Honey Free Maple-Ginger Pear Crumble Bars
These bars are everything you want in a fall-inspired bake — tender spiced pear filling, a buttery oat crumble, and just enough warmth from fresh ginger to make the whole kitchen smell incredible. Pure maple syrup does all the sweetening here, both in the crust and the filling, so there's no honey involved at any step, making this a genuinely safe and satisfying option for anyone avoiding it. The combination of rice flour and tapioca starch gives the crust a delicate, slightly crisp texture that holds together beautifully once cooled, without tasting grainy or heavy. Cooking the pears down with butter, maple syrup, and grated ginger before they go into the pan means the filling is glossy, jammy, and deeply flavored rather than watery or bland. The double-duty crumble — pressed as a base and scattered on top — is one of those clever techniques that makes the bars sturdy enough to slice and pack without falling apart. Let them cool completely before cutting and you'll be rewarded with clean edges and layers that actually stay put.
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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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