If you love the crisp streusel on coffee cake, try my easy streusel topping recipe so you can put it on all your favorite sweet treats! Sprinkle it on top of muffins, pies, fruit crisps, quick breads, and so much more. Streusel is made with a few simple ingredients and takes just a few minutes to stir together!
Nothing complicated here: Combine everything in a bowl and mix with a fork until clumps of cinnamon-scented goodness form. I use melted butter instead of cold butter to make this cinnamon streusel topping because I find it a lot faster and less complicated. Sprinkle this streusel topping on apple cranberry pie, zucchini muffins, or chocolate chip banana bread for a delicious crumb-topped treat!
Ingredients in Streusel Topping
Flour — all-purpose flour is all you need. If you want to make gluten-free streusel, use your preferred gluten-free flour blend instead.
Sugar — use a combination of granulated sugar and light brown sugar for the best texture and flavor. I like the addition of brown sugar for extra moisture in the streusel, as well as a rich molasses flavor.
Cinnamon — ground cinnamon adds depth and flavor to the crumb topping. You can use other spices, too (lots of ideas further down in the Recipe Variations section!).
Salt — salt might seem like an unnecessary ingredients in a sugary crumble, but itenhances the flavors of the crumble topping and I think is essential to making a good streusel.
Butter — i prefer unsalted butter since salt is added otherwise, but you can use salted butter and leave out the additional salt in the recipe. Melt the butter and allow it to cool slightly before starting the recipe.
How To Make Streusel
1. Add the flour, granulated sugar, and brown sugar to a medium bowl.
2. Add cinnamon and salt.
3. Pour in the cooled melted butter.
4. Use a fork to stir the mixture until large clumps form. Don’t worry about trying to make them uniform: It should be a craggy mixture. Refrigerate the unbaked streusel until ready to use.
How To Use Streusel
This recipe makes enough streusel to generously cover one 8-inch or 9-inch coffee cake, a 9-inch pie, 12 muffins, or one 9×5-inch loaf cake or quick bread. Here are some ideas for how to use it:
- Crumb Pie: Leave off the top crust of a fruit pie and make it a streusel-topped pie. If the pie starts at a higher baking temperature (425°F), add the streusel, covering the filling, when reducing the oven temp. Try it with my peach pie, blueberry pie, and apple pie recipes.
- Fruit Crisp: Sprinkle the topping over fresh fruit to make an easy dessert like a blueberry crisp, apple crisp, or peach crisp.
- Crumb Muffins: Sprinkle over muffin batters like blueberry muffins, pumpkin muffins, strawberry muffins, or cranberry orange muffins.
- Quick Breads: Try topping pumpkin bread, banana bread, zucchini bread, or apple bread.
Recipe Variations
You can add ingredients to this basic streusel recipe to change up the flavor and texture:
- Spices: Add nutmeg, pumpkin pie spice, cardamom, citrus zest, or powdered ginger for different flavors.
- Nuts or oats: Add up to ⅓ cup of chopped nuts or rolled oats to this recipe for more texture.
- Brown butter: Melt the butter in a saucepan and continue cooking it for a few minutes or until it turns a medium brown color and smells nutty. Allow the browned butter to cool slightly before proceeding with the recipe as written.
Can This Streusel Be Baked By Itself?
Yes! Preheat the oven to 325°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and spread the streusel mixture on it. Bake, stirring every 5 minutes, until golden brown. It will take 12 to 15 minutes. Let it cool and use immediately, or store it in an airtight container for up to 1 week. Baked streusel is a delicious topping for vanilla ice cream, cupcakes, and a yogurt parfait (think of it as a more indulgent granola).
Pro Tips For Making This Recipe
- Allow the butter to cool after melting. If the butter is too warm, it will dissolve the sugar, and the mixture will resemble a paste.
- Use all brown sugar for more richness. While I prefer using both white sugar and brown sugar, using only brown sugar will give you a richer streusel with a stronger caramel-like flavor.
- Uneven clumps are ideal. A streusel topping is “messy” by nature, so don’t worry about trying to make it neat and uniform. While you mix everything up with a fork, clumps of different sizes will form, and that’s precisely what you’re looking for.
Frequently Asked Questions
Generally, they are the same thing and the terms are used interchangeably in my recipes! A streusel sometimes contains oats or nuts where a crumb topping typically does not.
You can use either, but cooled melted butter is a much easier option because it’s super fast and just stirs together. Simply melt the butter, pour it into the dry ingredients, and stir to combine. One important point to remember when using melted butter is that it must be cooled down. If you use hot or warm butter, it will melt the sugar and form a paste instead of a crumbly topping.
If you prefer to use cold butter, use diced cold butter. Cut it into the flour and sugar mixture using a pastry cutter or work it into the mixture with your fingers until dime-sized pieces form and no dry flour mixture remains.
Yes, you can make crumb topping ahead of time. Once the streusel is ready, store it in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. You can also make a large batch and freeze it to use later. Simply transfer the streusel to freezer bags and freeze for up to 3 months. Use portions of it as needed.
The main reason you may end up with streusel that isn’t crumbly is using butter that is too warm. This causes the sugar to melt and you’ll end up with a paste. Using too much butter can also lead to a greasy paste forming.
If this happens, you can place it in the refrigerator to chill. Then, break it into pieces of streusel in your desired size. Or, stir in more flour, 1 teaspoon at a time, until the mixture forms large clumps.
If you love this recipe try these out!
If you’ve tried this streusel recipe, then don’t forget to rate it and let me know how you got on in the comments below. I love hearing from you!
Streusel Topping Recipe
Ingredients
- 1¼ cup all-purpose flour (150g)
- ½ cup packed light brown sugar (110g)
- ¼ cup granulated sugar (50g)
- 1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup unsalted butter melted and cooled (113g)
Instructions
- In a medium mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugars, cinnamon, and salt
- Pour in the melted, cooled butter and stir with a fork until large clumps form and no dry flour remains.
- Refrigerate the mixture until ready to use.
Notes
- Allow the butter to cool after melting. If the butter is too warm, it will dissolve the sugar, and the mixture will resemble a paste.
- Use all brown sugar for more richness. While I prefer using both white sugar and brown sugar, using only brown sugar will give you a richer streusel with a stronger caramel-like flavor.
- Uneven clumps are ideal. A streusel topping is “messy” by nature, so don’t worry about trying to make it neat and uniform. While you mix everything up with a fork, clumps of different sizes will form, and that’s precisely what you’re looking for.
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