Let’s talk about how to make crumb topping! This three-ingredient crumb cake topping is made with brown sugar, all purpose flour, and cold butter (plus there are optional mix-ins, like cinnamon). This brown sugar crumble topping isn’t just for crumb cake—I use it on muffins, quick breads, cakes, pies, and fruit desserts.
How To Make Crumb Cake Topping
While this might seem like a boring recipe, as it’s missing all the flashiness of an actual dessert, this is one of those foundational recipes you want to keep handy in your recipe arsenal.
Learning how to make crumb topping is useful because it’s a recipe you can add to almost any muffin, quick bread, pie, or as a streusel on a fruit dessert. The buttery brown sugar topping is typically found on a classic crumb cake recipe, but due to its versatility, the crumb topping itself is a recipe I use all of the time.
The sweet, buttery crumb cake crumbs are really the best part of any coffee cake, crumb cake, muffin, or fruit crumble recipe anyway, right? It’s why when I make anything that includes a crumb topping, I double up on the recipe (no shame in that). A crumbly topping of brown sugar can transform any humble dessert into stardom.
While it’s often on a traditional crumb cake recipe, might I suggest using it on Coffee Cake Banana Bread? Or how about these Crumb Cake Chocolate Chip Muffins? Or pumpkin bread in the fall? It’s the perfect topping, especially when topped with a healthy dose of powdered sugar.
Why I Love This Easy Crumb Topping:
- Three Ingredients: All you need is butter, flour, and brown sugar to make a classic crumb topping recipe.
- Versatile: You can add in a bit of cinnamon, a bit of nutmeg, crushed pecans or walnuts, etc.
- Sweet and Buttery: I love a buttery crumb cake topping with large, crunchy bites of crumb cake crumbs. Using cold butter makes for big and buttery crumbs.
- Ratio of Ingredients: A lot of crumb cake toppings call for more flour to brown sugar ratio, but I find that using the same amount of flour and brown sugar is key to getting a very crumbly, buttery, and sweet crumb that holds it’s crumb shape while baking.
Ingredients:
As mentioned above, this is a 3-ingredient crumb cake topping. You can add in extra spices or nuts, if desired, but this basic recipe is perfect as is.
- Unsalted Butter: Use unsalted butter in this recipe because there will already be salt in whatever recipe you are adding this to.
- All Purpose Flour
- Brown Sugar: I prefer to use dark brown sugar because it’s a richer flavor.
How To Make A Crumb Topping Recipe for Muffins, Coffee Cake, and Pies:
The recipe card down below has a printable option so you can save this coffee cake topping for later!
- Step 1: Combine flour and brown sugar together in a medium sized bowl. If you are adding in any spices, like cinnamon or nutmeg, add them in now.
- Step 2: Add in the cold and cubed butter to the flour mixture. Using a fork or pastry blender (aka pastry cutter), work the butter into the dry ingredients until all of the ingredients are combined, and the mixture comes together (sticking together a bit like a paste).
- Step 3: Using a fork, or your hands (I do find using your hands to be easier), pinch the mixture into crumbs, making the crumbs as large or small as you like. I like a mixture of smaller pieces and larger pieces of crumb, because it adds great texture to whatever baked good you are adding this crunchy topping to.
- Step 4: If adding in chopped nuts, mix them in as you are forming the crumbs.
- Step 5: Use on top of muffin batter, loaf cake batter, pies, etc.
Can I Use Melted Butter Instead?
- Yes, you can use melted butter. In fact, in some of my recipes including crumb toppings, I do use melted butter.
- The reason I opt for cold butter here is because cold butter helps to make large crumb cake crumbs, which I prefer on most recipes. Large, buttery, crunchy bites of crumb cake is truly the best part of any dessert (especially if a big scoop of vanilla ice cream is on top).
How to Make This Gluten Free Crumb Topping?
- I’ve tested this recipe with 1 to 1 Gluten Free Flour (King Arthur’s is my favorite) and it’s come out very well! If you need to make crumb topping gluten free, just sub out the all purpose flour in this recipe for gluten free 1 to 1 flour.
Difference Between Streusel and Crumb Topping?
- A buttery streusel topping and a crumb topping are essentially the same thing. Sometimes a crunchy streusel recipe is made with granulated sugar (white sugar) rather than brown sugar, and often times a streusel has a slightly different ratio of ingredients (think of a crumb cake topping that’s a little drier).
Storage Tips:
- You can make this ahead of time and use it a day or two later. Once the crumble topping is made, store it in either an airtight container or cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Store it in the fridge until ready to use.
Favorite Recipes Using Crumb Topping:
- Coffee Cake Banana Bread
- Strawberry Crumb Cake Muffins
- Lemon Blueberry Crumb Cake Muffins
- Apple Cinnamon Muffins
- Apple Cinnamon Crumb Cake
- Crumb Cake Chocolate Chip Muffins
- Rustic Dutch Apple Pie
- Apple Butter Pumpkin Pie
- Peach Crumb Cake Scones
Quick and Easy Crumb Topping Tips:
- Add-ins: Add in ground cinnamon, nutmeg, etc. if desired. For this recipe, I’d use 1/2 tsp – 3/4 tsp. You can also add in chopped pecans or walnuts. I’d probably use about 1/3 cup for this recipe.
- Cold or Melted: You can use both cold or melted butter when making a crumb topping (aka streusel or coffee cake topping). I prefer to use cold butter because it makes bigger, buttery crumbs.
- Uses: Use this as a streusel for fruit desserts, on top of muffins and quick breads, on coffee cake and crumb cake, or on top of fruit pies.
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1 cup dark brown sugar
- 6 Tbsp unsalted butter, cold and cubed
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon, optional*
In a medium sized bowl, mix all purpose flour and dark brown sugar together. (Add in ground cinnamon now, if using.)
Add in the cold, cubed butter. Using a fork or a pastry blender (pastry cutter), work the butter into the mixture until it is completely combined. (The mixture will sort of resemble a paste and have the consistency of wet sand.)
- Using your hands, pinch and press the dough together into crumbs, making the crumbs as small or large as you’d like. (I like to do a variety of sizes.)
Sprinkle on top of crumb cake, coffee cake, muffins, fruit crisps, pies, quick breads, etc.
*You can also add in other spices, like nutmeg, cardamom, etc.
Other recipes that use a streusel topping!
Strawberry Rhubarb Crumb Pie Bars
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