This post contains affiliate links.
With well over a dozen 5-star reviews, this zucchini crisp truly tastes like your favorite apple crisp. Use up your garden-fresh zucchini and make this veggie-packed treat for a late-summer dessert everyone will love!
save this recipe!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 crisp! This unique and delicious treat is the perfect way to use up your veggies, and it’s kid-approved. What better testament is there to a veggie-filled dessert?
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. With a little bit of sensory science magic, we’ll turn the humble zucchini into your favorite apple (zucchini) crisp.
Reader rating
“Just made this on a whim because we have sooooo many zucchini’s. Don’t tell my kids though because they asked for seconds! Great recipe! Thank You” —Amber
here’s what you’ll need
To turn our zucchini into an apple-tasting dessert, we’ll be using everything you’d find in a traditional apple crisp. It’s an interesting combo, and it works!
- Zucchini: This recipe requires a lot of zucchini, about 6 cups. Look for medium-sized zucchini that’s about 7-8″ long.
- Sugars: To sweeten this dessert, we’re using both white sugar and brown sugar.
- Lemon Juice: To add a tangy zest, include ⅓ cup of lemon juice.
- Dry Ingredients: All-purpose flour and rolled oats form the base for our crumble topping. A bit of salt helps amplify the sweet flavors.
- Cinnamon: This helps to trick your brain into thinking that the zucchini is an apple since cinnamon is so synonymous with apples.
- Butter: Use butter to bind together the crumble topping. Make sure it’s cold and cubed.
Go Vegan
To make this crisp vegan, you only need to use vegan butter. Everything else is already vegan-friendly!
making it is simple
The most important part of this zucchini mock apple crisp is cooking the zucchini pieces with sugar for a delicious, sweet flavor.
Step 1: Cook the Zucchini
Preheat the oven to 350ºF (176ºC). Peel and chop the zucchini into bite-sized pieces. 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.
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.
Make It ahead
You can, but zucchini has such a high moisture content that I’d recommend only making it 1 day in advance. Keep the crisp topping separate and top right before baking.
Zucchini Dessert Crisp Recipe (Mock Apple Crisp)
Ingredients
- 6 cups zucchini, about 5 medium zucchinis
- ½ cup sugar, 100 g
- ⅓ cup lemon juice, 80 mL
- 1 cup all-purpose flour, 120 g
- 1 cup rolled oats, 100 g
- 1 cup brown sugar, 100 g
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ cup butter, 1 stick, can use vegan variety, cold and cubed
Instructions
- Zucchini: Preheat oven to 350°F (176°C). Peel and chop zucchini into bite-sized pieces. In an uncovered saucepan, bring zucchini, sugar, and lemon juice to a simmer over medium heat. Cook about 15 to 20 minutes, until zucchini is soft and tastes sweet. Transfer zucchini and liquid to a 9×13 inch (or similarly sized) baking dish.
- Crust: Mix flour, oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt together in a large bowl. Add cubes of cold butter to flour mixture and blend with hands until evenly distributed. Dough will be very crumbly. Sprinkle over the zucchini mixture.
- Bake: For 30 to 45 minutes, or until juices are bubbly and the top is golden brown.
Notes
You can, but zucchini has such a high moisture content that I’d recommend only making it 1 day in advance. Keep the crisp topping separate and top right before baking.
Nutrition
Nutrition information calculated by Sarah Bond, degreed nutritionist.
did you make this?Leave a comment below and tag @liveeatlearn on social media! I love seeing what you’ve made!
Thank you for this! I love crisps but I’m allergic to apples. Definitely gonna try this recipe.
Some of the photos it looks like you used a green zucchini. Others look like you used a yellow one. Did you use 2 different types of squash or does the squash really change color after cooking and baking?
Nope, this is all green zucchini! The color changes to yellow once you cook it with the lemon juice 😀
Just made this on a whim because we have sooooo many zucchini’s. Don’t tell my kids though because they asked for seconds! Great recipe! Thank You
I’m so happy to hear it Amber! Sounds like a tasty problem to have 😀
Oh my goodness!! We have tons of zucchini to use up (first time growing it!) so I’ve been searching out different recipes to try. This is by far my favorite so far! DELICIOUS!
YAY! So glad you enjoyed it, Melissa! Happy zucchini season!
I printed this and plan to make soon because I have a lot of zukes coming in the garden. Does the sugar act as a thickener, or could I use stevia as a substitute for the white sugar part?
Also, why is it that every recipe has this format? I hate that half the page is taken up with stuff like cuisine: American or prep time + cook time and then total time! This always forces the recipe to go onto two pages. I always have to copy and paste and rework the entire thing. Can the print pages be more editable? Anyway, the recipe looks great and I’m looking forward to making it.
The sugar is simply for sweetness, so you could us stevia! I’ll look into ways of customizing the print page – thanks for your feedback, Barbara!
Can you freeze this dessert?
I haven’t tried freezing this zucchini crisp, but I think the texture would be impacted.
Can this be made the day before and then baked the morning of?
Also does this need to be refrigerated?
Yes you could make it in advance, just keep the crumble topping and the zucchini filling separate until ready to make. And yes to refrigeration! 😀
OMG This recipe is delicious! I did add a little pumpkin pie spice in the apples just for the heck of it. This dish is definitely going with me for Thanksgiving potluck. Thank you for sharing.
So happy to hear it, Londa! Enjoy!
I have made a similar recipe for years. I have never cooked the zucchini on the stove before hand though. Everyone always loves it when I make it.
Cooking the zucchini on the stove helps to get some extra moisture out and infuse it with sweet flavors! 😀
Love, love this recipe!! Followed the exact directions (which I never do, lol) , but it’s perfect! Just like apple crisp for sure.