Ginger Free Honey-Pear Crumble Bars
These bars are the kind of thing you pull out of the oven and immediately want to cut into before they've had a chance to cool. Ripe pears get cooked down with honey, a touch of nutmeg, and a splash of apple cider vinegar until they turn glossy and jam-like — sweet, fragrant, and just complex enough to feel special. The base and crumble are built from rolled oats, rice flour, and tapioca starch, which gives the whole thing a satisfying, slightly rustic texture that holds together beautifully once cooled. So many fruit bar recipes lean on warming spices that include ginger as a default, but this one skips it entirely without sacrificing any depth — the nutmeg and honey do all the heavy lifting. Cold butter worked into the dry ingredients creates those irresistible clumpy, golden crumbs on top that shatter just slightly when you bite in. They're easy enough for a casual weekend bake and polished enough to bring somewhere, and nine generous bars means there's plenty to share — or not.
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Learn more →Ingredients
9 servings
For the crust and crumble
- 1 ½ cups rolled oats
- ¾ cup rice flour
- ¼ cup tapioca starch
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ tsp fine sea salt
- ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cold and cut into ½-inch cubes
For the pear filling
- 3 medium ripe pears (about 1 ½ lb), peeled, cored, and cut into ½-inch dice
- 3 tbsp honey
- 1 tbsp tapioca starch
- ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
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. Scatter the cold butter cubes over the dry mixture 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 work it until smooth.
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