Rhubarb Gingersnap Bars

My recent drink order of a rhubarb gin and tonic is, I think, a concrete sign that I've turned into an official rhubarb fan. After a summer of fresh rhubarb tossed into quick breads, pop tarts, crumbles and more, I have a firmly entrenched fondness for it. It makes me quite pleased to know I can cross the strange, stringy vegetable off the list of foods I don't like. As for celery and raw onions, I believe they've been tattooed onto the list. (The drink itself was terrible, though not enough to turn me off rhubarb or gin.)

Rhubarb is, of course, a summer foodstuff, and this post comes just a bit late to land in the 'summer's last gasp' category. Perhaps you, like me, still have some rhubarb stuffed into the freezer. But for those of you who don't, I encourage you to experiment with apples, cranberries or another fruit. Or embrace the season (as upcoming blog posts indicate I have) with squash, using the recipe that inspired these bars: Pumpkin Snickerdoodle Bars.

Rhubarb Gingersnap Bars

For rhubarb topping:

3 cups rhubarb, chopped into 1-inch pieces
1/2 cup sugar
For crust:
3 cups unbleached, all-puropose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
2 cups packed brown sugar
2 sticks (1 cup) room temperature butter
2 eggs
1 TBSP pure vanilla extract
2 TBSP finely diced crystallized ginger

Directions:
--Toss together rhubarb and sugar. Add to a medium saucepan and cook until rhubarb has cooked down to a syrupy consistency, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool.
--Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 13 x 9-inch baking pan.
--In a medium bowl, mix together flour, baking powder and salt. In a large bowl cream butter and sugar together. Add eggs, vanilla, and ginger, and mix thoroughly Add flour mixture and stir until combined. Using fingers or a fork, press mixture into the bottom of the pan. Bake for 12 minutes.
--Remove crust from oven and pour rhubarb mixture straight onto the hot crust. Return to the oven and cook an additional 15 minutes. Let cool before cutting. Makes approximately 36 bars.