Cinnamon Streusel Topping: Easy, 6 Ingredient Recipe Ready in Minutes (2024)

This cinnamon streusel topping is deliciously buttery and sweet, and is the perfect topping for your favorite pies, muffins, and cakes.

How to Make Cinnamon Streusel Topping

To make sure your cinnamon streusel turns out as amazing as possible, let’s walk through each step together!

I’ve also included a video tutorial of the process below.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, brown sugar, granulated sugar, ground cinnamon, and salt.

Pour the melted and cooled butter into the dry ingredients and gently stir together with a fork to make some nice, big crumbles.

You should end up with a bowl of what looks like wet sand with some pea-sized chunks.

Be careful not to over-mix! You want to leave some of those buttery chunks intact.

Use on top of your favorite muffins, cakes, and pies!!

Note: If you plan to add this to a baked good that won’t be baked, it’s important that you heat treat the flour in this recipe. This can be done in the oven or microwave.

Cinnamon Streusel Topping: Swaps & Substitutions

While I love this cinnamon streusel recipe just the way it is, I know some of you might not have all these ingredients on hand.

Below are some swaps and substitutions that can be made in this recipe:

• All Purpose Flour– This recipe turns out best with all-purpose flour. You can swap in a good gluten free flour blend (like this) if needed but it will change the texture a bit.
• Granulated Sugar– I do not recommend reducing the amount of sugar or changing the type of sugar, as it will change the flavor and texture of the streusel.
• Brown Sugar – I like using light brown sugar but dark brown sugar will work too!
• Unsalted Butter– If you only have salted butter on hand you can use it in place of the unsalted butter. Just be sure to omit the salt that this recipe calls for. You can also use vegan butter in its place!

Streusel Troubleshooting: Why is My Streusel Topping Not Crumbly?

We all know the best part of streusel are the big chunks of buttery goodness!

Sadly, some batches of streusel end up looking greasy or almost like batter.

A lot of times this happens when your butter is too hot. It can melt the sugars, which totally throws off the texture.

The best way to avoid this is to let your butter sit for at least 10 minutes after it’s been melted. You want it to still be liquid, but not hot to the touch.

How Much Streusel Does This Recipe Make?

This cinnamon streusel recipes makes enough topping to cover a dozen muffins or cupcakes, a 9″ or 10″ pie, or the top of a 9”x13” sheet cake.

Tips for Making the Best Cinnamon Streusel Topping

• Let your butter sit for about 10 minutes after you’ve melted it. This will help you make larger, more defined crumbles in your streusel.
• Use a fork to mix your streusel! It allows you to combine your ingredients while leaving some of those delicious little butter bits intact.

Making This Streusel in Advance

The cinnamon streusel topping can be used immediately,refrigerated for 5 days,or frozen up to a month. Store in an airtight container to keep it fresh.

Let Me Know What You Think

If you try this cinnamon streusel topping recipe, I’d love to hear what you think!

Please leave a rating below and a comment to let me know your thoughts.

Other Recipes You Might Like: