Jump to Recipe If you’d like to learn how to make a crumb topping for muffins, bread, cakes, and other desserts, check out my easy recipe! A crumbly brown sugar and cinnamon topping adds a wonderful textural element to baked goods, so knowing how to make a crumb topping comes in handy if you love to whip up desserts and other sweet treats! Homemade Crumb Topping Some of my favorite desserts include a cinnamon crumb topping! It’s so versatile it can be used on muffins, bread, cakes, crisps, and so much more! Knowing how to make crumb topping from scratch has come in handy more than once in all my baking endeavors. So I thought I’d share this incredibly easy recipe for homemade crumb topping so that anyone can make tasty desserts whenever they please! A crumbly brown sugar and cinnamon topping for all your favorite treats!

Jump to:Homemade Crumb Topping 🥘 Ingredients 🔪 How To Make A Crumb Topping 💭 Angela’s Tips & Recipe Notes Is It Better To Use Cold Butter For Crumb Toppings? 🍰 Recipes With Crumb Topping! 📋 Recipe

🥘 Ingredients This recipe only requires 4 ingredients! They might already be sitting in your pantry!

All-Purpose Flour - ¾ cup, spoon and leveled.Brown sugar - ⅓ cup, packed.Ground Cinnamon - ½ teaspoon.Butter - 4 tablespoons melted butter. If using unsalted butter, you may want to add a pinch of salt in your crumble. Be sure to see the recipe card below for ingredients, amounts & instructions! 🔪 How To Make A Crumb Topping A homemade crumble topping can be made in just a few easy steps. Grab your measuring cups, a mixing bowl, and a fork (or pastry cutter if you opt for cold butter) - that’s it!

1 2 3 4

Combine. In a small bowl, combine ¾ cup all-purpose flour, ⅓ cup brown sugar, and ½ a teaspoon of ground cinnamon. Use a fork or whisk to thoroughly mix the ingredients before adding butter. *I suggest a fork, as it is the easiest to use to get your perfect crumble after the melted butter is added.Add. Pour 4 tablespoons of melted butter in with the combined dry ingredients and mix well.Make the crumble. You should see that the mixture is forming crumbs and will hold together if you pinch it. Note that big, fluffy crumbs are more desirable than a small crumb when using melted butter.Enjoy. Use when baking to top breads, cakes, or other desserts. Use your homemade streusel crumble topping on whatever you please! I love using it to top off some baked cinnamon apples or soft apple banana bread. Enjoy! 💭 Angela’s Tips & Recipe Notes A crumb topping may also be referred to as a streusel topping. When using with baked goods, add the crumb topping before baking. *Recipes with long baking times (like a Dutch apple pie) can be topped with the crumb mixture for the last 15-20 minutes of baking time.Granulated sugar can replace brown sugar in a pinch, but it will make a crumb topping that is paler, drier, and crunchier because it has less moisture than brown sugar. It is still tasty nonetheless.This crumb topping can be made in advance. Simply place it in an airtight container and refrigerate it for up to 3 days. Is It Better To Use Cold Butter For Crumb Toppings? Once upon a time…my Grandma and her mom, etc. didn’t have a microwave when baking. They used cold butter and a pastry cutter to blend in the butter to make the crumbs. Yes, I suppose they could’ve melted the butter stovetop - but that would be an extra step. 🙂 You can see that method in my brown sugar streusel recipe. Turns out, that’s arguably still the best method! You can melt your butter for a quick and easy crumb topping (as shared here), but you may not have a great crumb consistency when your baked dish is done. If using melted butter, opt for a high fat percentage butter like Kerrygold and other European butters (or Ghee). This way the water content of your melted butter is less likely to react with the crumb topping ingredients. I’ve never had a problem with this, so it will end up being a choice to make based on your personal preferences.

🍰 Recipes With Crumb Topping! Apple Banana MuffinsBanana Bread with Brown Sugar StreuselBisquick Coffee CakeMaraschino Cherry Coffee CakePumpkin Streusel Bread

Do you love a recipe you tried? Please leave a 5-star 🌟rating in the recipe card below and/or a review in the comments section further down the page. Stay in touch with me through social media @ Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter! Don’t forget to tag me when you try one of my recipes!

