Crumb Topping

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Every once in a while you come across a recipe that just needs a little something more. Or, maybe, the recipe is good the way it is but you want to make it better looking. I find that with cakes and breads I usually want a little bit more. I just want something that will add a little bit of oomph to my recipe. It also helps set apart my recipes from someone else’s. This is when I turn to my favorite crumb topping recipe. 

Two Versions

To be transparent here, there are two versions I’m going to include. I use both of them interchangeably. Generally, I choose which one I use based on what I have the ingredients for. Plus, one of them is soft and one of them tends to be a bit more crispy. They are both absolutely delicious and deserve a spot in your recipe book 

Crumb Topping Recipe #1

Ingredients

• ⅓ cup granulated sugar
• ⅓ cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• ¼ tsp salt
• ½ cup butter (melted)
• 1 ½ cups flour

Directions

Melt the butter in a mixing bowl. Add in the rest of the ingredients and mix them together. You can use a mixer or just mix by hand. It should be a bit on the dry side. Using a spoon (or your hands if you are a heathen like me) spread the topping on whatever it is you are making.

This is perfect for a recipe in a 9×13 pan like my apple coffee cake. If you are making bread, like my apple bread, you might want to cut this recipe in half because it’s just a bit much for that. 

Crumb Topping Recipe #2

Ingredients

• 2 cup oatmeal
• ½ cup butter (melted)
• ½  cup granulated sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• ½ cup flour

Directions

These are completely and 100% the same as above.

Melt the butter in a mixing bowl. Add in the rest of the ingredients and mix them together. You can use a mixer or just mix by hand. It should be a bit on the dry side. Using a spoon (or your hands if you are a heathen like me) spread the topping on whatever it is you are making.

This is perfect for a recipe in a 9×13 pan like my jam coffee cake. If you are making bread, like my apple bread, you might want to cut this recipe in half because it’s just a bit much for that.

Cinnamon

I was a little nervous about the cinnamon pairing with all of these recipes. I was sure that the cinnamon would overpower any of the other flavors that I had. Honestly, I 100% did not expect a cinnamon crumb topping to pair well with a strawberry jam coffee cake. Strawberries and cinnamon? For some reason it just works though.  You don’t even notice the cinnamon. It’s just an added sweet flavor that you notice. If you are nervous I’m sure you could omit the cinnamon but I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised at how good it tastes and how well it pairs. 

How to Choose Your Crumb Topping

I wish I could tell you how to choose the right one, but it’s really up to you. The oatmeal gives it more of a crunch when you bite into it. It reminds me of a topping on an apple crisp for some reason. Now that I say that, I bet if I doubled the recipe it would make a great topping for a crisp! 

The soft topping with only flour reminds me of store bought breakfast items. Think of a store bought coffee cake or a muffin from Panera. They are most likely going to have something similar to this crumb topping. 

Where are you putting this crumb topping recipe first? Which version is your favorite? I think I prefer the soft one the most and we recently put it on the apple coffee cake (which was amazing).