Lactose Free Honey-Pear Crumble Bars
These bars hit that perfect sweet spot between a rustic fruit crumble and a handheld dessert you can actually pack in a lunchbox. Ripe pears get cooked down with honey, a touch of nutmeg, and a splash of apple cider vinegar until they turn glossy and jammy — the kind of filling that smells incredible and tastes even better. The base and topping come from the same buttery oat-and-rice-flour mixture, so you get a crisp, golden crumble on top and a sturdy, press-in crust on the bottom without any extra fuss. Because the recipe skips milk, cream, and cheese entirely, it naturally sidesteps the dairy that causes the most trouble — the only dairy present is the butter, which is very low in lactose and well tolerated by most people who avoid it. Tapioca starch does double duty here, binding the crust and thickening the fruit filling to that perfect jammy consistency without any dairy-based thickeners. Let them cool completely before cutting and you'll get clean, neat bars that hold together beautifully on a plate or wrapped up for later.
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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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