Zucchini Crisp

Use up your zucchini with this Zucchini Crisp recipe, a delectable dessert with apple flavoring and lots of delicious ingredients. We’re talking brown sugar, lemon juice, and cinnamon!

So you have a few zucchini lying around, and you’re not sure how to use them. I have just the recipe for you — Zucchini Dessert Crisp! This unique and delicious treat is the perfect way to use up your veggies and enjoy true culinary magic.

Zucchini is sort of like tofu and eggplant. It can stand alone and be great, or you can do a bunch of sneaky cooking things to it and transform it into something else. Today we’ll turn the humble, healthy zucchini into apples…zucchini apples, that is! 

Ingredients in zucchini dessert crisp

To turn our zucchini into an apple-tasting dessert, we’ll be using everything from sugar and lemon juice to rolled oats and butter. It’s an interesting combo, and it works! 

• Zucchini: First up, you’ll need 6 cups of zucchini. You can reach that with about 5 medium-sized zuccs. 
• Sugar: Next, set aside ½ cup of sugar. We’re making a dessert, remember?
• Lemon Juice: To add a tangy zest, include ⅓ cup of lemon juice.
• Flour: 1 cup of all-purpose flour become the base to our crumble topping
• Rolled Oats: Use 1 cup of rolled oats to add density, protein, and fiber to our crumble topping!
• Brown Sugar: 1 cup of brown sugar contributes to the delicious flavor. It’s a must.
• Cinnamon: Include 1 tsp of cinnamon helps to trick your brain into thinking that the zucchini is apple.
• Salt: Add ½ tsp of salt, which will actually help amplify the sweet flavors we have going on.
• Butter: Finally, use ½ cup (1 stick) of butter to bind together the crumble topping. You can also use a vegan type if preferred. Either way, it needs to be cold and cubed.

How to make veggie-packed zucchini mock apple crisp

The most important part of this zucchini mock apple crisp is cooking the zucchini pieces with sugar until they bring on a delicious, sweet flavor. After that, it’s smooth sailing with mixing the rest of the ingredients and assembling the dish! Total prep time is about 10 minutes and cooking time is 1 hour.

Step 1: Cook the zucchini
Preheat the oven to 350ºF (176ºC). Peel and chop the zucchinis into bite-sized pieces (you can leave the skin on for a boost of fiber, but removing that green peel is helpful in tricking your brain into thinking this is apple!).

In an uncovered saucepan, bring the zucchini, sugar, and lemon juice to a simmer over medium heat. Cook the zucchini for about 15 to 20 minutes until it becomes soft and tastes sweet. Once cooked, transfer the zucchini and liquid to a 9×13 inch (or similarly sized) baking dish.

Step 2: Create the crumble
Mix the flour, oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt together in a large bowl. Add cubes of cold butter to the flour mixture and blend with your hands until everything is evenly distributed. The dough will be very crumbly. Sprinkle it over the zucchini mixture. 

Step 3: Bake
Bake for 30 to 45 minutes, or until the juices are bubbly and the top is golden brown.

Can You Make Zucchini Into A Sweet Dessert?

By this point in the recipe, you already know the answer — heck yes! But how does zucchini crisp work? What’s the science?

Well, by adding lemon juice and sugar to chopped zucchini and then cooking it, you arrive at a flavor that tastes exactly like apples. Like if you closed your eyes, you would think apples. The acidity of the lemon juice turns the chlorophyll in the zucchini to an olive green color so… they look a little like pickles. But I promise you, this is so good. With a crumble crust and a scoop of old-fashioned ice cream on top, oooh Sugar Honey Iced Tea it’s good!

More mouth watering zucchini bites

Can’t get enough zucchini recipes? I can’t either. Here are some easy go-to recipes that use up my extra zuccs and give my body the veggies that it needs.

• Zucchini Cheddar Bites
• Zucchini Corn Salad
• Spiralized Zucchini Caprese Salad in a Jar
• Whipped Feta, Corn, and Zucchini Crostini