Plum Crumble Bars (Gluten Free + Vegan)
These Gluten-Free Vegan Plum Crumble Bars have a delicious oatmeal crust and crumble topping that’s filled with a simple plum jam. These delectable bars highlight one of the summer’s best stone fruits in a delicious gluten-free and vegan dessert.

This site is SLACKING on the plum recipes. As in, they are only in one recipe – this Summer Stone Fruit Crisp. How lonely. After tasting how magically delicious the plums and pluots at the farmer’s markets here in San Diego were last week, I knew plums definitely needed to be in another Bakerita recipe, and they needed to be the star.
So, how about those plums?
I always bring home plums since I love them, but they usually get eaten before they make their way into a recipe. NOT THIS TIME. This time, I tossed them into a pot, cooked down with some delicious spices, and tucked the jam between two layers of oatmeal crumble.

What a nice, comfy little bed of crumble they got ;)… until they got devoured, that is. This recipe isn’t hard to make, but it does require a little bit of time in front of the stove to make that plum jam filling.
In all honesty, it’s probably possible to just toss the plum chunks into the filling ingredients and layer it on the crust, but the concentrated, sweet plummy flavor of the jam is remarkably good. I think it’s worth the effort. Especially after it’s baked with the crumb topping, the sugars caramelize in a deliciously chewy, jammy filling. The flavor is so scrumptious.

Since we cook down the plums with maple syrup, vanilla bean powder, and cinnamon (and some tapioca flour to help thicken), they take on this sweet warmth from those warm tastes. It comes together in the most delightful way that will make you take bite after bite, trying to figure out what is so delicious in there.
Let’s make the gluten-free crust & crumble!
As usual, they are one and the same. I don’t want to have to make a separate crust and crumble when one dough can do the job just as well!

I used a mix of almond flour and coconut flour, which I find gives me the best texture. The almond flour stays nice and tender while the coconut flour helps everything hold together and get nice and crunchy. We use oats too, for some delicious texture.
We warm up the flavor by adding some cinnamon. I just dump the cinnamon bottle over everything lately, it seems. Can’t get enough!! To bring the dough together, maple syrup, coconut oil, and almond butter come together. The result is a sweet, tender, nutty crust that pairs perfectly with the plums.

We don’t doll this recipe for plum crumble bars with chocolate or any other bells and whistles. They don’t need it! They’re just simple, beautifully flavored crumb bars featuring one of the summer’s best and most plentiful ingredients: plums. I hope you’ll give them a try to appreciate just how delicious these are. Sending all of you so much love, today and each day to come. Make it a good one!
Want more stone fruit goodness?
- Peach Crisp (Gluten-Free & Vegan)
- Plum Chocolate Upside Down Cake (Gluten-Free & Vegan)
- Summer Stone Fruit Crisp (Gluten-Free & Vegan)
- Easy Peach Cobbler (Gluten-Free, Paleo & Vegan)

