Streusel Topping Recipe

How to make streusel topping from just three simple ingredients to top cakes, muffins, and more. You'll need flour, sugar, and butter for this traditional recipe.

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How This Recipe Works

My mother is German and I lived in Germany for several years, so my baking style is very much informed by our traditional recipes. That's why we have so many German recipes on the Baked Collective. Streusel topping is very German and you'll see it used across European baking recipes. The crumb topping used in North American baking is certainly influenced by German and other European immigrants bringing their recipes with them when they migrated.

Streusel is just flour, sugar, and butter, all rubbed together to make a crumble. It's what you use on fruit crumbles, to top muffins, for cakes, and more. If it's already part of the recipe, like for our sourdough blueberry muffins, it'll be included in the recipe card. But if you want to add your own to recipes that don't call for it, this is how to make your own streusel topping!

Ingredients You'll Need and Why

You really do need just three ingredients: flour, sugar, and butter. There can be some variation in those three, though, outlined below. These are our notes from recipe testing and you can find the full recipe card below with complete measurements and instructions.

• Flour: for the best results, use plain all-purpose flour. Streusel can be made with whole wheat flour, spelt flour, and even gluten-free alternatives. In my experience gluten-free flour blends work well.
• Butter: this recipe is written for real butter, and it should be cold. Non-dairy butter alternatives can be used but those that they will make a softer, clumpier streusel. Don't use spreadable margarine from a tub. See this rhubarb cake recipe for a vegan version made with oil.
• Sugar: for a fine streusel as pictured use standard granulated white sugar. For more crunch, use raw sugar. Light brown sugar is a good option sometimes, depending on the recipe you're topping, but note that the streusel will be a little softer. Most American recipes do use brown sugar but that's not traditional, and you can't even buy American-style brown sugar in most of Europe.

How to Make Streusel Topping

While I've written the recipe to be the most foolproof possible, by mixing the dry ingredients first and using cold cubed butter, this isn't how I grew up making it. We make streusel by eye and use cold or room temperature butter depending on what's on hand - but this is the easiest, most reliable method for all bakers.

Step 1: whisk the flour and sugar together in a mixing bowl. If your flour is extremely clumpy, you could sift it into the bowl, but it shouldn't be necessary since the mixture will be rubbed together in any case.

Step 2: add the cubed butter to the bowl. If using room temperature butter, the mixture can feel quite greasy and the amounts should change - use butter right from the fridge for this recipe.

Step 3: use your hands to rub the butter into the flour and sugar mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs. It should hold together when pressed but you should break up any large clumps.

Step 4: your streusel topping is ready! Add it to whatever you're baking and don't eat it raw. Sometimes streusel will be baked separately and then added to a baked good, as with our strawberry shortcake cookies.

Expert Tips for the Best Streusel

• Use your hands: clean hands are your best tool and there's really no other way to make streusel. You need to rub the butter in to the sugar and flour and using a spoon is only cause for frustration.
• Keep the proportions the same: increase or decrease the full recipe, but don't try to reduce the sugar or butter unless you want a completely different (dry) texture. Sugar is water in baking, and this is something beginner bakers often reduce without understanding the impact.
• Bake it separately: if you'd like to have the streusel pre-baked to add to treats like ice cream, yogurt, or other desserts that aren't baked, spread it onto a lined baking sheet and bake for 10 to 15 minutes at 350°F (180°C), or until lightly golden and crisp.
• Use it on anything: you'll see versions of this on our cherry crumble cake, apple sheet cake, rhubarb streusel cake, and more. Add streusel to just about any muffin, cake, pie, quick bread, or sweet bread recipe.

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