Turmeric 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 nutmeg for its cozy depth, which means the flavor is genuinely complex without relying on any of the bright yellow spices that can sneak into so many spiced desserts. Rice flour and tapioca starch do double duty here, building a tender, slightly crisp crust and helping the apple filling set up beautifully once the bars cool. Cold butter worked into the oat-based crumble creates those irresistible clumpy, golden pockets on top that shatter just slightly when you bite in. Honey ties the whole thing together, adding a floral sweetness that granulated sugar alone just can't replicate. Let them cool fully before cutting — the parchment overhang makes lifting the whole slab out of the pan a breeze, and you'll get clean, bakery-worthy bars every time.
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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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