Walnut 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 crumble mixture built on rolled oats, rice flour, and tapioca starch, which means less fuss and a beautifully crisp texture throughout. Cold butter worked in by hand creates those irresistible pea-sized pockets that bake up golden and slightly crunchy on top while staying tender underneath. The apple filling gets its depth from ground nutmeg and honey rather than refined syrups or spice blends that can sometimes hide unwanted additives. Tapioca starch pulls double duty — once in the crust and once in the filling — keeping everything neatly bound without any nut-based thickeners in sight. These bars are completely free of tree nut ingredients by design, so you can serve them at a gathering without having to field questions or check labels twice. Let them cool fully before slicing and you'll get clean, satisfying bars that hold together beautifully on a plate.
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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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