Streusel Vs Crumble: What's The Difference?

Do a quick google search for a fruit crumble topping and you might think it's pretty much interchangeable with a classic streusel recipe. After all, they both result in buttery little nubbins that crisp up and become golden in the oven. However, while there's plenty of crossover, streusel and crumble are distinct dessert toppings with their own personalities.

Let's take a look at the commonalities first. Both streusel and crumble are made with three core elements: butter, flour, and sugar. The cold butter is rubbed into the flour and sugar by hand using the fingertips until the mixture resembles rubbly breadcrumbs (you can pulse the ingredients together in a food processor if preferred, but doing it by hand gives you greater control over the final texture of your topping and prevents the mixture from becoming gummy). Streusel and crumble can both be elevated with warming spices, like cinnamon and cardamom. However, crumbles tend to be used more plainly, without additional aromatics, and scattered over sliced and sweetened fruit before baking.

Now for the differences. Unlike a crumble, a streusel has a little more bandwidth for tasty extras that boost its textural complexity. For example, you can add chopped nuts, oats, or turbinado sugar to lend it a crunchier mouthfeel and nuttier flavor. As streusel combines other ingredients, it isn't as uniform as a crumble; it has a characterful crunch and a variable structure once baked. 

When preparing streusel, you can use cooled melted butter instead of cold, cubed butter to bring the flour and sugar together with a fork instead of rubbing them in by hand. This makes the process of making a streusel very quick. The consistency of the melted butter also creates little nuggets of different sizes that are more compact and crisp up beautifully in the oven. Some crumble recipes online also use melted butter, but we find that it works best with streusels because it helps incorporate all of the other mix-ins that you don't typically add to crumbles. Some say you should always mix your streusel topping with a fork to attain the perfect nubbly consistency and prevent over-mixing. You can even make an easy streusel topping with your favorite cake mix by simply adding melted butter.

Once ready, streusel can be used as a topping for fruit pies, and it can be scattered over baked goods to make bakery-style muffins, pastries, and cheesecake bars. Why not bake your streusel topping on its own on a lined baking sheet, box it up, and use it to top your oatmeal later in the week? As you can be inventive with your additions, you can mix in anything from walnuts and pecans to chopped almonds and rolled oats. Just bear in mind that if you choose to add oats to your streusel or crumble, you'll land somewhere in crisp territory, which is a matter for another day.