Adapted from my award-winning zucchini bread recipe, this zucchini crumb cake is moist, cinnamon-spiced, and packed with summer’s bountiful green vegetable. Finished with a buttery brown sugar crumb topping and velvety vanilla icing, this cake will have everyone begging for veggies in the morning.
One reader, Susie, commented: “Absolutely perfect! The entire cake disappeared faster than brownies typically do here…think that says something. ★★★★★”
This zucchini crumb cake doesn’t taste like vegetables at all, and that’s a promise! Just 100% dessert goodness.
Zucchini Crumb Cake Details
- Texture: Today’s breakfast dish is soft, moist, and cakey just like my New York-style crumb cake recipe.
- Flavor: Expect a flavorful cinnamon-spice cake with extra goodness from the sweet, buttery crumb topping.
- Ease: This recipe can be prepared ahead of time and then whipped out the next time you’re hosting a special breakfast or brunch. You can freeze the baked and cooled cake for up to 3 months. When you’re ready to enjoy it, bring it to room temperature first and then drizzle with fresh vanilla icing, if desired, before serving.
And bonus: You don’t even need a mixer to make it!
Zucchini’s Magical Disappearing Act!
I enjoy zucchini in many baked goods beyond classic zucchini bread and zucchini muffins and I know you will too—have you tried zucchini oatmeal cookies and zucchini cake (or even chocolate zucchini cake) yet?
Here’s why you should bake with zucchini:
- Zucchini adds pure moisture with zero vegetable flavor. I wouldn’t bake a cake with a green vegetable if I could taste it. It’s like using carrots to make a delicious carrot cake, except that zucchini hides even better. It’s truly magical in its disappearing act in baked goods.
- There are only so many zucchini side dishes to make! (Zucchini casserole or zucchini fritters, anyone?!) Zucchini grows abundantly in the summer, and it’s fun to incorporate this vegetable when baking during its peak season. Would your neighbors prefer you show up at their door with fresh zucchini from your garden or a homemade zucchini crumb cake?
For even more inspiration, here are 20+ of my favorite zucchini recipes—both sweet and savory! You absolutely don’t want to miss these savory zucchini biscuits.
Key Ingredients You Need & Why
- Flour: Sturdy all-purpose flour is the base of this crumb cake.
- Butter: It creates a wonderfully moist crumb.
- Sugar: A combination of brown and granulated sugars in the cake batter adds more moisture and the best taste and texture. Using only brown sugar in the crumb topping ensures a soft, sweet crumb.
- Zucchini: We’ll use 1 cup (130g) of shredded zucchini. I recommend a box grater to shred the vegetable.
- Cinnamon: We can’t have crumb topping without cinnamon! Because we use cinnamon in both the cake and topping layers, this zucchini crumb cake is perfectly cinnamon-y.
Optional Icing
Feel free to dress the zucchini breakfast cake up with a drizzle of vanilla icing, just like I do with my coffee cake and crumb cake muffins. I like topping the cake with icing while it’s still warm, so it seeps into all of the nooks and crannies. You could also use maple icing from my maple brown sugar cookies, brown butter icing from my apple blondies, or simply leave the cake plain—that crumb topping is delicious all on its own!
Similar Baking Recipes You Will Love
- Cream Cheese Zucchini Muffins
- Chocolate Zucchini Bread
- Carrot Cake Cupcakes
- Morning Glory Muffins
- Carrot Cake
Zucchini Crumb Cake
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 35 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour, 5 minutes
- Yield: serves 9-12
- Category: Cake
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Adapted from my zucchini bread recipe, this zucchini crumb cake is moist, cinnamon-spiced, and hidden with summer’s favorite green vegetable inside. Topped with a buttery brown sugar crumb topping and sweet vanilla icing, veggies for breakfast never tasted so good!
Ingredients
Crumb Topping
- 1/2 cup (63g) all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup (100g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 cup (4 Tbsp; 56g) unsalted butter, melted
Cake
- 1 and 1/2 cups (188g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/2 cup (8 Tbsp; 113g) unsalted butter, melted + slightly cooled
- 1/3 cup (65g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1/3 cup (65g) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup (130g) shredded zucchini (no need to blot)
- optional: vanilla icing
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Grease an 8-inch or 9-inch square or round baking pan, springform pan, or pie dish or line with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Make the crumb topping: With a fork, mix the flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon together in a small bowl. Mix in the melted butter. Don’t over-mix; you want the flour-y crumbles. Place in the refrigerator while you make the cake batter.
- Make the cake: Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg together in a large bowl. Whisk the butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, egg, and vanilla extract together in a medium bowl, then whisk in the shredded zucchini. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix until combined. Batter will be thick. Pour/spread into prepared baking pan, then sprinkle the crumb topping evenly on top.
- Bake for 35-38 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out mostly clean with no wet batter. (A few moist crumbs are ok!) If you find the top of the cake is browning too quickly in the oven, loosely cover it with aluminum foil.
