From 2014-2016 I chronicled my crafty endeavors on the site Adventures-in-Making. I’ve selected a few of those DIY’s, Recipes, and other posts to share on the site.

You probably won’t believe me when I say that a zucchini can taste just like an apple. It’s true!

We’ve had another bumper crop of squash this year, and we’ve had to get clever with recipes. When this happened last year I had the mad idea of cooking a zucchini like an apple, and sure enough, I’m not the first one to do so. I added it to my “Revenge Blackberry Crumble” recipe and I haven’t gone back. (I’ve included some handy tricks at the bottom of the recipe.)

Vegan Zucchini & Berry Crumble

Recipe Type: Dessert

Author: Alison Lang – adventures-in-making.com

Prep time: 30 mins

Cook time: 50 mins

Total time: 1 hour 20 mins

This delicious crumble is a quick, easy and sweet way to use those extra zucchini and berries. Plus it’s vegan!

Ingredients

4 cups of zucchini, deseeded, skinned & sliced into small pieces (Instructions included)
1/2 cup of lemon juice
4 cups of blackberries (or berry of choice)
1 cup of granulated raw cane sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 teaspoons of orange zest
1/3 cup orange juice
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cup granola
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons cinnamon
pinch of salt
3/4 cup cold margerine, cut onto small pieces

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350º.
Peel zucchini, cut open long-wise and scoop out seeds. Slice zucchini in small, apple slice sized pieces.
Place zucchini slices in a large mixing bowl and cover with lemon juice.
Add the berries, granulated sugar, cornstarch, zest, and juice to the zucchini mixture, and mix well with a large spoon.
Pour into a lightly greased 13×9 inch baking dish.
In another mixing bowl, combine next 6 ingredients with hands until crumbly.
Place granola mixture on top of fruit, making a thin layer across the whole pan.
Bake for 45-50 minutes, or until the mixture begins to bubble up around the crust.
Allow to cool slightly before serving. Great with any version of ice cream.

Prep Tips

The slight bitterness of a zucchini seems to come from the seeds and peel. You can use a vegetable peeler or sharp knife to take care of the outside, and use a spoon to scoop out the seeds in the center. Then you have a blank slate to cook with.

I am a sucker for orange zest. I found that I often had every ingredient I needed EXCEPT an orange for zesting. Now I zest any orange that comes through the door, fold the zest lightly in foil or plastic wrap and freeze until I have a recipe that needs it.

Similarly, you can freeze blackberries when you have too many. Lay them out on a cookie sheet in the freezer. When they are completely frozen (after a day or so) dump them into a ziplock or container and freeze until you’re ready to use them.

It’s often just as easy to make something vegan, and why not when you will be sharing it with others? You can substitute butter if you’d prefer.