Sourdough Streusel Topping

This sourdough streusel topping adds a buttery crunch and sweet cinnamon flavor to any bake — from muffins and cakes to cookies and quick breads. Made with just a few pantry staples, plus your dehydrated sourdough starter, it bakes up golden and crisp, turning every treat into something extra special.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

Sourdough Twist – add some dehydrated sourdough starter to this streusel topping for a unique way to use your sourdough discard.

Versatile: It works beautifully on muffins, cakes, cookies, or even fruit crisps — one recipe, endless uses. Just a handful of simple ingredients come together in minutes for a bakery-style topping.

Delicious Texture: Bakes up golden, crisp, and buttery, adding irresistible crunch and flavor to any dessert.

Ingredients

• All Purpose Flour
• Butter – make sure your butter is cold. If you’re using a food processor, you don’t need to cut into small cubes, you can just toss it in.
• Cinnamon
• Sugar – I’ve used a mix of raw sugar and brown sugar for this delicious dessert topping.
• Pecans – again, if you’re using a food processor, you can just toss these in, but if you’re making this by hand, you’ll need to roughly chop them.
• Rolled Oats – be sure to use traditional rolled oats, not quick oats.
• Sourdough Starter – I’ve used dried sourdough starter that has been dehydrated and then run through my food processor. You can use these instructions for how to dehydrate a sourdough starter. You don’t have to use fine sourdough starter like I have, you can use a more coarse version if you are using a food processor, or leave it out altogether if you prefer.

Let’s Make Sourdough Streusel Topping!

Food Processor

• Add all of the ingredients to the bowl of a food processor and blitz for a few seconds until all everything has been well combined and is roughly the same size. That’s it! You’re done!

Make By Hand

• Add the cold, cubed butter, flour and cinnamon to a mixing bowl and rub the flour and cinnamon into the butter until it resembles breadcrumbs (or even wet sand).
• Now, roughly chop the pecans, and add these, along with the raw sugar, brown sugar, rolled oats and dehydrated sourdough starter to the flour and butter mixture and combine together using your hands.

What to Use Sourdough Streusel Topping On

I use this sourdough streusel topping on so many things, seriously, I’ve made so many batches because I keep running out! Here are some of the ways I’ve used it in the past few months:

• Dessert Pizza – It is perfect as a topping on a dessert pizza, just like this Sourdough Strawberry Pizza!
• Cookie Skillets – Sourdough Pumpkin Oatmeal Skillet Cookie
• Sourdough Muffins – I love adding this crunchy topping to these sourdough blueberry muffins, sourdough apple and cinnamon muffins and these sourdough applesauce muffins.

How to Store + Freeze

If you have extra streusel, you can refrigerate it in an airtight container for up to 5 days. It also freezes beautifully, just store the crumbs in a freezer-safe bag or mason jar for up to 3 months. Sprinkle it straight from the freezer onto your batter before baking, no need to thaw. Seriously, this is a game changer!! I always have a jar in the freezer!

Share the sourdough love!