To be honest, the reason that I had Dean build a raised bed to grow rhubarb is for this one special recipe. Imagine a buttery shortbread crust with chopped pecans, tart rhubarb filling, all topped with a pillow of toasted meringue - my mom made this recipe every summer. I recently came across her recipe card for this dessert and in the corner she had written - Karen's favorite!
Neither healthy nor easy...but delicious!
Last summer I experimented with rhubarb recipes to dial in my favorites. Of course Rhubarb Sauce is a classic, but what I really wanted was a healthier (and easier) way to make my mom's recipe. Finally, I gave up and updated the family favorite. If you have a rhubarb plant, at least once every summer you've got to make these Rhubarb Meringue Squares!
Rhubarb Meringue Squares
This dessert is a bit more effort, but so delicious. It's well worth the extra work at least once during the summer.
Servings: 9
Calories: 300kcal
Ingredients
Crust:
- 1 cup flour
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup butter softened
- ½ cup chopped pecans
Filling:
- 3 egg yolks
- ¼ cup milk
- ¾ cup sugar
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 3 cups chopped rhubarb
Meringue:
- 3 egg whites
- ⅓ cup sugar
- ½ teaspoon corn starch
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 °F.
- Combine flour, sugar and salt in a medium bowl.
- Add butter to the flour mixture, blending it until the mixture becomes crumbly. I find that massaging it with my hands is the best way to work the butter into the flour. The mixture will feel dry.
- Stir in the pecans, then dump the crust mixture into a 9 x 9-inch baking pan. Press the dough evenly in the bottom of the baking pan.
- Bake for 20 minutes or until the crust turns golden. Allow the crust to cook while you prepare the filling.
- In a small bowl, whisk together egg yolks and milk. In a medium saucepan, stir together sugar and flour. Over medium heat, stir the egg mixture into the sugar and flour. Add rhubarb and cook over medium-low heat for 12-15 minutes or until thick, stirring frequently. Cool.
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Evenly spread the thickened rhubarb sauce over the crust.
- Using an electric mixer, beat egg whites on high speed until soft peaks form when the whisk is lifted. In a small bowl, combine sugar and cornstarch. Lower speed to medium and add sugar mixture one tablespoon at a time. The meringue is ready when stiff peaks are formed, and all the sugar is incorporated.
- Spread meringue over rhubarb mixture all the way to the edges of the pan. Use the back of a spoon to create peaks all over the meringue. Bake 8 minutes or until peaks are golden brown. Cool, cut into nine squares, then serve.
Notes
This recipe can be made gluten free by replacing the flour in the crust with a gluten free flour mix or almond flour and replacing the 2 tablespoons of flour in the filling with 1 tablespoon corn starch.
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