

LEMON RHUBARB BARS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Mix 2 cups flour, butter, and 1/2 cup white sugar together in a bowl until crumbly; press into the bottom of a 12x9-inch baking dish.
• Bake in preheated oven until crust is light brown, 25 to 30 minutes.
• Beat eggs, 1 cup sugar, and 6 tablespoons flour together in a bowl until smooth; add rhubarb, coconut, lemon juice, and vanilla extract and stir to coat. Pour the rhubarb mixture over the crust.
• Bake in preheated oven until the fruit layer is set, 35 to 40 minutes. Let bars cool completely before serving.

STRAWBERRY RHUBARB CHEESECAKE BARS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°. Line an 8-in. square baking pan with parchment, letting ends extend up sides. In a small bowl, mix flour, brown sugar and salt; cut in butter until crumbly. Stir in pecans., Press into bottom of prepared pan. Bake until edges just begin to brown, 12-15 minutes. Cool completely on a wire rack., In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Beat in milk, lemon juice, vanilla and salt. Add egg; beat on low speed just until blended. Pour over crust., Bake until filling is set, 15-20 minutes. Cool on a wire rack for 1 hour. , For jam, in a small saucepan, mix sugar and cornstarch. Add strawberries, rhubarb and lemon juice. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, until mixture begins to thicken, 6-8 minutes. Cool completely. Spread over filling. Refrigerate until set, 8 hours or overnight. , Using parchment, carefully remove cheesecake from baking pan. Cut into bars for serving.

RHUBARB BARS

Steps:

• For the bars: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F with a rack in the middle.
• Grease and line a 9-inch square baking pan with parchment paper. Cut enough so there are wings hanging over the sides of the pan for when it's time to remove the bars!
• In a food processor, combine the flour, almond flour, granulated sugar and salt and pulse to combine. Add the butter, egg white and rosewater, if using. Pulse until the mixture clumps together into small to medium clumps of dough.
• Pour the dough out into the prepared pan and press evenly all around the bottom with a measuring cup or the back of a spatula until smooth.
• Bake until the crust is just set and the edges are light golden, 15 to 18 minutes. Remove to a rack to cool. Reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees F.
• For the filling: Combine the rhubarb in a medium saucepan with water just to cover (about 1 1/2 cups water) and 1/4 cup granulated sugar. Scrape in the vanilla bean seeds and add the pod. Simmer until the rhubarb is falling apart, about 10 minutes. Cool, then strain and discard the solids. (See Cook's Note.)
• Add 1/4 cup of the reserved rhubarb juice to a small mixing bowl. Add the cornstarch. Use a small whisk or fork to combine until smooth and there are no cornstarch lumps. Add the rhubarb slurry to the saucepan with an additional 1/2 cup of the reserved rhubarb juice. (See Cook's Note for uses for any extra juice).
• Whisk in the eggs, yolks, salt, remaining 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar and 2 tablespoons lemon juice. Cook, whisking constantly, over medium heat until the mixture begins to simmer and thicken and bubbles pop to the surface, 7 to 10 minutes. Whisk in the zest, then the butter and coconut oil a little at a time. Whisk in just enough food coloring to make a salmon pink color, 2 to 3 drops.
• Pour the filling mixture over the cookie crust and bake until the edges are set, but the center is just a tiny bit jiggly, 25 to 30 minutes. Remove to a rack to cool completely.
• Once cooled, remove the bars from the pan. With a sharp knife, cut into 16 squares, wiping the blade after each cut. (You can also trim the edges for a cleaner look.) Dust with powdered sugar before serving.
• For longer storage, refrigerate between layers of parchment in a sealed container.

RHUBARB CUSTARD BARS

Steps:

• Heat oven to 325 degrees and line a 9-by-9-inch pan with parchment paper, leaving two edges long so they overhang the pan by at least 1 inch. (This is for lifting the bars out later.)
• In a food processor, pulse together flour, sugar and salt. Add butter and process until a crumbly dough forms. Press dough into the lined pan in an even layer. Don't clean out the food processor, you're going to need it.
• Bake crust until golden at the edges, 35 to 40 minutes, rotating halfway through. Transfer to a wire rack and raise oven temperature to 350 degrees.
• While the crust is baking, make the filling. In a medium saucepan, combine the rhubarb slices and 1 cup sugar. Cook, stirring frequently, over medium-low heat until rhubarb releases its juices. Raise heat and bring to a simmer. Keep simmering, stirring once in a while, until the rhubarb breaks down completely, about 15 to 20 minutes. Transfer the rhubarb and juices to the food processor, and let it sit with the cover off until it cools down a bit, about 15 minutes.
• Meanwhile, using a vegetable peeler, lay the very pink rhubarb stalk on its narrower side. From the edge of the stalk, peel a long strip from the stalk. Continue to peel strips from the stalk, flipping it around the other side to keep it even. (This makes it easier to peel, but don't worry too much about getting uniform strips.) Line up peeled strips and cut into 1 1/2-inch lengths. Some may curl up, and that's fine. You'll have about 1 cup strips.
• To the food processor, add the eggs, remaining 1/4 cup sugar, lemon juice, flour, zest and salt, and pulse until mixture is puréed. Pour into baked shortbread base, and carefully scatter the rhubarb strips on top. It should look a little like confetti. Bake until the filling is set and puffy, 20 to 30 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely in the pan.
• Once cool, use a butter knife to cut at the edges of the crust to release them from the pan, then use the parchment "handles" to lift up and transfer the pastry to a cutting board. Cut into 1 3/4-inch squares. Dust with confectioners' sugar before serving.

RHUBARB OAT BARS

Steps:

• In a large saucepan, combine the rhubarb, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 3 tablespoons water and lemon juice. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium; cook and stir for 4-5 minutes or until rhubarb is tender. , Combine the cornstarch and remaining water until smooth; gradually stir into rhubarb mixture. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Remove from the heat; set aside., In a large bowl, combine the oats, flour, coconut, salt and remaining brown sugar. Stir in butter until mixture is crumbly. , Press half of the oats mixture into a greased 8-in. square baking dish. Spread with rhubarb mixture. Sprinkle with remaining oat mixture and press down lightly., Bake at 350° for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack. Cut into squares.