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Buttery, crumbly, sugary and sweet, the best streusel topping is made with chopped pecans, brown sugar goodness, and just 5 ingredients.
An Impressive and Secretly Easy Streusel Topping
Just when you thought your favorite muffin recipe couldn’t get any better, streusel showed up. And just like that, crumbly, buttery, impossibly delicious and perfectly sweet streusel topping made everything more magical.
Ready to make this simple, 5 ingredient recipe with me? Let’s go!
Streusel Topping Recipe Ingredients
Crumbly, sweet, mouthwatering: this streusel topping recipe is easy to make and comes together with just 5 simple ingredients.
- Flour – Stick to all purpose flour for the best results
- Pecans – my favorite nut to use, but can be subbed with walnuts, hazelnuts, Brazil nuts.
- Brown sugar – Light brown sugar will have a warm flavor, while dark brown will be richer and deeper in sweetness.
- Ground cinnamon – you can leave this out if you don’t like cinnamon, or add in a pinch of nutmeg (my fave)
- Butter – we’ll be using unsalted butter, then melting it to combine beautifully with the other ingredients.
What is Streusel Topping?
Streusel topping is a dessert & sweet breakfast topping that originates from Germany. In German, “streusel” literally means “sprinkles”. It can also mean “something scattered”. [1]
What’s the difference between Streusel and Strudel?
Don’t worry, folks get this one confused all the time. Streusel is a sweet topping made of sugar, flour, and butter that’s sprinkled over baked goods. Streusel originates from Germany.
Strudel is a baked pastry that consists of a fruit filling stuffed inside of pastry sheets. Strudel originates from Austria. [2]
Today, we’re making streusel topping. Once we master this recipe, we can sprinkle it on every single baked good!
How to Make Streusel Topping
Learn how to make streusel topping with just 5 simple ingredients and a few steps.
First, add the flour, brown sugar, pecans, and cinnamon to a medium or small mixing bowl. Then, whisk dry ingredients together until well mixed.
Now, add in melted butter. Grab a fork or small spatula to stir and fold everything together to create crumbles.
Keep folding until you don’t see any more patches of flour. If left, they’d result in yucky clumps of flour even after baking.
You’ll add the streusel topping to the tops of your uncooked muffin batter before baking. You may need to add a few minutes to account for the added topping on your treats.
💡 Tip: Remember to chop your pecans more finely for smaller crumbles; chop just roughly for larger crumbles in your streusel topping.
FAQS
When do you add streusel topping?
Once you’ve prepared your soon-to-be baked good, but have not yet baked it, add the streusel topping. So, right before the baked good goes into the oven, sprinkle the streusel topping and gently press it into the raw batter. Then, bake.
Can I substitute any of the ingredients?
You can easily swap the nuts and the cinnamon. However, for the rest of the ingredients, I recommend sticking to the recipe as listed. I’ve tried swaps with little success. 😉
How to make streusel topping for blueberry muffins?
Simply use today’s recipe on top of these blueberry muffins. You can keep the pecans, or you can swap them with walnuts or almonds.
How to make streusel topping for muffins?
Using butter, sugar, flour, and a spice of choice, you can create streusel topping for muffins. This recipe is a good place to start. Once you learn it, you can start customizing it exactly for your muffin recipe.
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There’s Muffin I Appreciate More Than You
Erik and I are just a two-person team here at Beaming Baker. And just so you know, your love and support means the world to us. If you make a recipe, make sure to leave a comment and rating—it means so much to us & helps us grow. ‘Til our next sweet adventure…
Sending you all my love and maybe even a dove, xo Demeter ❤️
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Streusel Topping
Ingredients
Streusel Topping
- ½ cup all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
- ¼ cup brown sugar, packed
- ½ cup pecans, chopped – finely chopped for medium-sized crumbles, just chopped for larger crumbles (finely suggested)
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, of choice, melted
Instructions
- Mix everything but butter together: flour, brown sugar, pecans, and cinnamon.
- Add melted butter.
- Using a fork, gently stir and fold until clumps form.
- Make sure to evenly stir together the mixture so no flour patches remain hidden in a clump.
- Add this streusel topping on top of your muffin batter, bread batter, etc. before baking. You *may* need to add a few extra minutes to your bake time to account for the added topping.
I would like to use this recipe on top of egg and bread casserole to make it more like a sweeter taste (Like cinnamon bun). The casserole usually take about 45 to 50 minutes to cook. Do you think the topping will burn?
Hi Martin. That should be fine, though some areas might be a bit darker than others once it’s all done. Hope you enjoy! 🙂
I used this streusel topping on blueberry muffins, and it was absolute perfection! Crumbly, buttery, and sweet with a hint of cinnamon warmth… I’m adding it to everything from now on!
Woohoo! I seriously love using this on blueberry baked goods, great choice! Welcome to the streusel lovers club! 😄
Made this recipe a few times and it never fails to make delicious cupcakes and loaf cakes! 10 out of 10.
Woohoo! That’s absolutely awesome to hear! 😊