This easy recipe for a traditional Crumble Topping made in the food processor is my go-to way of making it – no sticky fingers and it’s ready in mere moments. Using just butter, flour, sugar and a little salt, this simple mixture is perfect to top basically any fruit and be baked to perfection.
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Like most good Brits, I love me a good crumble. But I’ve realised over the years that I am really not a big fan of rubbing butter into flour by hand. So the food processor is something I reach for basically every time. The trick is to use the pulse function to make sure you make a crumble and not a paste.
If you feel like this is “cheating” in some way then be assured that neither morality police or the folk eating the crumble care one jot about how you got there, only that you got there.
How to Use Crumble Topping
Whack it on top of whack it in the oven! I’ve got multiple crumble recipes, all using this same recipe topping. This is really a guide to ratios of fruit to topping and for working out portions. But crumble is incredibly flexible. So if you are a more confident cook, you can just take the amount of fruit and sugar that your heart desires, throw on as much topping as you like and baking it.
If you do indeed prefer a recipe – you can use this method of making the topping and just carry on as normal.
Simple Blackberry Apple Crumble (Without Oats Recipe)
Easy Strawberry Crumble Recipe
Easy Canned Fruit Cocktail Crumble Recipe
Plum & Apple Crumble (Recipe Without Oats)
Apple & Blueberry Crumble Recipe (Without Oats)
Peach & Ginger Crumble Recipe
Traditional Crumble Topping Ingredients
Flour
The recipe uses self-raising flour (self rising) which just gives it a little lift. The crumble doesn’t bake up like a cake but it does make a slight difference with the texture.
If you prefer to use plain flour and add baking powder you can do this. You will need 1tsp baking powder for every 100g of plain flour.
You can actually just use plain flour if you don’t have any baking powder. It will still be good, just not as amazing.
Butter
I always use salted butter in my baking. And I use salt in all my baking. Please add extra salt if you insist on using unsalted butter. Salt enhances flavour and without it, the topping will be bland.
It is also best to use actual butter rather than margarine. This both helps the texture and the flavour of the finished crumble.
It is also important that the butter is fridge cold when you start making the crumble.
Sugar
It doesn’t matter if you use granulated or caster sugar (regular or superfine). But please make sure to use white sugar not brown. An unbleached white sugar is fine.
My recipe does make a crumble topping that is on the sweeter side. So if you wish to reduce the amount of sugar a little, you can. I wouldn’t add less than half however – this is still a dessert after all.
Be Flexible
If you are an oat lover, you can absolutely stir some through the topping mix. But I would recommend doing this by hand at the end so it doesn’t become oat flour. Alternatively for more texture you can add finely chopped ground nuts. Desiccated coconut works as an addition with more tropical fruits too.
You can add spices into the crumble along with the flour. What you use would likely depend on the fruit you’re pairing it with. Ginger is the most common spice that I add but mixed spice or cinnamon would be other common additions. Citrus zest can also be added along with the butter – choose which depending on the fruit.
Another flavour additional would be vanilla – you can add a few drops of vanilla extract or paste along with the butter. Or use a vanilla sugar in place of the regular.
Vegetarian or Vegan Crumble Topping
This crumble topping recipe is suitable for vegetarians as written. To make it suitable for vegans, you can simply use a dairy free butter substitute. Make sure to use one that is a solid block, not a margarine and which at least purports to have some kind of butter like taste.
Make Allergy Friendly Processor Crumble
This recipe is free from egg and nuts.
Gluten Free: Crumble doesn’t really rely on the gluten in the flour so swapping in a gluten free flour blend is very successful. If the option you are using doesn’t contain a raising agent, make sure to add baking powder.
Dairy Free: Just as with making the recipe vegan, simply switch in a plant based butter instead of the dairy butter.
Please note that this recipe may contain other allergens not referred to above and any variations suggested have not been tested unless otherwise stated. For more information regarding any dietary information provided on this website, please refer to my Nutritional Disclaimer.
Equipment Notes for Crumble Topping
Of course the most important thing you’ll need here is a Food Processor. You can use most blender type processors if they’re large enough but you may need to give them a good shake a couple of times to make sure everything is combining evenly.
I don’t find that an electric whisk or stand mixer works for rubbing, or in this case cutting butter into flour – the metal cutting blade is the essential component here, not the mixing action.
A comprehensive list of the equipment used to make this recipe is included in the main recipe card below. Click on any item to see an example. There are no hard and fast rules so many items can be sensibly substituted to achieve the same results.
Making in Bulk, Storage & Freezing
If you don’t love getting out and having to wash up a big food processor bowl very often, the best thing you can do is make 2, 3 or even 4 or so times the given recipe quantity.
The crumble freezes brilliantly and doesn’t even tend t really change texture. So if you portion it up and freeze in bags, you could just grab what you need, dump it straight on your fruit and bake from frozen.
If you don’t want to freeze it, you can keep in the fridge for 3-4 days. It will last a little longer than that but it tends to start turning a bit grey. It isn’t bad but it doesn’t look very appetising.
Easy Crumble Topping Tips
Do make sure your butter is fridge cold. If you are working in a really hot environment, you can cube the butter then put it back in the fridge to firm up again. Or give it 10 minutes in the freezer.
If your food processor doesn’t have a pulse function, just turn the machine on and off a few times quite quickly for the same effect,
Don’t forget to let me know in the comments if you try making this recipe – I want to know what you think and if you made any substitutions, how did it turn out?
Still Have Questions?
Simple! Just contact me and I will do my best to help as quickly as I am able. Head over to my Contact Me page, any of my social media channels or post a comment at the bottom of this page and I’ll see what I can do.
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More Simple Baking Ingredient Recipes
The Recipe
Food Processor Crumble Topping (Without Oats Recipe)
Ingredients
- 200 g Self Raising Flour (Self-Rising)
- 100 g Salted Butter - cold
- 100 g Sugar
- ¼ tsp Sea Salt Flakes
Instructions
- Measure 200g Self Raising Flour and 100g Salted Butter into a mixing bowl. Cut the butter into smallish pieces as you add it.
- Use the pulse function to blitz the mixture until the butter is evenly distributed and it looks like breadcrumbs. This should only take 10-20 seconds or so.
- Measure in 100g Sugar and ¼ tsp Sea Salt Flakes.
- Blitz again using the pulse function just once or twice to distribute the sugar. It doesn't need cutting into finer pieces.
- Your crumble topping is now ready to use!
Janice says
This is so simple! I made a big bag and put it in the freezer, we had some apple crumble and it was delicious, just waiting for the garden rhubarb to be ready for my absolute favourite crumble.
Jayne says
Why have I never thought to use my food processor before – this was so easy to do!