Gluten-Free Crumb Topping
Five ingredients, one bowl, no eggs or butter. The crumb top I use on muffins, coffee cakes, and pies — pulled out here so you don't have to dig it out of another recipe.
Skip to recipe ↓A good crumb top is the easiest way to make a plain bake look and taste like it came from a bakery case. This is the one we use — gluten-free, vegan, and built on oil instead of butter, so it comes together in one bowl in about a minute.
The whole trick is texture: rub the oil in until it clumps into pebbles, not sand. Sandy crumb melts into the top and disappears; pebbly crumb holds its shape and bakes up craggy and crisp.
Gluten-Free Crumb Topping
Ingredients
| Ingredient | Weight |
|---|---|
| Rice flour | 40g |
| Oat flour | 15g |
| Organic cane sugar | 30g |
| Sunflower oil | 25g |
| Salt | a pinch (0.5g) |
Method
- Whisk the rice flour, oat flour, cane sugar, and salt together in a small bowl.
- Drizzle in the sunflower oil and rub it through with your fingertips until it clumps into irregular pieces. Stop at pebbles — if it’s turning to sand, you’ve gone too far; add a touch more flour to bring the clumps back.
- Chill in the fridge until you need it. Cold crumb holds its shape better in the oven.
- Scatter over the batter just before baking, then bake as your recipe directs.
How to Use It
Muffins and coffee cake: scatter over the top after scooping, pressing lightly so it sticks.
Pies and crumbles: double or triple the batch and pile it on — it crisps beautifully over fruit.
Scale it: the ratio holds, so multiply everything by the same number for a bigger bake. Keep it chilled until the moment it goes on.
This is the same crumb from our square banana maple cake — now you can grab it on its own for anything.