Citric Acid Free Maple-Ginger Pear Crumble Bars
Warm pears, fragrant ginger, and rich maple syrup come together in a bar that feels like autumn in every single bite. The filling is cooked down on the stovetop until the juices turn glossy and jammy, so you get that deep, concentrated fruit flavor without any added citrus juice or citric acid — a sneaky additive that shows up in far too many packaged fruit desserts. Tapioca starch does the thickening work here, keeping everything clean and simple. The crust and crumble are one unified mixture — oats, rice flour, maple syrup, and cold butter — pressed in on the bottom and scattered over the top, giving you that satisfying crunch on both ends of every bar. Fresh ginger brings just enough warmth and brightness to lift the whole thing without relying on any acidic shortcuts. These bars cool into neat, sliceable squares that hold together beautifully, making them just as easy to pack up as they are to eat straight off the rack.
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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
- ⅓ cup pure maple syrup
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- ½ cup 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 pure maple syrup
- 1 tbsp fresh ginger, finely grated
- 1 tbsp tapioca starch
- 1 tbsp unsalted butter
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 1/4 cup amount), baking powder, and salt. 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. Drizzle in the 1/3 cup maple syrup and stir with a fork until the mixture just comes together into a crumbly, slightly sticky dough.
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