Rhubarb is one of the few things we can grow very easily in Chicago and always have enough to “put up” for year-round consumption. By the time spring starts to come around, I often find we’ve still got plenty left in the freezer.

I’d been wanting to bake something from our own produce for a garden meeting and with spring on the way, this recipe uses up a lot of frozen rhubarb at once. That’s also handy in the spring or fall if we happen to have a bumper crop and can’t find someone to take any more of it off our hands and the freezer is full.

This isn’t a quick recipe, but it does serve a lot of people very easily. I may take out the almond sugar topping next time and try something like milk and raw sugar instead, since that butter topping isn’t terribly healthy. The almonds were pretty on top and added a nice crunch, though.

Rhubarb Almond Bars

Pastry:

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 Tbs baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 cup chilled shortening
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/4- 1/3 cup milk (start with 1/4 cup milk)

Filling:

• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1/4 cup quick cooking tapioca
• 6 cups fresh or frozen rhubarb

Topping:

• 1/2 cup butter
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 Tbs milk
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup slivered almonds

1 If the rhubarb is frozen, set it out to defrost and mix with the sugar and tapioca – adding extra tapioca to make up for the juiciness.

2 Combine flour, baking powder, and salt; cut in shortening as for pie pastry. Mix eggs and 1/4 cup milk add to dry ingredients and stir with a fork just until dough clings together. Add more milk 1 Tbsp. at a time if necessary. Shape into a ball. Divide in two balls, one slightly larger than the other. Roll the larger section into a 17×12″ rectangle and place in a greased 15x10x1″ baking pan.

3 Top crust with filling ingredients and set aside. Roll out the remaining dough into a 15×10″ rectangle and carefully lift and place over filling, stretching to the edges and pinching extra dough around the perimeter to seal.

4 For topping, melt butter and add sugar and milk. Bring to a gentle boil; boil 2-3 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat; stir in vanilla. Spread over pastry. Sprinkle almonds on top. Bake at 400° for 20 minutes. Reduce heat to 300° and Bake 30-40 minutes longer or until golden brown.

5 Serve warm or cold

If the slideshow below doesn’t work for you, find the photos on my flickr stream here.
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