Pecan Free Pear Crumble Bars with Cinnamon and Cardamom
Warm spiced pears tucked between a buttery oat crust and a golden crumble topping — these bars are the kind of thing that makes your kitchen smell like the best version of autumn. The filling gets cooked down on the stovetop with coconut sugar, Ceylon cinnamon, and cardamom before it ever hits the oven, so every bite is glossy, jammy, and deeply fragrant. Tapioca starch pulls the pear juices into a thick, luscious consistency that holds together beautifully once the bars cool — no soggy bottoms here. The crumble itself is built from rolled oats, rice flour, cold butter, and a drizzle of maple syrup, giving it that irresistible clumpy, crisp texture without relying on any tree nuts whatsoever. For anyone navigating nut-free baking, store-bought crumble bars and granola-style treats are often a minefield of shared equipment and surprise add-ins, so having a from-scratch version you can fully trust is genuinely worth it. These slice into neat, satisfying bars after cooling, making them just as practical for lunchboxes or afternoon snacks as they are for a casual dessert spread.
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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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