Rhubarb Cardamom Shortbread Bars
These rhubarb cardamom shortbread bars with buttery crumb pastry, tart rhubarb and sweet strawberry jam, are perfectly spiced with cardamom.
Are you a rhubarb lover or hater? I’m firmly on the “love” side of the equation. I posed the question on my facebook page and surprisingly (sort of), more people seem to love it than hate it. Yay!
My mom makes a rhubarb cream pie that is to die for. She grows the rhubarb in her backyard. This carries on a tradition in my family. My grandma and great-grandma always had rhubarb growing in their backyard gardens. In fact, I believe that my mom’s rhubarb plants are grown from cuttings received from my great-grandma. The recipe for rhubarb cream pie came from my great-grandma, too!
These rhubarb cardamom shortbread bars come in as a close second to the rhubarb cream pie. The cardamom pairs perfectly with the tart rhubarb and the sweet shortbread. Great with a cup of coffee or tea! Or put a scoop of vanilla ice cream on a slice for a decadent dessert.
Funny story about this shortbread. I was adapting it from PBS.org, and totally spaced out on my butter measurement. I momentarily forgot that that one cup of butter equals two sticks. I swear having two kids turns your brain to mush. Or maybe I’m just so used to doing my own thing in the kitchen that I forgot how to follow a recipe. Yeah…I think that must be it.
So anyways, I’m mixing this dough and thinking that it looks really dry. I look back to the recipe and start hitting my head against the wall when I notice my mistake. Do I bake it and see what happens? Or do I dump it and start over? Missing a WHOLE STICK of butter is kind of a big deal…right? Especially when it’s half the amount required.
I decide to cross my fingers and throw it in the oven to bake. Guess what? The bars turned out fantastic! Such a happy surprise! Didn’t have to waste any dough plus I saved myself about 1,349,340,930 calories (give or take). Win!
Have a sweet tooth?
Looking for more bar recipes to satisfy your sweet tooth? Try some of my favorites:
Rhubarb Cardamom Shortbread Bars
These rhubarb cardamom shortbread bars with buttery crumb pastry, tart rhubarb and sweet strawberry jam, are perfectly spiced with cardamom.
Ingredients
Crust:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 teaspoons ground cardamom
- pinch of salt
- 1 stick unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 egg yolks
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Filling:
- 2 cups chopped rhubarb
- 1/4 cup strawberry jam
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon water
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- For the dough: In a large bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, cardamom, and salt. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together butter and sugar until fluffy. Add egg yolks and vanilla extract and mix until well combined. Gradually add in dry ingredients while mixer is on low, until combined. Will be crumbly.
- Pack dough into two balls, one which is slightly smaller than the other. Wrap each ball separately in plastic wrap and freeze for at least an hour.
- While the dough is in the freezer, prepare the filling. Combine rhubarb, strawberry jam, sugar, and water in a small saucepan over low heat. Cook, stirring frequently, until rhubarb is softened and breaks down. This should take about 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Place in a bowl to cool (you can stick it in the fridge if necessary).
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Prepare a 10-inch springform pan by greasing or spraying it. Using a box grater, grate the larger ball of dough into the springform pan (using the largest holes). Pat down gently to form the bottom crust. Spread rhubarb filling over the bottom layer, leaving a border of about a half inch around the edge. Then grate the smaller ball of dough over the top. Pat down gently if necessary.
- Bake until golden brown, about 30 minutes. Cool completely before slicing and serving.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 10 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 317Total Fat: 10gSaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 61mgSodium: 69mgCarbohydrates: 53gFiber: 1gSugar: 31gProtein: 4g
RachelCooks.com sometimes provides nutritional information, but these figures should be considered estimates, as they are not calculated by a registered dietitian. Please consult a medical professional for any specific nutrition, diet, or allergy advice.
Husband’s take: He doesn’t like rhubarb but he loved these rhubarb cardamom shortbread bars!
Changes I would make: None are necessary.
Difficulty: Slightly time consuming to grate the dough, but it gives it a great texture. Other than that, easy!
20 Comments on “Rhubarb Cardamom Shortbread Bars”
I want to post this on my face book how do I do that?
Thanks for your desire to share! If you’re on desktop, you can find sharing buttons on the right hand side of your screen. If you’re on a mobile device, they should pop up at the top. Or, you can copy and paste the URL into facebook and share that way. :) Hope that helps!
Oh my! I absolutely adore rhubarb. I always default to a rhubarb custard pie that my family has been making for yeeeeears when I come across rhubarb, but this looks simply wonderful!
now that sounds good!
I LOVE creative shortbread bars!
Thank you!
Oh heavens, these look amazing! Shortbread is one of my favorite foods ever, and I love the addition of the rhubarb. YUM!
I love rhubarb and remember picking in from my grandparents garden and dipping it in sugar. I also love the flavor of cardamom!
I am going to need a whole pan of these. Thank you :) Pinned!
Someone needs to hold my hand and convince me to try rhubarb. I love the idea of another fruit but a fruit that looks like celery kind of weirds me out. Remind me when it’s in season again next year and I promise to try it :)
I love rhubarb and this combination is interesting!!
I’m a big rhubarb fan – love the idea of the combination with cardamom.
These are awesome. I love the cardamom/rhubarb combo. I’m drooling!
Lover *raises hand* – back when we lived in Minnesota, my neighbor had rhubarb growing like crazy in his front yard. He considered it a weed and hated it, so he gave me free rein to pick it whenever I wanted. I win. These bars are great!
Oooooh…these bars sure are purdy!! I don’t use cardamon enough so thanks for reminding me:)
these sound so fancy! interesting technique with grating the dough…bet they are super flaky & delicious, even though they are low on butter. yum!
I have rhubarb in my fridge right now and am looking for something to do with it. These look lovely!!
I already had breakfast but I could really go for these as a second breakfast! :) YUM.
I love rhubarb so much but sadly haven’t baked with it once this year. I’m running out of time! I love that you skipped a whole stick of butter and it still worked out – now you can eat twice as many :)
Rhubarb <3 FOREVER! Cardamom is a fun twist, AND you saved me a stick of butter? I'm in love!
So pretty! Love the look of these!