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amish rhubarb dream bars

I received a giant bag of fresh rhubarb a few days ago from a friend, so I’ve been busy in the kitchen baking up some rhubarb magic! This is another favorite, Amish recipe that I discovered in a bunch of recipes I bought at an estate sale in Harmony, Minnesota. It’s one of the best things I’ve ever baked with rhubarb, and it’s so easy to prepare! Enjoy one of these with a big mug of coffee or tea. I’ve been known to eat them for breakfast.

~ preheat oven to 350 degrees F. ~

for the butter shortbread crust:

2 cups all purpose flour

1 cup sugar

1 cup butter, softened to room temperature

Mix all crust ingredients in a large mixing bowl until well combined. Press into a buttered, 9×13, glass baking dish. Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes. The crust will still be pale in color at this point, and that’s okay.

While crust is baking, prepare the filling.

for the rhubarb custard filling:

4 large or extra large eggs

2 cups sugar

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 cups chopped rhubarb, (packed tightly)

Mix eggs, sugar, flour, and salt in a mixing bowl until smooth. Fold in rhubarb. Once crust is done baking, pour filling evenly over hot crust. Smooth surface with a rubber spatula. Bake an additional 40 to 45 minutes, or just until set and lightly golden on top.

Cool in pan on a wire rack. Once cool, gently loosen from sides of pan and cut into squares. Dust with powdered sugar. Serve. These will keep, covered on your counter top in a cool place, for 3 to 5 days.

Enjoy!

~Melissa

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82 Comments

    1. Hi Vicky! 🙂
      Your sweet note made my day. Thanks for stopping by to leave a compliment. I’m so happy you like the bars!
      XOXO,
      ~M

        1. I have wrapped individual squares in wax paper and then put in ziploc. Months later I defrosted individual squares with the wax paper loosely covering. Still tasted wonderful. Crust was softer. Might try warming 15 seconds in micro next time.

      1. Hi Melissa, a question for you ,I made these replacing sugar with baking stevia. Worked great in crust but filling wouldn’t set up. After 45min it was still runny in middle so I popped it back in oven for 15 more min . It was still a bit runny my husband loved them. I was wondering if the stevia instead of sugar was problem and if I try little more flour in filling do you think this would help

        1. Hi Marie,
          I would guess that using stevia was the problem. I’ve never had a problem with these bars setting up. You could try thickening it with more flour or possibly cornstarch, but I’ve never tried it. I’m glad he liked the bars though! 🙂 Thanks for visiting. Best ~M

          1. Hello, This is one of our favorite recipes, but we do make them exactly like the recipe and my sister, sister in law, and I all have a problem with them not setting in the middle. We have all tried baking even 15 minutes longer (one batch that made the cookie crust too hard) but to no avail. I used a 9.5×13.5 pan even hoping with the tiny bit bigger pan it would set,, no sadly. What do you think of using a 10×15 glass pan? We always eat them anyway, but I kind of hate to give away when they are “uncooked” in the middle. Thank you!!

          2. Hmmmmm…. I’m not sure why this is, Nancy. Maybe use slightly less rhubarb and make sure you’re using fresh rhubarb for this recipe. I hope that helps! 🙂 You could try using one less egg and see how it goes. ~M

          3. This is one of my favorites! Thank you!

            To the poster that had trouble with the middle cooking, try covering for the first half hour. My oven does the same thing, it came with the house but I’m wondering if it’s a convention oven and maybe that’s the difference. I couldn’t reply directly to that comment.

    2. Sure! It won’t be authentic, but you could glaze this with whatever flavor glaze you prefer 🙂

  1. I Changed it a bit instead of regular sugar i used Splenda because I am a Diabetic and it tasted ever so pleasing .

    1. Thank you, I’m also diabetic and wondered what all the sugar would do to my glucose level. I’ll now try these

    2. When using Splenda instead of sugar, how much did you use?
      In all recipes, when you use Splenda instead of regular sugar, is it the same?
      2 cups of sugar now becomes 2 cups of Splenda?

      I’m not much of a cook but these bars sound and look so good!

      Thanks for the help!

  2. What I like about them is that they are so easy to make. Just a bit of powdered sugar on top so no frosting is done and just that little sweet and sour almost taste that I like. Thanks my friend.

  3. This is amazing, I have lots of rhubarb and hate to see it go to waste , so I like to try new recipes , so glad I did thank you very much.

    1. I cannot find rhubarb here in NW Tennessee. I miss my rhubarb patch in Wisconsin. Any ideas where I can find any. I’m from Indiana and have not found any there, either.

  4. We can’t get fresh rhubarb down here in Florida. Can frozen be substituted? If so, how much would I need to use. Thanks for any help.

    1. Hi Tanya 🙂 I’ve never tried using frozen rhubarb in this recipe. I would say that if you do, to use slightly less than the recipe calls for because frozen rhubarb can sometimes add a little too much water to a recipe and make it soggy. Hope that helps! 🙂

        1. Thanks, Lori! I’m always working with fresh rhubarb, so I don’t have a lot of experience with frozen.

        2. I always measure my rhubarb before freezing. I have never had an issue using frozen, never thawed. Maybe just lucky.

  5. I’m making it now! I grow rhubarb on the side of my yard, so I’m always looking for tasty recipes. Next year I’d like to try it in a jam. Thanks for sharing the recipe. Sincerely, Linda K.

  6. Is there a way to make this healthier? Substitutions? 3 cups of sugar! Would honey or maple syrup work ?

    1. I used maple syrup 2/3 cup for each cup of sugar and baked at 325 degrees. Turned out great. I did bake for a few minutes longer. I did the knife test to check if done.

    1. sure, just thaw it out and let in drain in a colander before measuring as Lori pointed out in an above post 🙂

      1. I made for bake sale & it went well. I did above it worked good. taste good i added vanilla & cinamon to filling.

  7. Thanks for this easy Great recipe! Sounds like I’m gonna have to try it! But my idea would be: cool whip/vanilla ice cream on top! Awesome! ❤????????

  8. Can’t eat wheat flour. Could this recipe be altered to use coconut flour or other Paleo-friendly flours?

    1. I’ve never tried making this with any other flour than all purpose wheat. I would imagine a gluten free, all purpose flour would work, but I’m not sure about almond or coconut flour. Sorry I can’t be more helpful. Please let me know if you make the recipe using gluten free/Paleo ingredients. I’d love to hear how it turns out. Best, ~M

  9. Love this recipe. Turned out wonderful. I used 5 cups of rhubarb. Next time I will put a 1/4 cup less sugar. This recipe is a keeper.

    1. Strawberries would be a good substitute, and maybe cut down on the sugar if you use strawberries. 🙂 Hope that helps!

  10. These are wonderful! I tried making a double batch and putting it in a big bar pan. I ended up with too much filling and not enough room so I then had to cut crust and put it into two pans. Worked out just fine since the crust was still mushy. Delicious!

  11. Well I pulled my rhubarb from my Amish friend’s yard so I knew this recipe was a perfect match! also used poullet eggs from my neighbor. Does that make my pan of bars the most authentic? ????

    1. In the oven right now. I added strawberries to the rhubarb. Making a meringue topping.
      Added some cinnamon