Healthy Pear Oatmeal Crumb Bars (2024)

Oatmeal Pear Crumb Bars with perfect shortbread crust, rich and gooey cinnamon spiced pears and an amazing crispy crumble topping makes for the perfect bite of fall bliss! These bars are remarkably easy to make, are vegan and are a great healthy dessert option for people with multiple dietary restrictions.

If you’ve tried my Strawberry Oatmeal Bars, 5-Ingredient Blackberry Pie Bars, or Vegan Peach Pie Bars, you already know what we’re getting into here.

That’s correct. Pure unadulterated lusciousness.

After making countless types of desserts for this blog, the genre my partner and I agree always turn out the best are fruit crumb bars.

We just simply can’t stop eating them, so I couldn’t possibly stop sharing them.

They are silly simple to make, require only six basic ingredients, and are truly addicting.

This to say.

Welcome to your newest obsession: Healthy Pear Crumb Bars.

First and foremost, pears can be highly underrated. They are truly the unsung hero of fall.

While pears have a very subtle flavor, their natural sweetness and the fact that they accept cinnamon and other spice so graciously makes them a beautiful canvas or supporting actor to play well with other ingredients.

Plus, when sauteed or cooked, the texture of sweet pears is just so lovely!

Combine juicy pears with a flaky shortbread crust and delicious buttery crispy topping and you’re looking at a slice of actual sex.

Guaranteed to be a new family favorite!

Let’s discuss the simple ingredients needed to make these easy pear bars.

Ingredients for Pear Pie Crumble Bars:

Pear Oatmeal Bar Crust Ingredients:

Coconut oil, gluten-free all-purpose flour, rolled oats, pure maple syrup (or granulated cane sugar).

This combination of ingredients makes for a perfectly flaky crust and topping that has a buttery shortbread crust vibe and also tastes buttery in spite of being dairy-free.

I love that the oatmeal adds a nutty flavor and rustic essence to the crust and topping, giving it that familiar flavor we all love in an oatmeal treat.

Ingredients For the Pear Filling:

Fresh pears (I use bosc pears, but any type of pear works), pure maple syrup (or cane sugar) ground cinnamon, sea salt, and gluten-free all-purpose flour.

The pear filling turns out so sweet and gooey. It’s everything you want in a delicious fruit pie filling!

Optional Glaze:

Powdered sugar and water (or lemon juice) is all you need to make an easy powdered sugar glaze.

While the bars are plenty sweet and delicious enough as is, adding a simple powdered sugar glaze just skyrockets them to outer space.

Imagine that creamy glaze adding little bits of crisp to an already crispy crumb bar. If you love danishes or glazed donuts, you absolutely must add the glaze!

Can I Make These Grain-Free?

You can absolutely make grain-free pear bars! In fact, I have a great deal of bar recipes that use almond flour for a paleo treat.

To make the crust and topping using almond flour, simply mix together 3 cups of finely ground almond flour, 1/2 cup of melted coconut oil or butter and 3 tablespoons of your favorite sweetener.

Proceed with the recipe as written, and you’re in for delicious Paleo Pear Crumb Bars!

This is the same recipe I’ve used for my Paleo Blueberry Crumb Bars, Vegan Cranberry Crumb Bars and Paleo Vegan Strawberry Crumb Bars.

Have I mentioned this obsession with crumb bars? It’s a thing.

Now that we’re familiar with the ingredients for these pear oatmeal crumb bars, let’s bake them!

How to Make Pear Crumb Bars:

Prepare the Crust and Crumble Topping:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a 9-inch square baking pan with parchment paper (an 8-inch square pan works too).

Mix all of the ingredients for the crust and crumble topping in a mixing bowl until everything is well-combined (coconut oil or butter, gluten-free all-purpose flour, oats, sea salt, and granulated sugar or pure maple syrup).

Note: if you like using your food processor to make crusts, feel free to use it here rather than mixing in a large bowl.

Measure out ½ cup of the mixture and set it aside to use later for topping the bars.

Transfer the rest of the oat mixture to the parchment-lined baking pan and press it into an even layer for the bottom crust. It may seem like there isn’t enough crust at first, but don’t worry – it will all press nicely into a solid layer.

Poke the crust several times with a fork and bake on the center rack of the preheated oven for 18 to 22 minutes, or until it is golden brown around the edges.

Make the Pear Filling:

Combine pears, water, pure maple syrup, salt, and ground cinnamon in a saucepan and stir well. Cover and heat over medium-high heat on the stove top and bring the mixture to a full boil.

Once boiling, stir in the gluten-free all-purpose flour and continue cooking for another 2 to 5 minutes, until the pears have softened and the juices are nice and thick.

Assemble the Pear Cobbler Bars:

Transfer the pear mixture to the prepared baked crust and spread it into an even layer.

Sprinkle the reserved crumble mixture (remaining dough) over the pear layer. Bake for 22 to 30 minutes, or until the topping is golden-brown.

Remove the bars from the oven and allow them to cool completely (to room temperature) before slicing into squares.

If you’d like, you can make an easy powdered sugar glaze by stirring together 1 cup of powdered sugar with 2 tablespoons of water or lemon juice.

Serve and enjoy!

Store any leftover pear pie bars in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. These bars freeze magically well! Simply transfer them to a large zip lock bag and freeze for up to 3 months.

Recipe Adaptations:

• If you aren’t gluten-free, swap the gluten-free all-purpose flour for regular all-purpose flour.
• Similarly, if you aren’t dairy-free, use melted butter instead of coconut oil.
• Trying to keep it lower in sugar? Use sugar-free confectioners sweetener instead of regular powdered sugar for the glaze (if you’re making one).
• If you have ground cardamom or ground nutmeg on hand, feel free to add it to the pear filling for some added warmly spiced nuance. Just remember that a little cardamom or nutmeg goes a long way, so you only need a tiny pinch for a lot of flavor.
• Add 1 and 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla extract to the crust mixture for some depth and warmth if you have it on hand.
• Brown sugar, cane sugar, coconut sugar, and maple sugar all work as replacements for the pure maple syrup.
• Use orange juice instead of water in the pear filling for some citrus flair. You can also add in 1 tablespoon of orange zest.

And that’s it! A magnificent fall dessert that is ideal for pear season!

Serve these pear crumble bars with ice cream and caramel sauce for an even more decadent dessert for a special occasion.

If you love dessert bars, also check out these reader favorites!

More Healthy Dessert Bar Recipes:

• 5-Ingredient Flourless Oatmeal Pumpkin Bars
• No-Bake Peanut Butter Oatmeal Bars
• 5-Ingredient Low-Carb Cherry Pie Bars
• Paleo Apple Pie Bars
• 4-Ingredient Banana Oatmeal Bars
• Keto Lemon Bars

Get your pear on!

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