Let’s Get Ready To Crumble 🔊

Imagine me saying that in my best ring announcer voice. And then let’s talk apples and keto.

Guess what? Apples aren’t really keto (or low carb) but they are really good. They’re also not hard to fake because, unless you are biting incisors first into a raw Honeycrisp, you can’t tell the difference. It’s all covered in butter and cinnamon anyway, right? RIGHT.

Apples to Apples & Zucchini to Apples

Those up there, not apples. ZUCCHINIs actually. Peeled and gutted for authenticity, bathed in butter and cinnamon with a hint of lemon juice to give it that tartness that apples tend to have, all with about 1/4 of the carbs of good old fashion apples. AND it’s a vegetable.

So there’s that.

Now you might be thinking, “Liz….this is a lot of work! De-seeding all of this zucchini seems crazy!” and then I’ll tell you it’s less work than apples so just get to peeling and trust the process.

Anything dessert related is completely worth to me, but if you want to scale it down and have a mini-treat, check out the Zucchini Crumble for Two in my ebook!

Then, make the process even easier with an Apple Corer and save yourself a lot of hassle. Now on to the fakery!

Sneaky Apple Crumble Bars 🍎 {Keto Friendly & Gluten Free}

Because we love eating vegetables that don’t look or taste like vegetables!

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The lazy way to make this is to whip up the crust and
crumble all in one bowl.
Then you can just fill your 6×6 baking dish with a decent layer of crust
and reserve the leftover for the crumble top!

Make sure to cut your zucchini into small hunks. 

I love a big hunk as much as the next girl, 
but small hunks work better here.

Speedy tip time!
Get everything measured and ready, then put the crust in the
oven right when you begin cooking the zucchini.

That will time it perfectly for the crust to bake and cool, the filling to cook
and the crumble to chill out in the fridge.

Now just basically dump everything in. 
Top it with crumbled bits of goodness. 
Bake it. Eat it.
The End! 

If you want it to have a bit more goo to your filling, add a bit of water
(a few tbsps) and the optional xanthan gum
or cornstarch if you aren’t low carb.

I like it as is because it’s a crumble and not pie, but that’s your choice!

Continue to Content

Sneaky Apple Crumble Bars {Keto Friendly, Gluten Free}

Yield: 16 bars

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 40 minutes

Apples to Apples and Zucchini to Apples! Crumble bars with a sweet zucchini filling and a shortbread crust. Crumble that, carbs!

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Ingredients

Crust/Crumble

• 1 1/2 cup Almond Flour
• 2 tbsp Coconut Flour
• 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp Granulated Sweetener (Swerve for Keto)
• 1/8 tsp Baking Soda
• 1/4 tsp Xanthan Gum
• 2 Pinches Salt
• 5 tbsp Butter, chilled

Fake Apple Filling

• 3 medium Zucchini, peeled and cored to remove seeds
• 4 tbsp Butter
• 1 tsp Cinnamon
• 2 tbsp Granulated Sweetener (Swerve or other)
• 2 tbsp Lemon Juice
• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 1/8 tsp Xanthan Gum (to thicken but not required, other starches will work in a pinch)

Instructions

Crust/Crumble

1. Heat oven to 350.
2. Whisk together Flours, 1/4 cup of the Sweetener, Xanthan Gum (if using), Baking Soda, and salt until everything is evenly combined.
3. Using a pastry cutter (or a potato masher!) cut in the cold butter until the dough resembles sand.
4. Line a 6x6 baking dish with parchment and press only 1/2 to 3/4 of the dough mixture into the pan, reserving the rest for the crumble topping. Bake for 10 minutes or until slightly browning.
5. For the Crumble: Mix the remaining 2 tbsp Sweetener to the leftover dough mixture and refrigerate. That's your crumble!

Fake Apple Filling

1. Heat all of the filling ingredients EXCEPT the xanthan gum in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir frequently to allow even cooking.
2. Once the butter is melted reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for about 20 minutes or until the zucchini is soft enough to easily pierce with a fork. *It won't soften much more in the oven later.
3. Dust the filling with xanthan gum and mix well to thicken. Remove from heat.
4. Taste it. Make sure it's sweet enough for you and has enough cinnamon flavor, then adjust accordingly.

Assemble

1. Pour the zuchini filling into the prepared crust. You may have a bit leftover, so just eat that.
2. Spread the reserved chilled crumble topping over the filling and pop it in your 350° oven for somewhere close to 15 minutes. Just long enough to cook the crumb and give it a gentle browning.
3. Cool slightly, cut into bars and serve with something delicious like ice cream and coffee.

Nutrition Information

Yield 16 Serving Size 1 bar
Amount Per Serving Calories 128Total Fat 12gCarbohydrates 4gNet Carbohydrates 2gFiber 2gProtein 3g

Did you make this recipe?

I'd love to see how it turned out! Share your pics on Instagram with #gorgeouseats and don't forget to tag me! @Inspectorgoreous