Plum Crumble Bars
- Prep Time: 45 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 70 minutes
- Yield: 16 bars 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Cuisine: American
Description
These Plum Crumble Bars have a delicious oatmeal crust and crumble topping that’s filled with a simple plum jam. These simple bars highlight one of the summer’s best stone fruits in a delicious gluten-free and vegan dessert.
Ingredients
For the crust and crumble
- 1¾ cups (168g) blanched almond flour
- 1 cup gluten-free rolled oats
- ¼ cup coconut flour
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
- ⅓ cup maple syrup
- ⅓ cup coconut oil, softened, texture similar to softened butter, use refined for no coconut flavor
- ¼ cup almond butter
For the plum filling
- 3 cups fresh plums, pitted and chopped into small chunks (I used 5 plums)
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon tapioca flour
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla bean powder or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F and line an 8×8-inch square pan with parchment paper. Grease with nonstick cooking spray.
- In a mixing bowl, combine the almond flour, gluten-free rolled oats, coconut flour, and cinnamon; whisk to combine. Add the maple syrup, coconut oil, and almond butter. Stir until the dry ingredients are completely moistened and it sticks together but is still a little crumbly. Press 2/3 of the crust into the prepared pan, reserving the rest for the topping. Place the extra dough into the refrigerator.
- Bake crust for 10 minutes and then set aside to cool.
- While the crust bakes, add the plums to a saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the maple syrup, tapioca flour, vanilla bean powder, and cinnamon. Cook down the chopped plums for about 20 minutes or until they’re mostly broken down and reducing a little bit. Put in the blender or food processor and blitz for a few seconds to blend up the skins.
- Return the blended plum mixture to the saucepan and cook for 15 minutes or until it cooks down into a thick paste. When you run a wooden spoon through the center, it should take a second before it floods back into the middle. When it’s reached that thicker consistency, pour and spread evenly over the baked crust.
- Sprinkle the remaining crumble topping evenly over the top of the plum jam.
- Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the topping is a nice golden brown.
- Let cool completely in the refrigerator before cutting into squares. Store in the refrigerator for 3-4 days or in the freezer for a few months.
These look and sound sooo good Rachel! Love that they’re vegan too! I haven’t had nearly enough fruity desserts this summer but that definitely has to change soon :)
Sounds delish! Could you sub blueberries or even peaches for the plums or do you have other recipes for those?
GIRL YES! I love plums (and pluots) and these bars look like such a tasty way of enjoying the fruit. Loving how simple, healthy, and delicious they look!
Thank you so much for the love, Julia!! :)
I just bought some beautifully ripe pluots and this recipe is the perfect canvas for them. And these bars are totally healthy enough to eat for breakfast ;)
Agreeed! Hope you love the bars, Ashley.
These are the prettiest bars, love that golden crumble!
Thank you so much, Laura!
Will peanut butter do well to replace almond butter? And any suggestions to sub with coconut flour? I always try and use whatever I have in the pantry!
Hi Maia, yes but you will taste the peanut butter flavor! Should still be delicious though :) do you want to sub out the coconut flour, or use more coconut flour? If you want to get rid of it in this recipe, use an extra 1/2 cup almond flour in it’s place. Unfortunately I don’t think it would do a great job in place of the almond flour, here.
yum! Can you sub other fruits?
Absolutely! Any other fruit you like should work :)
Hi Rachel. I plan to make this recipe this week. However, I don’t have vanilla bean powder. Would vanilla extract work in its place? If so, the same amount?
Hi Julie, yes vanilla extract will absolutely work. I’d use 1 teaspoon instead, since the powder is more concentrated. I updated the recipe to reflect that – thanks for your question and enjoy!
Hi Rachel: This is the first recipe of yours I’ve made. I can’t eat dairy so I turn to vegan dessert bloggers when I’m having company to find a recipe that will satisfy my dairy eating friends. Your plum crumble bars were delicious to me and my guests. And when I had a question about the vanilla powder, you were quick to reply. I’m pleased to have found you. I’ll be visiting your site often as I’m a new fan! Thanks Rachel.
So thrilled you loved the bars, Julie!! Thanks so much for your kind words, and I hope you find so many more recipes you love :)
Hi, your food is so yummy. So much so that I bought your cookbook and have made delicious foods from it. My problem is that almost all the baked goods involve almond flour. My daughter is allergic to almond. Her wife has celiac so she needs to eat gf. I can’t make your desserts for them and I’d really love to. My daughter is also allergic to cashew. She can have oat, and gf flours like cup for cup. What can I use instead of almond flour in your recipes?
Hi Kimberly! So glad you enjoy my recipes. Oat flour can generally be substituted well for almond flour, and you may want to look into sunflower seed flour (easy to make at home) or tigernut flour, which both work super well in place of almond flour. Hope this helps!!
Thank you! I’ll try your suggestions
Could I just add the plums with flavourings onto the crust in the pan top with crumble and bake. (I prefer my fillings chunky and tart.)
Will it hold together?
Hi Rita! If your plums are super juicy, it may add too much moisture and make things a little soft/crumbly.
Is there a way to do this without the oats?
I would recommend increasing the amount flour to 2 cups and replacing the oats with chopped flaked coconut to recreate a similar texture. Hope this helps!
I made these last night and they’re very good! The plums I used were frozen but still worked great! I made extra jam and dolloped it on top when I served them with (non dairy) ice cream. Excellent! I will make them again but with vegan butter. I feel the coconut oil flavor overcame the subtle plum flavors.
Thanks for sharing, Dana! Glad you enjoyed them. Refined coconut oil is also always an option when you want no coconut flavor.