Almond Free Honey-Nutmeg Apple Crumble Bars
Warm spiced apples, golden crumble, and a drizzle of honey — these bars hit every note you want from a fall-inspired bake. The base and topping come together from a single crumble mixture made with rolled oats, rice flour, and tapioca starch, so there's no fussy separate dough to deal with. Cold butter worked into that mixture creates those irresistible clumpy, golden pockets that shatter just slightly when you bite in. The apple filling gets its depth from ground nutmeg and honey rather than refined spice blends, which means you're not guessing about what's actually in there. For anyone navigating tree nut allergies or sensitivities, this recipe is naturally free of almond flour, almond extract, and any of the other almond-based swaps that sneak into so many modern crumble and bar recipes. The result is a dessert that feels genuinely indulgent — buttery, fragrant, and bubbling at the edges — without any compromise on flavor or texture. Cut into nine generous bars, they're just as good packed into a lunchbox as they are served warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
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Learn more →Ingredients
9 servings
For the crust and crumble
- 1 cup rolled oats
- ¾ cup rice flour
- ¼ cup tapioca starch
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ tsp fine sea salt
- ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cold and cut into ½-inch cubes
For the apple filling
- 3 medium apples (about 1 ½ lb), peeled, cored, and cut into ¼-inch slices
- 3 tbsp honey
- ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
- 1 tbsp tapioca starch
- 1 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
Instructions
- 1
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Line a 9×9-inch baking pan with parchment paper, leaving a 2-inch overhang on two opposite sides to use as handles for lifting the bars out later.
- 2
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the rolled oats, rice flour, tapioca starch (the crust-and-crumble portion), granulated sugar, and fine sea salt until evenly combined. Add the cold butter cubes and work them in with a pastry cutter or your fingertips until the mixture resembles coarse, clumpy crumbs with some pea-sized pieces of butter remaining — do not overwork it into a smooth dough.
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