📋 Recipe

Print Recipe Leave A Comment Love This Recipe?Click On A Star To Rate It! 5 from 8 reviews

How To Make A Crumb Topping

If you’d like to learn how to make a crumb topping for muffins, bread, cakes, and other desserts, check out my easy recipe! A crumbly brown sugar and cinnamon topping adds a wonderful textural element to baked goods, so knowing how to make a crumb topping comes in handy if you love to whip up desserts and other sweet treats!

Author | Angela

Servings: 10 servings Calories: 102kcal Prep 5 minutes Cooking 0 minutes Total Time 5 minutes

Pin Recipe Share on Facebook Ingredients US CustomaryMetric1x2x3x▢ ¾ cup all-purpose flour (spoon and leveled)▢ ⅓ cup brown sugar (packed)▢ ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon▢ 4 tablespoon butter (melted)

InstructionsIn a small bowl, combine the all-purpose flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Mix until the ingredients are well distributed before adding melted or cold butter.⅓ cup brown sugar, ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon, ¾ cup all-purpose flourPour the melted butter in with the combined dry ingredients.4 tablespoon butterMix the topping until all of the dry ingredients are incorporated. You should see that the mixture is forming crumbs and will hold together if you pinch it.Use when baking to top breads, cakes, or other desserts. Equipment You May NeedMeasuring CupsMixing BowlSilicone Spatula Set NotesNutritional values are all approximate and depend on the amount you use in any given recipe. 

A crumb topping may also be referred to as a streusel topping.  When using with baked goods, add the crumb topping before baking. *Recipes with long baking times (like a Dutch apple pie) can be topped with the crumb mixture for the last 15-20 minutes of baking time. Granulated sugar can replace brown sugar in a pinch, but it will make a crumb topping that is paler, drier, and crunchier because it has less moisture than brown sugar. It is still tasty nonetheless. This crumb topping can be made in advance. Simply place it in an airtight container and refrigerate it for up to 3 days.

NutritionCalories: 102kcal (5%) | Carbohydrates: 14g (5%) | Protein: 1g (2%) | Fat: 5g (8%) | Saturated Fat: 3g (19%) | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 12mg (4%) | Sodium: 38mg (2%) | Potassium: 22mg (1%) | Fiber: 1g (4%) | Sugar: 7g (8%) | Vitamin A: 140IU (3%) | Vitamin C: 1mg (1%) | Calcium: 10mg (1%) | Iron: 1mg (6%) Did you try this recipe? Rate it below!I can’t wait to see your results! Mention @bake_it_with_love or tag #bake_it_with_love! Crumb Topping, crumble desserts, streusel topping Course Cooking Tips, DessertCuisine American

Angela @ BakeItWithLove.comAngela is an at home chef that developed a passion for all things cooking and baking at a young age in her Grandma’s kitchen. After many years in the food service industry, she now enjoys sharing all of her family favorite recipes and creating tasty dinner and amazing dessert recipes here at Bake It With Love! bakeitwithlove.com/about/

If you’d like to learn how to make a crumb topping for muffins, bread, cakes, and other desserts, check out my easy recipe! A crumbly brown sugar and cinnamon topping adds a wonderful textural element to baked goods, so knowing how to make a crumb topping comes in handy if you love to whip up desserts and other sweet treats!

Homemade Crumb Topping

Some of my favorite desserts include a cinnamon crumb topping! It’s so versatile it can be used on muffins, bread, cakes, crisps, and so much more!

Knowing how to make crumb topping from scratch has come in handy more than once in all my baking endeavors. So I thought I’d share this incredibly easy recipe for homemade crumb topping so that anyone can make tasty desserts whenever they please!

🥘 Ingredients

This recipe only requires 4 ingredients! They might already be sitting in your pantry!

  • All-Purpose Flour - ¾ cup, spoon and leveled.Brown sugar - ⅓ cup, packed.Ground Cinnamon - ½ teaspoon.Butter - 4 tablespoons melted butter. If using unsalted butter, you may want to add a pinch of salt in your crumble.

Be sure to see the recipe card below for ingredients, amounts & instructions!

🔪 How To Make A Crumb Topping

A homemade crumble topping can be made in just a few easy steps. Grab your measuring cups, a mixing bowl, and a fork (or pastry cutter if you opt for cold butter) - that’s it!

