⅓ cup sugar or honey (or other sweetener of choice)
Instructions
In a sauce pan, combine the rhubarb, water and lemon juice, uncovered. Cook until the rhubarb starts to break down, 5-8 minutes. Mix in sugar. Cook until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture thickens, another 5-8 minutes. Let the mixture cool for another 10 minutes to continue to thicken.
Preheat the oven to 350 F.
Combine flour, oats, sugar, salt and baking soda in a bowl, stirring until just combined. Mix in melted butter and vanilla until mixture is crumbly. Press all but ½ cup of crumb mixture into the bottom of a 9x9 baking pan.
Spread the slightly cooled rhubarb over the oat mixture in the baking pan. Crumble the remaining oat mixture over top.
Bake in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Cool before cutting into bars. I like cutting into 9 bars, but 16 smaller bars would work too.
Store in the fridge for the best texture.
Notes
*If you cannot find white whole wheat flour, do not substitute regular whole wheat flour. The bars will be very dry and dense. To keep the bars whole grain, you can substitute whole wheat pastry flour or oat flour. All purpose flour can also be used.
Recipe by Alison's Allspice at https://www.alisonsallspice.com/whole-grain-rhubarb-oatmeal-bars/