It’s not apple crumble. . . it’s Zucchini Crumble! Diced zucchini is baked in sweet caramel and topped with a crunchy cinnamon oat crumb. This dessert had all the flavors you love in apple pie, but made with veggies!
Did you know that you can swap out apples and use zucchini in your sweet recipes? No seriously. Take a peek at my favorite Apple Crumble here, and you’ll see today’s recipe is practically identical.
Is It Apple or Zucchini
My family had no clue that this crumble was made with zucchini, not apples.
Diced into small chunks, zucchini softens as it bakes, just like apples in apple pie. It blends with all the fall flavors we usually associate with apple, like cinnamon, brown sugar and caramel.
If you have zucchini from your summer garden, but feel the itch to start on your fall baking, this crumble recipe is perfect.
It’s also a superb way to “trick” the zucchini skeptics in your life into enjoying dessert made with vegetables!
When you’re tired of baking zucchini bread and zucchini muffins, try something new with today’s crumble recipe.
Ingredient Notes
- Zucchini – Unlike other sweet treats with zucchini, you don’t shred it for this crumble. Instead, it gets peeled and diced into small pieces. If your zucchini has big seeds, go ahead and scoop them out before dicing.
- Lemon juice – Freshly squeezed lemon adds tartness to the sweet zucchini, mimicking the flavor of a tangy apple.
- Brown sugar – Mixed with butter and baked, this sugar creates a rich caramel sauce that envelopes the zucchini.
- Quick oat -. Finely processed quick cook oatmeal makes the cinnamon crumble topping perfectly crunchy.
Easy Instructions
Just like apple crisp, this zucchini crumble is one of the easiest fall desserts you can make!
- Start by tossing diced zucchini with lemon juice, flour, sugars and spices.
- Mix together the crumble topping in a separate bowl.
- Pour the zucchini mixture into a 2 quart baking dish (or 13×9). Sprinkle the crumble on top.
- Bake to bubbly golden brown perfection.
If you love today’s crumble recipe be sure to try our blueberry crumble or our apple cranberry crumble.
Tips and Tricks
- Serve this zucchini crumble with a scoop of cold vanilla ice cream or fresh whipped cream.
- Use your hands to mix the topping ingredients together. It takes a few minutes but mixing manually is the best way to get the perfect crumb consistency.
- Press the crumble mixture firmly over the zucchini before baking to help it stay in place.
Recipe FAQs
I don’t recommend freezing this one. Zucchini releases a lot of liquid when it thaws so the crumble would be very watery.
I do recommend peeling the zucchini. It keeps it looking more like apple!
You can’t taste the lemon at all! It adds tartness to the zucchini that makes it taste deceptively like apples.
More Fall Baking
- Lemon Zucchini Cake: seriously, nobody will know that you stuck a green veggie in this delicious cake!!
- Zucchini Muffins: perfect and easy to bake. The answer to breakfast is here!
- This Applesauce Cake goes perfect with my homemade Whipped Cream on top!
- Try out this classic Pumpkin Pie for your Thanksgiving table this year!
- Zucchini Brownies: ssshhhhh, don’t tell anyone, but the secret to these fudgy brownies is all about the vegetable!
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Zucchini Crumble
Ingredients
For the Filling:
- 6 cups zucchini peeled and diced
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- ⅔ cup granulated sugar
- ⅓ cup light brown sugar packed
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
For the Crumble:
- 1 cup light brown sugar packed
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup quick cook oatmeal
- ½ cup unsalted butter cubed
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ⅛ teaspoon nutmeg
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine the peeled and diced zucchini with lemon juice, sugars, cinnamon, nutmeg and flour. Pour into a 2 qt. baking dish.
- In a bowl, combine all the crumble top ingredients. Using your hands, combine butter with dry ingredients until crumbly (this takes a few minutes). Sprinkle over the top of the zucchini mixture and press firmly.
- Bake in a 375°F oven for 45 minutes. Remove from oven and enjoy warm with a scoop of ice cream or fresh whipped cream!
My daughter is allergic to lemon. Does the lemon have to go in for it to taste like apple?
Nope. Skip it.