Citric Acid Free Pear Crumble Bars with Cinnamon and Cardamom
Warm spiced pears tucked between a buttery oat crust and a golden crumble topping — this is the kind of bake that makes your kitchen smell absolutely incredible. Ripe pears are gently cooked down with Ceylon cinnamon and cardamom until their juices thicken into a glossy, jam-like filling, so every bite is fragrant, tender, and deeply satisfying. The base and topping come from the same oat-and-rice-flour mixture, which keeps things simple while delivering that perfect contrast of soft filling and crisp, clumpy crumble. Coconut sugar and pure maple syrup bring a gentle caramel sweetness without any citrus-derived additives, and tapioca starch does the thickening work cleanly and naturally. For anyone navigating citric acid in packaged desserts — where it hides in everything from fruit fillings to flavored coatings — baking from scratch with whole, recognizable ingredients is genuinely the easiest way to stay safe. These bars slice up beautifully once fully cooled, making them just as good for an afternoon snack as they are for dessert. Keep a batch on hand and you'll find yourself reaching for one every single day.
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Learn more →Ingredients
9 servings
For the crust and crumble
- 1 ½ cups rolled oats
- ¾ cup rice flour
- ⅓ cup coconut sugar
- ½ tsp ground ceylon cinnamon
- ¼ tsp ground cardamom
- ¼ tsp salt
- ½ cup unsalted butter, cold and cut into small cubes
- 2 tbsp pure maple syrup
For the pear filling
- 4 medium ripe pears (about 1 ½ lbs), peeled, cored, and cut into ½-inch dice
- 3 tbsp coconut sugar
- 1 tsp ground ceylon cinnamon
- ¼ tsp ground cardamom
- 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, stir together the rolled oats, rice flour, coconut sugar, Ceylon cinnamon, cardamom, and 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. Drizzle in the maple syrup and toss with a fork until the mixture just holds together when pressed.
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