Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble Squares

Strawberry season is my favorite season. You may have noticed I'm a bit of a fan with recipes like our Homemade Strawberry Ice Cream, Strawberry Rhubarb Pie, Strawberries & Cream Chia Pudding, and our recent Strawberry Lemon Crisp. Yup, we're a litttttle obsessed over here. Nothing screams summer like fresh, ripe, red strawberries...and just about nothing tastes as sweet, so we love to eat 'em up as much as possible while they're in season. The combination of strawberry with rhubarb balances out the sweet with a slight tartness. The crunchy oat crumble topping is the perfect contrast to the soft, carmelized fruit, and it tastes great fresh out of the oven or after being refrigerated a day or two. This recipe makes an 8x8 tray of thick bars, but use a wider, thinner pan like a 9x13 if you want more, thinner bars. Keep it gluten-free if that's your thing, or use what you have on hand. Either way, plan on sharing- you'll gain major brownie (strawberry?) points for it.

Ingredients:
2 cups (GF certified) oats
2 cups gluten-free flour (whole wheat works here, too!)
1/2 cup organic sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
pinch of xantham gum, optional
2/3 cup coconut oil, softened

2 cups strawberries, hulled and quartered
2 cups rhubarb, chopped
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons organic sugar
1 tablespoon corn starch

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
In a large mixing bowl combine oats, flour, sugar, salt & xantham gum. Add in coconut oil and stir until crumbs begin to form. Set aside.
In a separate mixing bowl, toss your strawberries and rhubarb in the lemon juice, sugar, and corn starch until evenly coated. Grease an 8x8 (or 9x13, for slightly thinner bars) glass baking dish, then pour a a little over 1/2 of the oat crumble mixture into the bottom of the dish. Press gently into the sides. Top with the berry mixture, spreading evenly. Finally, pour the rest of the crumble mixture on top, distributing evenly. Put crumble into the oven and bake for 35-45 minutes, until crumble topping becomes golden and berry mixture bubbles. Remove from oven and let cool completely before cutting into squares. To help squares stay firm, refrigerate until ready to cut. If you like it warm and fresh out of the oven, say to heck with the squares and have a pile of crumble goodness. We're not here to judge. Makes 9-12 squares depending on size, saves well in the fridge for up to a week. Enjoy!

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