Nitrate & Nitrite Free Honey-Pear Crumble Bars
These bars are the kind of thing that disappear from the counter before they've fully cooled — golden, crumbly on top, and filled with a glossy, honey-kissed pear filling that tastes like autumn in every bite. The filling comes together in a single saucepan, where ripe pears soften with honey, a touch of nutmeg, and a splash of apple cider vinegar into something that's jammy and fragrant without any added preservatives or curing agents. That matters more than it might seem, because a lot of packaged fruit bars and baked goods sneak in additives you'd never expect. Here, every ingredient is exactly what it sounds like — oats, rice flour, tapioca starch, cold butter, and real fruit. The double-duty crumble does the heavy lifting as both a pressed crust and a rustic, textured topping, giving you that satisfying contrast of crisp edges and tender center in each square. They slice cleanly once cooled and hold together beautifully, making them just as easy to pack up as they are to eat straight from the pan.
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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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