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Streusel Topping Recipe

Quick bread streusel topping.
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This streusel topping is a crunchy crumble made from just three ingredients: flour, sugar, and butter. Using the easy 2:1:1 ratio, it comes together in about 5 minutes and works over muffins, cakes, and quick bread.

Ingredients

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  • 5 tablespoons (40 g) all-purpose flour
  • 5 1/2 tablespoons (40 g) chopped toasted hazelnuts (or almond or hazelnut flour)
  • 3 1/4 tablespoons (40 g) brown sugar
  • 2 1/2 tablespoons (40 g) salted butter, cold
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)

** If needed, please refer to Baking Conversion Charts.

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 300°F (150°C).
  2. Place dry ingredients such as all-purpose flour, chopped nuts, and sugar in a medium bowl. Optionally add spices and mix. Add cold butter, cut into cubes, and work it in with your fingertips until it forms coarse crumbs. The texture will look like wet "sand."
  3. Try to "sand" the dough quickly so you don't heat the butter. Crumbling the dough with fingers makes the butter crumb less uniform and less delicious.
  4. Alternatively, you can mix the crumbed dough in a food processor or a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Or you can work all the ingredients with a rubber spatula, a fork, or a pastry blender. Then use a unique tool, like a spaetzle maker, or a spider skimmer with large holes to grate the streusel dough. Drop the filaments on the baking sheet and spread them out. Or form a dough ball and chill it in the refrigerator for 1 to 2 hours. Then grate the dough using a grater with large holes. This version gives the dough a thicker consistency.
  5. Spread the crumbles on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until the desired color. Let cool. Or sprinkle the crumble topping on top of muffins, cake, tart, pie, etc., and bake as directed in the recipe.

Notes

  1. You can make the streusel recipe with softened butter at room temperature. In this case, mix the ingredients quickly to prevent the dough from overheating in your hands. Remember: the softer the butter, the finer the crumble will be.
  2. If you want to make the recipe with melted butter, use a fork to toss the ingredients. 
  3. Look for a sandy crumb texture: under-mixing results in dry streusel; over-mixing creates a too-cohesive crumble.
  4. Cover the bowl with plastic and keep the streusel in the refrigerator until ready to use. The chilled crumbles will keep their shape when baking.
  5. Sprinkle your streusel with ice-cold water 3 to 5 minutes before the end of baking. This gives them a golden-brown color, makes them extra crispy, and refines the salt note.
  6. Alternatively, dust the streusel with a little icing sugar about 10 minutes before the end of baking. It caramelizes the crumble for extra flavor and crunch.
  7. This recipe makes enough streusel to top one bread loaf, 12 regular-sized muffins, or 48 mini muffins.

Nutrition

Find it online: https://www.bakinglikeachef.com/streusel-topping-recipe/