Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp Bars

On a lovely day off of work a few weeks back I went on a little adventure to a farm outside of the city to pick my own strawberries.  It was glorious.  

Picking your own fresh strawberries is ten million times better than buying strawberries from the store.  The taste difference is astonishing.  Scary, even.  Plus, they are cheaper - win win!  It makes me never want to buy strawberries from the store...but unfortunately I probably will because the strawberry picking season is not year round. :( 

The only "problem" with picking your own strawberries is finding ways to use them quickly before they go bad (unless you freeze them).  We did not seem to have this "problem"!  In fact, we ended up just eating most of them just on their own.  However, I did make these delicious crisp bars with them...along with some surprise rhubarb we found growing in our back yard that we didn't plant!  Yay for free food left by previous home owners. :) 

If you have some leftover strawberries or rhubarb...I recommend giving this recipe a try!  Enjoy! 

Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp Bars

Ingredients:

1 cup rolled oats
¾ cup all-purpose flour
½ cup light brown sugar
¼ teaspoon table salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 cup small-diced rhubarb

1 cup small-diced strawberries
1 tablespoon natural cane sugar, divided
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon cornstarch

Directions: 

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Spray an 8-by-8 inch square pan with cooking spray.

2. In a medium bowl, mix the oats, flour, brown sugar, and salt. Add the butter and stir until clumps form. Set aside ½ cup of the crumble mixture and press the rest of the crumb mixture evenly in the bottom of the prepared pan.

3. In the same medium bowl, combine the rhubarb, strawberries, granulated sugar, lemon juice, and cornstarch. Evenly distribute the fruit over the crust, then scatter the reserved crumbs over the fruit.

4. Bake the bars until the fruit is bubbling and the crisp portion is golden, 30 to 40 minutes. Cool completely before serving.

Recipe adapted from The Way the Cookie Crumbles