The Goodie Bag Pastry Cooks Keep on Hand to Amp Up Any Dessert

By efriend

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 3/4 cups sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 8 ounces cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes

Details

Servings 5
Adapted from food52.com

Preparation

Step 1

Add a Recipe

Save and organize all of the stuff you love in one place.

Streusel—better known by its street name, crumb topping—is simply flour, sugar, and salt that’s cut with lots of butter until it turns, well, crumbly—like

It takes just minutes to whip up, can be baked straight from the freezer, and keeps there for months. It can be piled on pies or layered into cakes.

Lower the sugar and add some umami oomph—say, chili powder or potato chips—and streusel adopts the role that we normally default to breadcrumbs

a million ideas for putting your streusel to good use

Makes 5 to 6 cups

ounces cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes

A note on the mixing order: Streusel is rustic by nature, so

the only crucial step is under-mixing (too dry) or over-mixing (too cohesive)

, follow your pan size and your heart, but figure you'll want a very thick layer in the middle and on top (pour in half the batter, add streusel, add the rest of the batter, then sprinkle on more streusel). The more streusel, I say, the better.

To make streusel crunch

, preheat the oven to 325° F and line a baking sheet with parchment or a Silicone mat. Spread streusel into a single layer (use two baking sheets if you have to) and bake until the streusel begins to brown and crisp, about 20 minutes total, tossing with a fork halfway through. It will continue to crisp as it cools. Cool completely before sprinkling on everything from yogurt to ice cream to macerated fruit. You can even serve it with milk, like the cereal of your dreams. Store in an airtight bag or jar for up to 3 days.

, which well help you figure out what flavor of streusel to make depending on what you're cooking

. For example, peach pie with salty brown butter streusel. Or frozen yogurt with wheat germ streusel. Or chocolate babka with hazelnut-rye streusel.

We ate our fair share of streusel by the palmful, then got around to putting it to use.

What's the first type of streusel you'll make? Tell us in the comments below!

How to Make Pickled Eggs in Every Natural Color & Flavor Under...

Zwilling Madura Plus Nonstick Fry Pan

Twin Peaks' Kyle MacLachlan Makes a Damn Fine Cherry Pie

Add

Add

Add to Basket