Paraben 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 filling leans on honey instead of refined syrups or processed sweeteners, and the crust comes together with rolled oats, rice flour, and tapioca starch, keeping the ingredient list refreshingly straightforward. For anyone navigating paraben sensitivities, packaged baked goods and conventional dessert mixes can be a minefield of preservatives and synthetic additives, so making something from scratch with whole, recognizable ingredients is genuinely the safer and more satisfying route. The cold butter gets worked into the dry mixture until it forms those irresistible clumpy crumbs that bake up crisp on the bottom and lightly crunchy on top. Ground nutmeg brings a warm, slightly earthy depth to the apple slices that feels cozy without being overpowering. Once the filling bubbles at the edges and the topping turns deep golden, you know you're close to something really good — and the parchment sling makes lifting and slicing the whole slab almost effortless. These bars are the kind of thing you'll want to make on a Sunday afternoon and find yourself sneaking from the pan well before they're fully cool.
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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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