- Remove the cake from the oven and set on a wire rack. Allow to slightly cool for a few minutes before slicing. I suggest drizzling with vanilla icing while the cake is still warm!
- Cover leftover cake tightly and store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Notes
- Make Ahead Instructions: Freeze baked and cooled cake for up to 3 months. Bring to room temperature and drizzle with vanilla icing, if desired, before serving.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): 8-inch Square Baking Pan, 9-Inch Square Baking Pan, 9-inch Round Baking Pan, 9-Inch Springform Pan, or 9-inch Pie Dish | Glass Mixing Bowls | Whisk | Box Grater | Cooling Rack
- 9×13-inch Crumb Cake: Doubling the recipe will be too much batter for a 9×13-inch cake pan. I recommend doubling the recipe, filling the pan halfway, then using any extra batter for muffins. Bake time for 9×13-inch crumb cake will be around 45-50 minutes, but use a toothpick to test for doneness. Instructions for baking zucchini muffins are below.
- Zucchini Crumb Cake Muffins: Make the crumb topping and batter as written. Grease a 12-count muffin pan or line with liners. Spoon the batter evenly into each liner, filling each all the way to the top. Press crumb topping into each. Bake the muffins for 5 minutes at 425°F (218°C) then, keeping the muffins in the oven, reduce the oven temperature to 350°F (177°C). Bake for an additional 13-16 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. The total time these muffins take in the oven is about 18-21 minutes, give or take. Allow the muffins to cool for 5 minutes in the muffin pan, then transfer to a wire rack to continue cooling. Yield: about 12-14 muffins.
Reader Comments and Reviews
Mine came out kind of dry and VERY sweet (with the vanilla icing). If I leave off the icing and don’t use all of the topping, would that cut the sweetness down? Also I’m thinking more zucchini for moisture? I am at high altitude (6400) but followed the recipe and didn’t change anything.
HI KC! You can certainly leave off the topping and/or crumble. You may also love our easy zucchini cake. Some readers have found this chart helpful for high altitude baking: https://www.kingarthurflour.com/learn/high-altitude-baking.html
I doubled the recipe and made 9×13 cake to bring to a family get together. Everyone really like it- including me!! I finally had to move the cake pan from my reach so I’d stop cutting slices for myself. I made one change, and that was to use half butter and half oil. Thank you for this delicious recipe! Am making it again soon for a potluck picnic!!
Can this be made in a Bundt cake pan?
Hi Keith! We would use our zucchini cake recipe for the right quantities – see recipe Notes for Bundt cake details.
I made the Zucchini Crumb Cake and it was delicious! I used Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 Gluten free flour. I also added another 1/2 cup of zucchini as I had shredded the entire zucchini. My dad told me I could make it anytime I wanted to and even if I didn’t want to!
Our neighbor brought over some zucchini from her garden. I have previously made Sally’s excellent chocolate zucchini cake. So this time I made this recipe and it is AMAZING. Eating a warm piece of coffee cake out of the oven is heaven. I added some salt to the crumb topping. For the cake I added some cardamom and Penzey’s cake spice in addition to the cinnamon. No glaze is needed since the cake is delicious as is – but I did use a little for the leftovers. I added some pumpkin spice to the glaze. Another EXCELLENT Sally’s recipe!
I don’t normally leave reviews for recipes, but…..this!…..it is so simple yet so delectable. it’s like something magical happens. I can’t wait to share this with my coworkers.
I just made this and it is very good. I’ll definitely make it again.
This was a great recipe. Very delicious.
We loved this recipe. It was gone in one day!
Too sweet! Too much sugar in the batter, but otherwise tasty. Too much crumb topping that was super sweet. I left off the vanilla drizzle completely. Overkill.
This turned out amazing! Could be made in advance, I added extra zucchini and it still was perfect!
This is a delicious snack cake. I made two in two days because the first one disappeared so quickly. Soft, moist crumb with a delicious topping. It is perfect for breakfast, dessert, and that 3 p.m. break with a cup of coffee. Actually, it is perfect any time of the day. Thank you, Sally, for another “go-to” recipe.
A very incredibly moist cake. We loved it. Thank you for this yummy recipe. Also I’m wondering if I could use avocado oil instead of melted butter in the cake?
Hi Ada, you’ll lose a lot of flavor without the butter, so we recommend sticking with it for best overall taste and texture. Glad you enjoyed it!
Does the zuchinni need to be peeled first? Thank you.
Hi Billie, no need!
I baked this yesterday even though it was hot and humid and it was so worth it. I subbed 1/2 cup of whole wheat flour for the all purpose flour. Next time I will sub some almond flour for some of the all purpose flour in the topping. I love nutmeg but I don’t have any at the cottage but that did not detract from how good this cake is. I always use whole nutmeg and will never go back to pre ground nutmeg. This recipe is a keeper. Thanks Sally!
Can yellow summer be substituted for zucchini in this recipe or the zucchini bread recipes?