  • Combine. In a small bowl, combine ¾ cup all-purpose flour, ⅓ cup brown sugar, and ½ a teaspoon of ground cinnamon. Use a fork or whisk to thoroughly mix the ingredients before adding butter. *I suggest a fork, as it is the easiest to use to get your perfect crumble after the melted butter is added.Add. Pour 4 tablespoons of melted butter in with the combined dry ingredients and mix well.Make the crumble. You should see that the mixture is forming crumbs and will hold together if you pinch it. Note that big, fluffy crumbs are more desirable than a small crumb when using melted butter.Enjoy. Use when baking to top breads, cakes, or other desserts.

Use your homemade streusel crumble topping on whatever you please! I love using it to top off some baked cinnamon apples or soft apple banana bread. Enjoy!

💭 Angela’s Tips & Recipe Notes

  • A crumb topping may also be referred to as a streusel topping. When using with baked goods, add the crumb topping before baking. *Recipes with long baking times (like a Dutch apple pie) can be topped with the crumb mixture for the last 15-20 minutes of baking time.Granulated sugar can replace brown sugar in a pinch, but it will make a crumb topping that is paler, drier, and crunchier because it has less moisture than brown sugar. It is still tasty nonetheless.This crumb topping can be made in advance. Simply place it in an airtight container and refrigerate it for up to 3 days.

Is It Better To Use Cold Butter For Crumb Toppings?

Once upon a time…my Grandma and her mom, etc. didn’t have a microwave when baking. They used cold butter and a pastry cutter to blend in the butter to make the crumbs. Yes, I suppose they could’ve melted the butter stovetop - but that would be an extra step. 🙂

You can see that method in my brown sugar streusel recipe.

Turns out, that’s arguably still the best method! You can melt your butter for a quick and easy crumb topping (as shared here), but you may not have a great crumb consistency when your baked dish is done.

If using melted butter, opt for a high fat percentage butter like Kerrygold and other European butters (or Ghee). This way the water content of your melted butter is less likely to react with the crumb topping ingredients.

I’ve never had a problem with this, so it will end up being a choice to make based on your personal preferences.

🍰 Recipes With Crumb Topping!

  • Apple Banana MuffinsBanana Bread with Brown Sugar StreuselBisquick Coffee CakeMaraschino Cherry Coffee CakePumpkin Streusel Bread

Do you love a recipe you tried? Please leave a 5-star 🌟rating in the recipe card below and/or a review in the comments section further down the page. Stay in touch with me through social media @ Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter! Don’t forget to tag me when you try one of my recipes!

📋 Recipe

Print Recipe Leave A Comment Love This Recipe?Click On A Star To Rate It! 5 from 8 reviews

How To Make A Crumb Topping

If you’d like to learn how to make a crumb topping for muffins, bread, cakes, and other desserts, check out my easy recipe! A crumbly brown sugar and cinnamon topping adds a wonderful textural element to baked goods, so knowing how to make a crumb topping comes in handy if you love to whip up desserts and other sweet treats!

Author | Angela

Servings: 10 servings Calories: 102kcal Prep 5 minutes Cooking 0 minutes Total Time 5 minutes

Pin Recipe Share on Facebook Ingredients US CustomaryMetric1x2x3x▢ ¾ cup all-purpose flour (spoon and leveled)▢ ⅓ cup brown sugar (packed)▢ ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon▢ 4 tablespoon butter (melted)

InstructionsIn a small bowl, combine the all-purpose flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Mix until the ingredients are well distributed before adding melted or cold butter.⅓ cup brown sugar, ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon, ¾ cup all-purpose flourPour the melted butter in with the combined dry ingredients.4 tablespoon butterMix the topping until all of the dry ingredients are incorporated. You should see that the mixture is forming crumbs and will hold together if you pinch it.Use when baking to top breads, cakes, or other desserts. Equipment You May NeedMeasuring CupsMixing BowlSilicone Spatula Set NotesNutritional values are all approximate and depend on the amount you use in any given recipe. 

A crumb topping may also be referred to as a streusel topping.  When using with baked goods, add the crumb topping before baking. *Recipes with long baking times (like a Dutch apple pie) can be topped with the crumb mixture for the last 15-20 minutes of baking time. Granulated sugar can replace brown sugar in a pinch, but it will make a crumb topping that is paler, drier, and crunchier because it has less moisture than brown sugar. It is still tasty nonetheless. This crumb topping can be made in advance. Simply place it in an airtight container and refrigerate it for up to 3 days.

