Who doesn’t love an incredible hunk of freshly baked apple crisp, with a little bit of homemade, vanilla bean ice cream; Am I right, or am I right?
Apple crisp is much easier to whip up at home than a pie is, and zucchinis are much easier to core and cut than apples are.
They are far, far more plentiful in the garden during summer, and quite a bit cheaper.
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What?! Did you just say “zucchinis?” What’s going on here?!
Yes. I just said zucchinis.
This recipe is about to school ALL of you on just how incredible this “lowly” garden vegetable is.
The best part?
This recipe works best with those massive, school-bus-sized, heavy, blunt-force-weapon zucchinis that went unseen in the zucchini patch; how mind blowing is this?! It’s like every gardener’s dream has came true- you’ll have no issue using them up!
And if you don’t have any zuke seeds on hand, I’ll have you know that you can go from seed to fruit in less than 60 days; and you can find the seeds for as low as $0.99 to $1.99 too! (This is one of the seed companies I use for organic/non-GMO on a budget. I love Baker’s Creek, but I like budget seeds, too.)
Unbelievable, Jaw Dropping, Pot Luck-Worthy Mock Apple Crisp
Now, I need to let you in on a secret:
This recipe is going to use up 8 cups of zucchini.
This shouldn’t be a problem for those of you who have about 562 pounds of zucchini sitting in your laundry room floor, because the neighbors threatened to place a restraining order against you if you left one more basket of squash on their door step.
Or for those of you who have no idea what you’re doing, and decided it was an excellent idea to plant a 100 foot row of zucchini plants thinking “I LOVE ZUCCHINI! I can’t plant too many of those!” Firstly, you are flat out crazy, and I hope you’ve realized that at this point. Secondly, your entire family is going to need counseling after this crop is over (or before, whenever the nightmares of drowning in floods of zucchini begin).
All joking aside, this recipe really is going to save your counter space; even better? You can make several batches of this, and use it for racking up “brownie points” with friends and family. It’s seriously delicious, and for the first time, you won’t be shunned by family, friends, and neighbors for showing up with more zucchini. As a matter of fact, when larger zukes are sliced correctly, the pieces take on (and hold onto) the shape of an apple slice! People won’t notice unless you tell them!
So, let’s get to it…. Start peeling!
Ingredients
Filling:
- 8 cups of peeled, cored, and sliced zucchini
- 2/3 cup lemon juice
- 1 tsp nutmeg
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 to 2 tsp ground cinnamon (season to taste)
Crisp:
- 1 cup all purpose flour (or bread flour, which I used & works well!)
- 1 cup of oats (I used old fashioned, but you can used rolled)
- 1 1/3 cups of packed brown sugar
- 2/3 cup warmed butter
- pinch of cinnamon (to garnish)
Optional Ingredients/Toppings:
- Ice cream
- Whipped cream (or cool whip)
The Instructions
- For the zucchini, you can use the biggest ones you’ve got. Just peel them, remove the ends, halve them, core them (remove the contents of the seed cavity), and slice them. You’ll see where the apple slice shape comes in! If you liked my pretty purple ceramic peeler in the image further up, I love that thing!
- Place your slices into a pot with the lemon juice. The lemon juice adds a tart flavor, and you may decide to use less. Cook them at a medium heat stirring frequently (to avoid browning), until the zucchini is nice and soft, between 17 and 20 minutes. It took mine closer to 20 minutes, as I used a saucepan.
3. Once the pieces are evenly cooked, preheat the oven to 375*F. Add the rest of the filling ingredients to the zucchini and stir thoroughly; pour them into a 9 in x 13 in glass baking dish.
4. Next, bring all of the crisp ingredients together into a crumble, except for the optional cinnamon. Evenly spread the crisp topping over the cooked zucchini, and garnish the top with a sprinkle of cinnamon.
5. Bake for 60 minutes, or until the crisp becomes golden brown. Allow the crisp to cool for 15 to 20 minutes, until it is warm rather than piping hot.
6. Serve with ice cream, whipped cream, or whatever else your heart desires!
Not too shabby for a dessert from scratch, huh?
