This streusel topping is my not-so-secret weapon for making any cake or muffin look like it came straight from a bakery. It’s crunchy, buttery, and adds the perfect sweet crumble on top of your bakes. Just a few pantry staples, one bowl, and a couple of minutes, and you’ve got magic. You can sprinkle it on before baking or even bake it on its own and then top over muffins, or snack on it like the bougiest granola ever.

Streusel in a white ceramic bowl with a spoon on a white surface

This streusel recipe was made from a total experiment.

I was baking mini berry coffee cakes and had some leftover streusel (obvs the best part). I didnt want it to go to waste so I baked it to see what would happen. As a trained pastry chef I experiment a lot in the kitchen- some times things work and sometimes they don’t! This time it did!

When it comes to streusel, I like to keep things classic—no oats, no nuts, just buttery, sugary crumbs that bake up perfectly golden and crunchy. I use a combination of two kinds of sugars, flour, cinnamon, and cold butter.

This is the topping I use on everything from high domed lemon muffins, or to fancy up a carrot bundt cake when I want that sweet bakery-style finish without any fuss.

This was so much fun to discover because the next day I used it like I would granola in my morning yogurt. No more wasting leftover streusel, yay!

Ingredients you need

Ingredients for a streusel topping

Cold butter

Take that butter straight from the fridge! The butter has to be cold. This helps the streusel form the clumps it needs to turn into those crunchy sweet bits. If the butter is at room temperature or melted, it will not have the crunchy texture you want.

Pinching the butter

A lot of crumb toppings use a pastry cutter to “cut in the butter”. To cut in the butter means to incorporate the butter into the dry ingredients, and a pastry cutter is a tool that can help.

Not many people have a pastry cutter- I dont! So instead all you have to do is pinch the butter between the dry ingredients to create little clumps.

No pastry cutter needed!

How to make streusel

Diced butter on a piece of parchment paper
Dice up the butter into small squares, make sure its cold!
Pre-baked streusel in a glass bowl
Add flour, brown sugar, granulated sugar, cinnamon, salt, and diced cold butter to a bowl. Pinch with your fingers until it looks like wet sand with pieces the size of peas.
Unbaked streusel laid out on a sheet tray
Sprinkle it onto desserts or lay it on a cookie sheet to bake on its own.
Baked streusel on a parchment paper lined sheet tray
Bake and then break up the large pieces.

Recipe Tips

  • If the streusel isn’t crumbly it’s likely because there was too much butter, or the clumps of butter were too big. If the clumps are too big, the butter will just melt and not turn into streusel crumbs.
  • Streusel too greasy? It’s because the mixture was mixed evenly or you need more flour.
  • You can add chopped nuts for added crunch and flavor or layer it in cakes.
  • It’s so easy to make and a perfect kiddo recipe because you can use your fingers to mix in the butter. They will love making streusel topping with you!
Streusel in a white ceramic bowl with a spoon on a white surface
5 stars (8 ratings)

Easy Streusel Crumb Topping (No Nuts or Oats)

Prep: 5 minutes
Cook: 10 minutes
Chilling time: 20 minutes
Total: 35 minutes
Servings: 12 servings
This streusel topping is my not-so-secret weapon for making any cake or muffin look like it came straight from a bakery. It’s crunchy, buttery, and adds the perfect sweet crumble on top of your bakes. Just a few pantry staples, one bowl, and a couple of minutes, and you’ve got magic. You can sprinkle it on before baking or even bake it on its own and then top over muffins, or snack on it like the bougiest granola ever.
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Ingredients

  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/4-1/2 tsp cinnamon, depending on preference
  • 1/4 tsp kosher salt
  • 6 tbsp cold butter, diced small

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 350 F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
  • In a small bowl combine the 1 cup flour, 1/2 brown sugar, 1/4 cup granulated sugar, 1/4 -1/2 tsp cinnamon, and 1/4 tsp salt.
  • Pinch the butter into the mixture with your fingers gently until small clumps are formed no larger than the size of a pea. The texture should be like coarse wet sand with clumps in it.
  • Put it in the freezer for 20 minutes to chill.
  • Spread chilled streusel over any baked good and follow recipe directions for baking.
  • To bake ahead- spread the streusel onto a prepared baking sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes. If there were larger chunks of butter and they melted, that's ok, you'll break it up anyways!
  • Once streusel has cooled, break up larger clumps and sprinkle over desserts.

Notes

Either sprinkle this all over your coffee cakes or muffins before baking or bake this by itself.
If baking by itself, be sure to watch the oven to ensure it doesn’t burn. Oven times may vary. Mine was done after 12 minutes.
Store into an airtight container for up to a week.
Serving: 1tbsp, Calories: 70kcal, Carbohydrates: 11g, Protein: 1g, Fat: 3g, Saturated Fat: 2g, Cholesterol: 8mg, Sodium: 51mg, Potassium: 12mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 7g, Vitamin A: 87IU, Vitamin C: -38mg, Calcium: 5mg, Iron: 1mg
Course: Breakfast
Author: Sam Adler
Cuisine: American
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