Gut Friendly Honey-Nutmeg Apple Crumble Bars
Warm spiced apples, golden crumble, and a drizzle of honey — this is the kind of baked treat that feels indulgent without leaving you feeling weighed down afterward. The base and topping are built from rolled oats, rice flour, and tapioca starch, which means you're skipping the wheat without sacrificing that satisfying crunch. Tapioca starch does double duty here, binding both the crust and the apple filling so everything holds together beautifully when you slice into it. The filling leans on honey instead of refined sugar overload, and a whisper of nutmeg gives the apples a warmth that feels almost nostalgic. Cold butter worked into the oat-and-flour mixture creates those irresistible clumpy, golden crumbs that make a crumble bar worth eating in the first place. Letting the bars cool completely is the one step you really can't rush — it's what takes them from bubbling fruit filling to clean, sliceable squares you can actually pick up and enjoy.
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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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