Our cinnamon streusel topping is made with simple ingredients that you definitely have in your pantry. This classic streusel recipe adds a perfect combination of sweet and crunchy to all of your baking recipes. This homemade crunchy topping takes a basic muffin recipe to the next level. It's is the perfect topping for all of your muffin, coffee cake and quick bread recipes. It's also a nice addition to the middle of your quick bread, coffee cake or muffin.
If you are looking for recipes with a sweet streusel topping, be sure to check out a few of our favorite muffins, sweet and crunchy Cinnamon Streusel Muffins or our cozy Pumpkin Streusel Muffins with Maple Glaze.
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Why You'll Love This Recipe
- this streusel topping is crispy, sweet and buttery - it makes the perfect topping for any muffin or coffee cake recipe
- so easy to make this brown sugar crumble with simple ingredients that you definitely have in the pantry
- this is the perfect streusel to add to your pumpkin muffins, a classic blueberry muffin recipe or to your favorite coffee cake or quick bread
Ingredient Notes
- unsalted butter - be sure to use room temperature butter to achieve the perfect streusel consistency - the butter shouldn't be melted or too cold.
- all-purpose flour - all-purpose flour creates a light and fluffy streusel perfect of the top of muffins or quick breads
- light brown sugar - adds sweetness and moisture to the streusel
- granulated sugar - adds sweetness and a bit of crunch to the buttery streusel
- ground cinnamon - adds a sweet cinnamon flavor to homemade muffins or your favorite pie recipe
Variations
Pumpkin Spice: Replace the cinnamon in the recipe with pumpkin pie spice for a fall flavored streusel - perfect for adding to the top of your pumpkin streusel muffins.
Chocolate: Add ½ cups of mini dark or white chocolate chips to the base recipe for a chocolate streusel recipe.
Add Nuts or Fruits: Try mixing in toasted pecans or sliced almonds into your streusel. Dried cranberries and bits of crystalized ginger also make a nice addition.
Make It Citrus Flavored - zest in 1 tablespoon of fresh orange or lemon zest for a citrus flavored streusel.
Make It Vegan: Swap the unsalted butter out for your favorite vegan butter. Be sure that the butter is room temperature before making the streusel topping.
Instructions
Be sure to see the recipe card for the full list of ingredients and detailed recipe instructions.
In a medium mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients with the softened butter.
Use a fork or pastry cutter to work the butter into the dry ingredients. Mix until the streusel is an equal consistency and the butter is worked into the dry ingredients.
Sprinkle the streusel over the top of your muffins, coffee cakes and quick breads.
Bake your recipe according to the baking instructions.
Hint: Make your streusel before making your cake or muffin batter. Allowing the streusel to sit for a few minutes and then mixing again improves the overall consistency of the cluster.
Pro Tips
Press Your Streusel Down a Bit - when you sprinkle the streusel topping onto your cake or muffin batter, give it a gently press and push it just a bit into the top of the cake. This sinks the streusel into the batter just a little bit. When your cake or muffins bake, the streusel will stick to the top of the muffins and not fall off.
Customize Your Streusel - It's super fun to add mini white chocolate chips to the streusel for your fluffy vanilla muffins or try adding toasted hazelnuts to the streusel for a Nutella coffee cake.
Recipe FAQs
Cinnamon streusel is a mixture of flour, sugar, butter and cinnamon. The ingredients are mixed together and then sprinkled over a coffee cake or muffin recipe before baking. The end result gives a sweet crumbly texture to the tops of all of your favorite baked goods.
A streusel contains more flour than a crumb topping. It is a bit more cake like than a crumble which is more sugary and sweet. A streusel may also have nuts or dried fruits mixed in.
There are a few reasons that your streusel may not be crumbly. One reason is that your butter was too cold and it didn't get well mixed into the flour and sugar. Often times people will use melted butter and this will create a streusel that is more like a layer rather than a crumbly topping. For best results, use room temperature butter and work it into the dry ingredients until the streusel looks uniform and no remaining chunks of butter can be seen.
More Recipes with Streusel
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The Best Streusel Topping Recipe for Muffins and Cakes
Ingredients
- ¼ cup unsalted butter at room temperature
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup light brown sugar
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
Instructions
- In a medium mixing bowl, combine the streusel ingredients.
- Mix with a fork to incorporate the butter into the dry ingredients.
- Sprinkle the crumb topping over your coffee cake or muffin recipe.
- Bake according to your recipe instructions.
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