Hi Patricia, We haven’t personally tested it. Let us know if you do!
I substituted yellow summer squash for zuchinni in your Easy & Flavorful Zuchinni Cake. It is delicious. Turned out great.
I tried the zucchini snack cake with the crumble topping tonight. I used frozen, then thawed zucchini, which I portions last summer into 2 cup bags. That is what my regular zucchini cake takes is 2 cups so instead of throwing out the last remaining cup I just wanna add and put it in it was very thick so I added 2 tablespoons of milk to kind of loosen it up . I also put some pecans in the crumble since we all love crumbles at my house. I don’t think this snack cake will last until breakfast tomorrow morning.
Prepared this recipe exactly as directed and didn’t have any problem adding the entire batter to a 9×13″ pan. It baked in 40 minutes with toothpick coming out perfectly clean. Smells like heaven. Can’t wait to top it with a confectioner’s sugar glaze once it cools, then sit back and enjoy each bite with a nice up of hot coffee! Thanks for a superb recipe!
So glad you love it, Pamela!
I meant to add that I doubled the recipe for the crumb and cake and it fit perfectly in a 9×13 pan, and baked up like a dream! A nice glaze made it even more irresistible to everyone in our family! Thanks again! ❤️
This was quite an easy recipe to follow and tasted so good. Served it at a neighbour party and it was a hit. Many asked for the recipe. Thanks you Sally for another great recipe
Made this recipe today and it is a keeper! So good. Everyone in my household loved it!
So — I really like this recipe. I think based on reviews I was expecting more. But I think I have to make it again. I only had an 8×8 glass baking dish, and I lowered the temp to 325, and baked for a little longer, but I think maybe that was too much. The other thing I will change is to make the topping more streusel-like. It maybe have been my mess-up, but the topping didn’t turn out like I expected. I almost added some oats to it, but then figured I better not change things up TOO much first time around. SO. I’m going to make it again, in a metal pan. I did use more than a cup of zucchini, though, as some reviewers said. Also – the baking powder I had to use was old, I think, so that may have affected things. OVERALL: I will try it again. It is yummy.
I had a similar issue with the topping…first time I’ve seen a streusel call for melted butter, not cold. Unfortunately the streusel just meld right into the cake it’s still good a bit sweet and greasy for my taste, I’d like to try it again with less sugar, either no crumb or a crumb with cold butter and in a metal pan.
I’ve used recipes from this site before, and they’re all great. I had a couple of zucchini that needed using, so I made this coffee cake. I went exactly by the recipe, doubling it. I put ALL the batter into a 9×13 glass pan, and increased the baking time by 9 min. It turned out great… again. I will be taking this to my church fellowship time tomorrow.
This recipe is amazing! Do you think I could make it in a loaf pan?
Definitely! Or you may love our zucchini bread recipe.
As a mom I am on a mission to get more veggies into my family (without fighting!) and this recipe is perfect! I was a little worried that it might have turned out dry (my oven is on the hot side) but it was delicious and moist. Our small group loved it. And best of all, you don’t even know it has zucchini in it! Thank you for all of your reliable recipes and for providing them free of charge!
I’ve made this a couple times as muffins and it is so good! The only thing I do different is add blackberries and leave off the icing. I even made as mini muffins for a big group camping trip and everyone loved them! Thanks for such a great recipe!
What would be the best size pan for this as it says an 8 or 9inch pan. I have both, so a bit unsure what would yield the best results..
thank you.
Hi Heather! Either will work. We love the nice thick cake that an 8×8 pan yields!
Delicious!Making multiple batches as muffins and freezing them to enjoy through the winter. I added an extra 1/2 cup of zucchini to each batch to use up the volume of zucchini we’re blessed with this season. Thank you for all of the explanations with your recipes!
This is a great recipe. I made some additions as follows, and I think it really elevated it into a *really* special late summer / fall cake:
Double the crumb mixture and add 3/4 cups chopped pecans. YES, DOUBLE IT.
Add more cinnamon to all of it.
Add 3/4 sour cream to the cake batter. A huge dollop with do.
Thin slice a peeled apple or two and layer the slices between two layers of cake batter. (Cake batter, apple slices, cake batter, crumb topping)
Definitely make and use the icing but add 1/2 tsp. of cinnamon to it.
If you follow these suggestions, you MUST use a 9 by 13 pan. DON’T double the cake batter, just the crumb, it bakes up perfect in 35 – 40 minutes.
DELICIOUS! No icing needed.
Made this into muffins today is a big hit with elderly where I LIve thanks for recipe
This is the best thing I have ever baked to date! Sally’s done it again! If you are a crumb cake lover and have a lot of zucchini from your garden, this is the recipe you NEED to use. I’ve made 3 cakes so far, and they’ve come out perfectly every time. I highly recommend making and pouring Sally’s vanilla icing over the top for some extra sweetness 🙂 11/10 !!!