NutritionCalories: 102kcal (5%) | Carbohydrates: 14g (5%) | Protein: 1g (2%) | Fat: 5g (8%) | Saturated Fat: 3g (19%) | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 12mg (4%) | Sodium: 38mg (2%) | Potassium: 22mg (1%) | Fiber: 1g (4%) | Sugar: 7g (8%) | Vitamin A: 140IU (3%) | Vitamin C: 1mg (1%) | Calcium: 10mg (1%) | Iron: 1mg (6%) Did you try this recipe? Rate it below!I can’t wait to see your results! Mention @bake_it_with_love or tag #bake_it_with_love! Crumb Topping, crumble desserts, streusel topping Course Cooking Tips, DessertCuisine American

Do you love a recipe you tried? Please leave a 5-star 🌟rating in the recipe card below and/or a review in the comments section further down the page. Stay in touch with me through social media @ Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter! Don’t forget to tag me when you try one of my recipes!

Love This Recipe?Click On A Star To Rate It!

5 from 8 reviews

How To Make A Crumb Topping

Author | Angela

Servings: 10 servings

Calories: 102kcal

Prep 5 minutes

Cooking 0 minutes

Total Time 5 minutes

Ingredients US CustomaryMetric1x2x3x▢ ¾ cup all-purpose flour (spoon and leveled)▢ ⅓ cup brown sugar (packed)▢ ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon▢ 4 tablespoon butter (melted)

InstructionsIn a small bowl, combine the all-purpose flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Mix until the ingredients are well distributed before adding melted or cold butter.⅓ cup brown sugar, ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon, ¾ cup all-purpose flourPour the melted butter in with the combined dry ingredients.4 tablespoon butterMix the topping until all of the dry ingredients are incorporated. You should see that the mixture is forming crumbs and will hold together if you pinch it.Use when baking to top breads, cakes, or other desserts.

Equipment You May NeedMeasuring CupsMixing BowlSilicone Spatula Set

NotesNutritional values are all approximate and depend on the amount you use in any given recipe. 

A crumb topping may also be referred to as a streusel topping.  When using with baked goods, add the crumb topping before baking. *Recipes with long baking times (like a Dutch apple pie) can be topped with the crumb mixture for the last 15-20 minutes of baking time. Granulated sugar can replace brown sugar in a pinch, but it will make a crumb topping that is paler, drier, and crunchier because it has less moisture than brown sugar. It is still tasty nonetheless. This crumb topping can be made in advance. Simply place it in an airtight container and refrigerate it for up to 3 days.

Nutrition

Calories: 102kcal (5%) | Carbohydrates: 14g (5%) | Protein: 1g (2%) | Fat: 5g (8%) | Saturated Fat: 3g (19%) | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 12mg (4%) | Sodium: 38mg (2%) | Potassium: 22mg (1%) | Fiber: 1g (4%) | Sugar: 7g (8%) | Vitamin A: 140IU (3%) | Vitamin C: 1mg (1%) | Calcium: 10mg (1%) | Iron: 1mg (6%)

Did you try this recipe? Rate it below!I can’t wait to see your results! Mention @bake_it_with_love or tag #bake_it_with_love!

Course Cooking Tips, DessertCuisine American

US CustomaryMetric

  • A crumb topping may also be referred to as a streusel topping.
  • When using with baked goods, add the crumb topping before baking. *Recipes with long baking times (like a Dutch apple pie) can be topped with the crumb mixture for the last 15-20 minutes of baking time.
  • Granulated sugar can replace brown sugar in a pinch, but it will make a crumb topping that is paler, drier, and crunchier because it has less moisture than brown sugar. It is still tasty nonetheless.
  • This crumb topping can be made in advance. Simply place it in an airtight container and refrigerate it for up to 3 days.

Angela @ BakeItWithLove.comAngela is an at home chef that developed a passion for all things cooking and baking at a young age in her Grandma’s kitchen. After many years in the food service industry, she now enjoys sharing all of her family favorite recipes and creating tasty dinner and amazing dessert recipes here at Bake It With Love! bakeitwithlove.com/about/