Easy Crumb Topping Recipe
Did you know all of life's problems can be solved with butter and brown sugar? Ok not ALL but "some of life's problems" just didn't have the same impact. This super easy crumb topping recipe is perfect to add on to your favorite bread recipe or to top on fruit for a quick crumble OR toast it and put it on ice cream!
In a large bowl mix the flour, brown sugar and cinnamon. Cut up the butter in small chunks and either rub it into the flour mixture with your hands or do it the lazy (me) way and use your stand mixer. Mix until all the flour is coated and it looks like small crumbs. Then add the egg white and mix gently by hand until all the mixture is coated. Now it's choose your own adventure time....
You can top your favorite bread or cake recipe with this and bake as directed ( I love it on banana bread!) Another variation that is amazing and can be altered depending on the time of year is CAKE (fall...apple or pumpkin cake with cranberries, spring...lemon cake with blueberry). Mix up your cake batter (can be homemade or box) Pour the cake into your pans, top with a few tablespoons of jam (or make your own fruit sauce. Just heat fresh fruit with sugar and water and stir until it thickens..depending on the fruit you're using the amounts can vary. The Google machine can help you find a good fruit sauce recipe. They're all very simple) then cover with crumb topping and bake as directed.
OR use 4 cups of fresh or frozen berries, apples, peaches, whatever combination you want and toss them in 2 tablespoons of flour. Top with crumb topping and bake in a pie plate at 350 for 35-40 minutes until the topping is brown and the fruit is bubbling. Serve it with ice cream if you know what's good for you.
OR toast it on a baking sheet at 350 for 15 minutes. It will come out looking puffy and weird just let it cool COMPLETELY (put it in the fridge if you're impatient like me). The scrape it off the pan into a bowl and toss with a fork to break it back up into crumbs. Use it to top ice cream, fresh fruit, yogurt or just eat it by the spoonful. I won't tell.