The Best Homemade Crumble Topping (2024)

FAQs

What is a crumble topping made of? ›

All you need to make a crumble topping is flour, sugar and butter. Rub cold cubes of butter into the flour using your finger tips until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. You can stir ingredients such as oats and flaked almonds into the mixture to add some texture, if you like.

Not enough butter, and your topping will be a dry, floury mess. Too much butter and your topping will become a greasy blob or disappointingly soggy. Some recipes will ask you to cut in cold butter along with your dry ingredients, resulting in pea-size pieces that are sprinkled across the hot fruit filling.

If you use more butter than the recipe calls for, the crumb topping will be melted and greasy. If you don't use enough butter it will be dry and floury.

A crisp contains oats in the topping, while a crumble does not. Baking powder can also be added to a crumble topping (like it is here) to ensure it's extra light and tender.

If your crumb topping isn't crumbly you need to add a little more butter. Chances are you mis-measured the flour, but it is an easy fix. Start with 1 tablespoon of melted butter and mix that in, adding more if necessary. Don't add too much butter, though, as it will melt as it's baked.

Use cold, cubed butter.

Making the crumble with room temperature or melted butter will cause the topping to spread as it bakes, rather than creating a landscape of craggy, crunchy sweet pieces. Using cold butter will help all the crumble ingredients bind together before baking and then saturate them evenly in the oven.

Double-baking the crumb topping keeps it wonderfully crisp over its jammy fruit filling.

Often this happens if the crumb topping is over-mixed or if the butter was much too hot. Over-mixing will leave you with a pasty, batter-like mixture rather than the crumbly topping you are aiming for. Using very hot butter can cause the sugars to melt, leaving you with a greasy and not crumbly mixture.

Cover the pan with foil, and bake for 20 minutes, then remove the foil and bake for a further 25 to 30 minutes, until the crumble is golden brown and the filling is bubbling. Leave to stand for 5-10 minutes, then serve warm with custard or ice cream.

Slice cold butter into cubes or pats with a sharp knife. Scatter butter over flour in a wide, shallow bowl. Using your thumb and fingertips, rub butter into flour in a snapping motion until all butter pieces are small pea-size lumps and covered in flour.

How much fat to flour is needed when making crumble? ›

A couple of tips: Quantities: Flour:Butter:Sugar=2:1:1 (e.g. 6oz flour to 3oz butter and 3oz sugar). Stick to the order in which ingredients are added as described below (flour, then butter, then sugar).

Use a shallowish dish if you've got a wet fruit mixture, otherwise the crumble will start to dissolve before it's baked.

Then, make sure to bake the crumble long enough so that the fruit filling comes to a profuse simmer at the edges of the pan. This shows that the cornstarch has been activated enough to thicken the juices, turning them supple and silky.

Crumbl cookies are usually too sweet for me, so I dunk them in water to balance it out. It's the only thing that makes a 5. cookie taste like $1,000,000. You have to dunk it all the way in. to absorb the nutrients, rinse off the calories.

Use cold, cubed butter.

Making the crumble with room temperature or melted butter will cause the topping to spread as it bakes, rather than creating a landscape of craggy, crunchy sweet pieces. Using cold butter will help all the crumble ingredients bind together before baking and then saturate them evenly in the oven.