My favourite pie is a classic strawberry rhubarb pie. I just love the balance of the sweet and tart. It also symbolizes the start of summer for me here in Eastern Canada. Last year this time, I shared my Classic Strawberry Pie recipe and this year, I had a similar craving but wanted something that was a bit easier to make. Enter these Strawberry Rhubarb pie bars. All the same flavour of the pie we know and love, but way easier to make and much easier to eat while on the go!

All the pie flavour, none of the headache!

Pies can be intimidating, and at times, they are a really big undertaking. While there is still very much a time and a place to make a pie, these squares give you a very similar flavours but come together really easily. The crumb itself is really cool as it follows some of the same cooking processes as pie dough where you use shredded cold butter. This gives a lovely flakey texture that is very different from a crumble-style bar which I have made before! The crumb mixture acts as the bottom layer as well as the top layer. They both take on different textural elements as the bottom later is sturdy while the top layer is more crumbly.

Let’s breakdown the ingredients!

Let’s start with the crumble. As I mentioned above, this crumb is a bit different as its goal is to act and taste like a pie crust. We achieve this by adding shredded cold butter, which is a similar process used when making pie dough. I simply use frozen butter and cheese grater. Other ingredients used in the pie dough crumb are flour, white sugar, brown sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, egg, vanilla, milk, and a pinch of salt.

When it comes to the strawberry rhubarb filling, it could not be easier! You are going to need some fresh or frozen strawberries, a handful of fresh or frozen rhubarb, a little bit of sugar, cornstarch, and a tiny bit of lemon zest!

Strawberry rhubarb pie squares

Print Recipe

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Servings 9 squares

Course Dessert, Snack, square

Ingredients

  

Pie Dough Crumble Dry ingredients

• 2 cups flour
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• pinch salt
• 2/3 cup frozen butter, shredded using cheese grater

Pie Dough Crumble Wet Ingredients

• 1 egg
• 1/8 cup milk
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla

Strawberry Rhubarb Filling

• 1 1/2 cup Strawberries, Sliced
• 1 1/2 cup Rhubarb, chopped
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 tsp corn starch
• Zest Lemon

Instructions

 

• Line a 9X9 inch brownie pan with parchment paper and preheat oven to 350F
• In a large bowl mix together all of the dry pie dough crumble ingredients. Using your hands mix together and make sure all of the shredded butter is coated with flour.
• Add all of the wet ingredients together in a small bowl and whisk. After whisking, pour wet mixture into dry bowl and stir. The mixture should be clumpy and feel like wet sand.
• Scoop about 2/3rd's of the pie dough crumble into the prepared brown pan. Press mixture down using a spatula or bottom of measuring cup. Be sure to really press down on the corners and sides of the crust. This will help it be very sturdy.
• Now, in a bowl mix together the strawberries, rhubarb, sugar, cornstarch, and lemon zest. Now pour this mixture over the crust and then top it with the remaining 1/3 of the pie dough crumble. Lightly press down.
• Place pan in preheated over and bake for 50 minutes. When done, remove from oven and allow to fully cool. This is key or it will just fall apart. It needs time to congeal.. just like a pie! I let mine cool for 1 hour and then popped it in the freezer for 15 minutes. If you can leave it for a couple hours on the counter you should be good to go!
• Once cooled, remove from pan and cut into squares! Enjoy!

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