Mock Apple Crisp with Zucchini

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When Mother Nature blesses your garden, and 12 zucchini all come to harvest at once, you need to get creative.  I have reached out to friends and fellow bloggers to share some ideas.  My friend Robin shared a Zucchini Cobbler recipe that her family enjoys, and she told me that it tastes just like apple cobbler.  I decided to play off of that idea, and try my hand at a Mock Apple Crisp, and you know what?  It’s delicious!  In the words of my son, “Boom! Mind blown!”  

Mock Apple Crisp with Zucchini

Filling

8 cups of peeled, seeded, and sliced zucchini
2/3 cup lemon juice
1 cup sugar
1 1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
dash of cloves

For the filling, you will need 8 cups of peeled, seeded, and sliced zucchini.  My zucchinis are quite large, so I only needed to use 2 of them.  I also found that cutting the zucchini in quarters length wise, and using an ice cream scoop to remove the seeds was very effective.  Add the zucchini to a large pot, and toss with the lemon juice.  You will want to cook the zucchini for about 15-20 minutes until the slices are tender.  They will go from being opaque, to looking like apple slices.  Trust me on this!  

Once the zucchini slices are tender, add sugar, cinnamon, freshly grated nutmeg, and a dash of cloves.  Simmer for another 2 minutes.  This will build the sauce and infuse you zucchini slices with some spiced goodness.  

The contents of your pot will now resemble apple pie filling, and the taste is pretty spot on too!  Put your filling into a 8×8 baking dish.

Topping

1/4 cup flour
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup of coconut
1/4 tsp cinnamon
4 Tbsp butter – melted

In a mixing bowl, combine flour, oats, brown sugar, coconut, and cinnamon together with melted butter to make a crumb topping.  Crumble the topping, and make sure it covers all of the filling.

Bake in a 375° for 30-35 minutes.

The Verdict

Now here’s the deal … Zucchini has a higher water content than apples, so they cook down a lot more.  The delicious filling will bubble up and cover some of your crumb topping.  The dessert is ugly when it first comes out of the oven.  There’s no denying that.  But the taste … the taste is incredible!  Top it with a little vanilla ice cream or some whipped cream, and no one is going to care what it looks like!  Honestly, after the first bite no one will care what it looks like!  I know we didn’t.

After it cooled a bit, I offered up a bowl to my children and they loved it!  My daughter thought it was really apples, and I call that a win.