how come my crumble is too powdery?

[Mercedes]

Whenever i make crumble its all powdery rather than crumbly. I made some last night and it was 6/4/4 of flour/ sugar/butter I think.

I know I can put in oats but how did I manage to do it in the past and get chewy crumbs rather than the dry powder and I didn't use oats?

Put more butter in, more than you think. I do a Nigel Slater trick and drizzle a litle water over the top, just a tiny bit. that seems to stop the dry sand crumb problem.

Oats should Not Be Allowed in crumble.

I don't use a recipe for crumble, just do it by guesswork, but I'd agree with Cybil that you probably need more butter.