How To Make a Crumble Topping - The Anthony Kitchen (2024)

Add this Crumble Topping to fruit desserts, muffins, pies, or coffee cakes, and win over literally any crowd. Thanks to the just-right combination of flour, sugar, and butter, you'll soon be pulling an irresistible dessert covered in golden clusters of sweet, buttery goodness from your oven. The flavor of this crumble topping recipe is amazing, but the texture is undeniable perfection—crunchy at first, followed by melt-in-your-mouth perfection. Yes, please.

With hundreds of recipes baked to perfection on our site and thousands upon thousands of handheld treats sold, we know our way around a crumble recipe. If you're looking for an oat crumble topping recipe, we've got that, too! We stand by both of them for delicious additions to any dessert.

Why This Recipe Works

This crumble recipe is the perfect topper for muffins, coffee cakes, quick breads, pies, ice cream, and more. The possibilities are endless!

However, if you want it to enhance your baked goods, you'll need to ensure the crumble topping holds up but doesn't get soggy when baked with the fruit filling. A soggy crumble can typically be chalked up to too much sugar and butter in the mix. This is important for a dessert like blueberry bars, where you want to have a balanced texture that holds up.

In addition to this, with the wrong recipe, you can also be left with a dry, bland-looking crumble. And no one wants their cobbler topped off with a boring, dusty crumble! A dry topping has likely fallen victim to your flour-to-butter ratio. Plain and simple, it shouldn't look like sand. It should look like irresistible little clusters of bite-sized, buttery heaven.

To achieve golden buttery perfection for this versatile topping, you need a just-right combination of butter, flour, and sugar. The reliable duo of brown sugar and granulated sugar makes for the most delicious crumble ever. The molasses from the brown sugar adds the ideal depth of color and flavor.

Ingredients

• Flour | Use all-purpose flour for this crumble. It provides the structure for your topping.
• Sugar | A combo of brown sugar and granulated sugar is the way to go here. It brings great flavor and the perfect balance. However, if you are only going to use one, we recommend brown sugar over granulated sugar.
• Spices | Salt is also an important contributor to balance in this recipe. Cinnamon is highly recommended if you make an apple, pumpkin, pear, or peach dessert. If you are in fall baking mode, pumpkin pie spice is also an excellent option.
• Butter | Crumble topping calls for unsalted, room-temperature butter. The perk: it's easy to blend with your fingers!

How to Make a Crumble Topping

1. Combine Dry Ingredients | To kick off your crumble topping, all you'll need is a mixing bowl, a whisk, and your own two hands. Combine all-purpose flour, brown sugar, granulated sugar, ground cinnamon (if using), and a pinch of fine sea salt in a medium bowl and whisk to combine.

2. Add Butter | Then, you'll scatter small cubes of room-temperature butter across the top of your dry mix and use your fingers to rub the butter into the flour mix until it holds together when pinched and no longer appears dry.

3. Serve | Once your crumb topping reaches this consistency, it is ready to be used on top of muffin batter, cake batter, or over just about any fruit filling!

Ways to Use a Crumble Topping

This is one of the most versatile, perfect toppings for desserts. The flavor elevates any sweet treat and ends the bite with the just-right crunch and texture. Make this recipe for any holiday get-together, entertaining, potluck, and more. It definitely fits on any dessert menu!

Streusel Topping for Muffins

Our peach muffins with streusel topping are one of those brunch-time handheld favorites where this crumble topping shines. You get a bright, moist muffin with bites of peach sunshine, all topped with a buttery-crunch flavor bomb. No one is going to turn down these baked goods--guaranteed!

Crumble Topping for Pies

With summer just around the corner and that Fourth of July holiday in our midst, nothing says "America!" more to me than a homemade traditional apple pie with a crispy crumble on top. Bring out the vanilla ice cream and you've got yourself the perfect summertime dessert!

Cobbler Crumb Topping

If you don't already have a particular recipe in mind for this crumble topping, you can easily create one! Below, you'll find our master filling recipe, which works great for just about any fruit crumble.

Here's what you'll need:

• 3-3-½ cups of fruit (about 1-½ pounds)
• ¾ cup granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons corn starch
• Juice of a lemon
• Generous pinch of salt

Prep Fruit | Once you have your fruit picked out, rinse it and prepare accordingly.

Mix Fruit with Dry Ingredients | Add the fruit to a mixing bowl along with the granulated sugar, cornstarch, lemon, and salt.

Transfer to Dish | Transfer the fruit to either a 2-quart shallow baking dish or an 8 x 8" baking dish.

Assemble | Next, assemble your crumble topping as directed in the recipe card below and sprinkle it over your filling.

Bake | Then, bake at 375°F for about 30 minutes. Remove your fruit crumble from the oven and allow it to rest for 20 minutes before serving.

Serve | Serve with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream or a dollop of whipped cream and enjoy!

Desserts Every Baker Should Know

• Blueberry Coffee Cake
• Peach Cobbler
• Apple Crumble Muffins
• Apple Crumble Cake
• Blueberry Crisp

Sources: Healthline | Brown Sugar Vs. White Sugar