Pecan Free Maple-Ginger Pear Crumble Bars
Warm pears, fragrant ginger, and rich maple syrup come together in a filling that cooks down into something glossy and almost jam-like before it ever hits the oven. The base and crumble topping are built from rolled oats, rice flour, and tapioca starch, bound together with pure maple syrup and cold butter for that irresistible crumbly-yet-cohesive texture. Every layer of flavor here is intentional — the fresh ginger cuts through the sweetness of the pears just enough to keep things lively, while the double hit of maple ties the whole bar together. Tree nut allergies can make crumble-style desserts genuinely tricky since so many recipes lean on chopped nuts for texture, but this one achieves that same satisfying crunch through the oat-and-flour mixture alone — no nuts required at any step. The parchment overhang trick makes lifting and slicing the cooled bars clean and easy, which means they actually look as good as they taste. These are the kind of bars that disappear fast at a gathering, and nobody will guess they were built around a dietary need rather than just a really good recipe.
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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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