Nitrate & Nitrite 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 like a proper autumn afternoon. The filling is cooked down on the stovetop with Ceylon cinnamon and cardamom until it turns glossy and jam-like, then layered over a pressed oat base before the whole thing goes into the oven. Coconut sugar and pure maple syrup do all the sweetening here, so there's nothing processed or questionable hiding in the ingredient list. For anyone navigating a diet free from preservatives like nitrates and nitrites, desserts can actually be the easy part — and this one is a great reminder of that. Every component is straightforward and whole: rolled oats, rice flour, ripe pears, cold butter, and warm spice. The tapioca starch is the quiet hero, pulling the pear juices into a thick, cohesive filling that slices cleanly once the bars have cooled. These are equally at home on a weekend dessert plate or wrapped up for a lunchbox treat.
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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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