Is there anything better than oat bars that you can grab and eat while doing whatever you need to be doing?  These are absolute perfection, with a hint of sweetness from the blueberries (last years frozen) and a bit of tang from the rhubarb (fresh this year).

These bars have the exact perfect ratio of fruit to oat bar, I could have devoured many more than I did.  Thank goodness I didn’t.  It’s hard enough not to eat all the sourdough I’m baking!

Ingredients

• 3 cups Rhubarb Cut Into 1 Inch Pieces
• 3 cups Blueberries
• 2 Tablespoons Lemon Juice
• 3/4 cup Sugar
• 4 Tablespoons Cornstarch
• 1-½ cup All-purpose Flour
• 1-½ cup Uncooked Quick Cooking Oats (not Instant)
• 3/4 cup Brown Sugar
• ¾ cup Softened Butter
• ½ teaspoon Baking Soda
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon Salt

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350ºF.

Combine rhubarb, blueberries and lemon juice in a large saucepan and cook over medium heat until rhubarb is softened. No added liquid is needed as the water from the rhubarb and blueberries will come out naturally.

In a small bowl, combine sugar and cornstarch. Mix well to break up the lumps of cornstarch. Set aside.

While rhubarb and blueberries are cooking, begin making the crust. Combine flour, oats, brown sugar, butter, baking soda and salt together in a bowl until well mixed and crumbly. Reserve 1 1/2 cups of crust to be used as a topping. Grease a 13×9 pan with cooking spray. Press remaining crust mixture into the pan in an even layer. Set aside.

When rhubarb and blueberries are softened, use a potato masher to mash and smooth out the larger chunks. Once bigger pieces are broken up, mix in the sugar/cornstarch mixture. Continue to stir until thickened.

Once mixture is thickened, pour over crust. Top with reserved crust mixture.

Bake at 350ºF for 30 minutes.

Ready for the oven, and it already smells heavenly.

Make sure they cool completely before cutting them.

I found this recipe on http://www.tastykitchen.com, and the only changes I made were to include some cinnamon in the crust/topping mixture and reduce the sugar a bit … these are also their tips:

Tips:
1. Mixing the sugar and cornstarch together will prevent lumps of cornstarch in your mixture.
2. The bars will puff up considerably, so don’t be alarmed when you open the oven to take out the bars. They will be a bit jiggly. That’s OK! They are done!
3. When they cool, they’ll “deflate” a bit and set up nicely.