Cookie base and topping
- 1 cup (2 sticks) butter
- 1 cup (200 g) brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 3¼ cups (405 g) all-purpose flour
- ¾ teaspoon baking powder
Rhubarb filling
- 2½ cups (285 g) chopped frozen rhubarb
- 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
- 1 Tablespoon cornstarch
- juice of half a lemon
Glaze
- juice of the other half lemon
- ¾ cup (85 g) powdered sugar
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line an 8×8” baking pan.
Cream the butter and sugar together, and beat until it is fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in the egg and vanilla. Not that this will mean anything to you, but the mixture should be the same color as my Oma’s bathroom tiles.
In a separate bowl, mix the flour and baking powder together, then spoon the dry mixture into the batter. Put about half the mixture into the prepared baking dish and press it with the back of a spatula or a measuring cup to push it into all four corners. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until the edges just start to turn brown. Remove from the oven and set aside. Chill the other half of the dough in your refrigerator. Don’t let it make you feel guilty by giving you a wounded look; its time will come.
In a small saucepan, combine the frozen rhubarb, sugar, cornstarch and lemon juice, and cook over medium-low heat. As the rhubarb thaws, it will release a fair amount of liquid. Stir frequently. Bring to a low boil, and cook for 6 to 8 minutes, until it passes the Spoon Test. This is something you read about all the time in old cookbooks. Coat the back of a spoon with the rhubarb syrup, then run a finger through it. If it leaves a clear line, your mixture has turned to jam. Set the jam aside to cool.
At this point, you have the baked dough, the raw dough and the rhubarb jam all taking time-outs in separate corners. Do not feel sorry for them. They know what they did.
After the jam has cooled slightly, tell it that it has finished with time out and can play with its friends. Spoon it over the baked cookie base, and spread it to cover. Remove the rest of the cookie dough from the refrigerator, and drop thumb-sized chunks of it over the top of the jam. It should pretty much cover it, with hints of jam peeking out here and there.
Return the baking dish to the oven, and bake for another 45-50 minutes. Pat it lightly on top with your hand to see if it has finished baking. Take it out of the oven and set it aside to cool.
Mix the powdered sugar and the juice from the other half of your lemon together to make a pourable glaze. Spoon it over the top of the rhubarb-cookie mixture.
When everything has cooled, remove the cookie mixture from the baking dish and cut into bars. How many bars is up to you. I got 12, but if you look down and see one gigantic bar, that’s between you and your pancreas.
Because of all the brown sugar, these bars have a nutty brown color and look suspiciously like they might be made with whole wheat. Rest assured, these do not taste healthy. The butter and brown sugar give a warm, butterscotch flavor that is balanced out by the tartness of the rhubarb and the zinginess of the lemon. They taste like a blondie with benefits.
Featured Photo: Photo by John Fladd.
