Artificial Flavors 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 without a single synthetic flavor in sight. So many packaged desserts and even store-bought baking mixes sneak in artificial flavoring agents, which can be frustrating when you just want something that tastes genuinely homemade. Here, the sweetness comes entirely from honey and fresh apple, while ground nutmeg does all the aromatic heavy lifting in the most natural way possible. The crust and crumble are built from rolled oats, rice flour, and tapioca starch, which gives them a satisfying texture that holds together beautifully once cooled. Cold butter worked into those dry ingredients creates those irresistible clumpy, golden bits on top that make a crumble bar worth eating in the first place. Letting the bars cool completely is the one step you really cannot rush — it's what transforms the bubbling apple filling into a sliceable, set layer that won't fall apart when you cut into it. These are the kind of bars you bring to a gathering and quietly feel smug about when everyone asks for the recipe.
About FigFig is a food discovery app that helps you find foods and recipes that fit your dietary needs. Whether you have food allergies, intolerances, or follow a specific diet, Fig makes it easy to eat with confidence.
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.
Want the full recipe?
Create a Fig account for step-by-step instructions, access to our full recipe library, and more!