How to Make a Crumb Topping (Homemade Cinnamon Streusel Topping) (2024)

FAQs

What are the ingredients in streusel topping? ›

Streusel is a crumbly topping usually made with real butter, flour, and sugar.

Streusel is similar to crumb topping and the terms are often used interchangeably. Traditionally, the two have different ratios of the same ingredients, with streusel containing more flour, and crumb topping more sugar, so they offer a different texture and flavor on top of baked goods.

What is this? To achieve golden buttery perfection for this versatile topping, you need a just-right combination of butter, flour, and sugar. The reliable duo of brown sugar and granulated sugar makes for the most delicious crumble ever. The molasses from the brown sugar adds the ideal depth of color and flavor.

A well-made crumb should be firm yet tender, and chewy, with big chunks—like granola. The best way to achieve this is to use cold cubed butter. Using room-temperature or melted butter will cause the topping to spread out and flatten when it bakes, rather than standing pert and perky.

First, adding a teaspoon of baking powder to the flour mixture makes the crumble topping more tender. Second, using cold butter and working it into the flour mixture makes for a pastry-like topping reminiscent of pie crust. Pro tip: Crumble topping freezes incredibly well and can be kept on hand for crumble anytime.

Why is my streusel not crumbly? Often this happens if the crumb topping is over-mixed or if the butter was much too hot. Over-mixing will leave you with a pasty, batter-like mixture rather than the crumbly topping you are aiming for.

A pastry chef friend shared the technique. Instead of sprinkling the raw crumbs on top of the fruit, where they absorb the juices and turn a little mushy on their undersides, he spread them out in a pan and baked them separately, until crisp and cookielike.

Absolutely! As for the reverse, you probably don't want to use bread flour in place of AP for cookies, cakes, and tender pastries. But, if you've run out of AP and need just a few tablespoons of flour to make a roux, a crumble topping, or to butter and flour a cake pan, bread flour will work just fine.

A couple of tips: Quantities: Flour:Butter:Sugar=2:1:1 (e.g. 6oz flour to 3oz butter and 3oz sugar). Stick to the order in which ingredients are added as described below (flour, then butter, then sugar).

Can you bake streusel by itself? ›

Since streusel includes flour, you'll need to bake it for at least ten minutes. You can bake the streusel on its own by spreading it on a foil-lined baking sheet, or on top of your breakfast or dessert dish.

Slice cold butter into cubes or pats with a sharp knife. Scatter butter over flour in a wide, shallow bowl. Press down on butter with pastry blender, working up and down until all butter pieces are small pea-size lumps and covered in flour.

When adding to cakes, be sure to add it to thick, dense batters. Thin, liquidy batters will cause the crumble topping to sink instead of staying on top of the cake.

Use cold, cubed butter.

Making the crumble with room temperature or melted butter will cause the topping to spread as it bakes, rather than creating a landscape of craggy, crunchy sweet pieces. Using cold butter will help all the crumble ingredients bind together before baking and then saturate them evenly in the oven.

This favorite breakfast-time yogurt topping makes an excellent streusel substitute, after all, its flavors and ingredients are rather similar. Packaged granola should provide the sweetness and crunch factor of a homemade streusel.

Turbinado sugar is most commonly used to give baked goods a crunchy, sparkly topping: think muffins and loaf cakes, bread pudding, shortcakes and pie crust. In these cases, you sprinkle it on before baking.

To make the crumble, combine the 1/3 cup plain flour, 1/3 cup caster sugar, 1/3 cup Uncle Tobys Traditional Rolled Oats and 60g butter, chopped in a bowl.

Crumble topping is a combination of only 3 simple ingredients: butter, flour, and sugar. It adds the perfect sweetness and crunch to any muffin, quick bread, or pie!