If there’s one ingredient that doesn’t get enough attention among dessert lovers, it’s oats. When mixed together and baked with butter, sugar, and spices, these nutty little grains easily absorb both fat and flavor, melding together into a layer of sweet, crunchy deliciousness called streusel. Though there are many differences between cobblers, crumbles, and crisps, the use of an oatmeal-based streusel is the easiest way to clock a crisp from a distance. Streusels always contain oats, making crisps the easiest dessert among the three, as this topping always comes together in a flash.
Not only do the oats add flavor and texture, they’re the reason streusel is so easy to make. Since the grains are a little larger, they help the topping mixture clump together just enough to create the perfect texture without the need for a pastry cutter. It’s also harder to over-mix since the other ingredients cling to the oats, which helps ensure everything is evenly distributed. Since the other toppings don’t have oats, it’s much easier for them to become clumpy or tough from too much stirring, resulting in a lackluster dessert.
Oatmeal streusel is also extremely versatile. While you can certainly stick to the traditional recipe, it’s also fairly easy to create a more nutritious crisp topping by swapping out wheat flour, butter, and refined sugar for almond (or oat!) flour, olive oil, and pure maple syrup. You can also zhuzh it up with crushed walnuts or pecans, or even toasted coconut flakes and pepita seeds.
Oatmeal makes for the best streusel
Though streusel is certainly a heavenly topping for sophisticated desserts like rhubarb and cardamom muffins, there are dozens of other ways you can use it. For instance, you could layer it over Ina Garten’s favorite apple pie filling recipe, as the oats would help enhance the sweet earthiness of the citrus in the recipe. It’s also pretty delicious baked together with ordinary canned fruit. The syrup from the fruit absorbs into the streusel topping creating a moist, dense layer with a little less crunch but lots of sugary richness.
You can also bake streusel topping by itself to create an indulgent version of granola. Serve it alongside ripe and delicious marinated berries, layer it together with yogurt and bananas to create a quick and easy breakfast parfait, or even press it into the tops of cookies before baking them for a crunchy twist. This could be a particularly interesting twist on fruity thumbprint cookies, turning them into mini crisp cookies instead.
For the chocolate lovers among us, there’s no shortage of ways to give streusel a fudgy makeover. The most obvious way to do this is to add a hefty sprinkle of chocolate chips or chopped chocolate to the mix. However, you could also whisk some cocoa powder into your flour, or add cocoa-dusted almonds. This version of oaty streusel might be the perfect topping for ordinary boxed brownies, a chocolate cream pie, or textural component between the layers of a devil’s food cake.
