Cinnamon Free Honey-Nutmeg Apple Crumble Bars
Warm baked apples, golden oat crumble, and a drizzle of honey — these bars hit every note you want from a cozy fruit dessert. The filling gets its warmth entirely from ground nutmeg, which brings a subtly earthy, aromatic depth without any of the spice that so many apple recipes reflexively reach for. That single swap makes all the difference for anyone who needs to avoid cinnamon but still craves something that feels genuinely autumnal and indulgent. The crust and crumble are built on rolled oats, rice flour, and tapioca starch, giving them a satisfying crunch and a slightly rustic texture that holds together beautifully once cooled. Cold butter worked into the dry ingredients creates those irresistible pea-sized crumbles that turn deep golden in the oven while the honey-glazed apple slices bubble underneath. Letting the bars cool completely is the one step worth being patient about — it's what transforms the filling from loose and syrupy into a sliceable, jammy layer that stays put when you cut into the slab. These are the kind of bars you'll want to wrap up and bring somewhere, though they have a way of disappearing before you ever make it out the door.
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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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