Cashew 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 oat-and-rice-flour mixture, which means less prep and a satisfying crunch in every bite. Honey sweetens the apple filling naturally while ground nutmeg adds that cozy, aromatic depth that makes the whole kitchen smell incredible. Tapioca starch does double duty here, keeping both the crust crisp and the apple layer perfectly jammy rather than watery. For anyone navigating tree nut allergies or sensitivities, these bars are a genuinely safe treat — no cashew-based butters, no nut-heavy crumble toppings, just straightforward pantry ingredients you can trust. Cold butter worked into the oat mixture creates those irresistible clumpy, golden pockets on top that make a crumble worth making in the first place. Let them cool fully before slicing and you'll get clean, sturdy bars that are just as good packed for lunch as they are warm from the pan.
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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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