Types of Sugar for Baking and When to Use Each

Updated September 2026 · Baking Resources

Almost every sugar on the shelf is the same molecule, sucrose, sold at a different crystal size and with a different amount of molasses left in or added back. Those two variables, grind and moisture, decide which one belongs in your recipe.

Granulated is the default. Brown sugars add moisture and acidity, so they make things chewier and darker. Powdered dissolves instantly and contains cornstarch, so it belongs in frostings and glazes. Coarse sugars stay crunchy on top because they never fully dissolve. Liquid sugars bring their own water and brown faster.

Get that framework and you can pick a sugar for any bake without a chart. The chart is here anyway.

Updated September 2026

Sugar is heavy and everyone measures it differently. One cup of granulated is 200 g, packed brown is 213 g and powdered is only 120 g. Our free ingredient weights chart gives you the gram figure for every sugar below, so a cup means the same thing every time.

The types of sugar, side by side

That table is worth reading twice. A cup of powdered sugar weighs almost half what a cup of granulated weighs. Swapping them by volume in a recipe is not a small change, it is a different recipe.

Why crystal size matters more than the label

The size of the crystal decides three things.

How fast it dissolves. Fine crystals dissolve in cold batter, coarse ones never fully dissolve at all. That is why turbinado stays crunchy on a muffin top and superfine vanishes into a meringue.

How well it creams. Creaming works because the sharp edges of sugar crystals tear air pockets into butter. Too fine and there are no edges to cut with, too coarse and there are too few crystals doing the work. Granulated sits in the sweet spot, which is why nearly every creamed-butter recipe calls for it. Our guide on how to cream butter and sugar covers the timing and texture cues.

How much a cookie spreads. Sugar melts, and melted sugar is liquid, and liquid dough spreads. Fine sugars melt earlier and give you more spread. Coarse ones hold out longer and keep a cookie thicker.

Test it yourself sometime: same dough, one batch with granulated and one with superfine, and the superfine batch comes out flatter and paler at the edges every single time.

The white sugars

Granulated

The baseline. Neutral, dry, consistent, and what a recipe means when it just says "sugar." Weighs 200 g per cup. Stores forever in a sealed container.

Superfine or caster sugar

Same sugar, ground smaller. It dissolves fast enough to disappear into egg whites, which is why it is the standard for meringue, angel food and chiffon. It weighs the same 200 g per cup, so you can swap it 1:1 with granulated with no math.

You can make it: pulse granulated sugar in a clean, dry blender for 20 to 30 seconds. Let the dust settle before you open the lid.

Powdered, confectioners' or 10x sugar

Granulated sugar milled to a powder with roughly 3 percent cornstarch added to stop it caking. The cornstarch matters. It thickens, and it also gives raw frosting a faint chalky taste that goes away once you beat in enough fat and let the frosting sit.

Powdered sugar is the one measurement people get wrong most. Unsifted it is 120 g per cup. Sifted it is around 100 g. That is a 20 percent gap in a frosting that is mostly sugar. See how to make buttercream for how much that shifts the consistency.

Never swap powdered for granulated by volume in a cake. If you must swap, do it by weight and expect a softer, slightly starchy crumb.

The brown sugars

Here is the part almost nobody is told: brown sugar is not a different sugar. It is white sugar with molasses added back in. Light brown is about 3.5 percent molasses, dark brown is around 6.5 percent. That is the entire difference.

Molasses brings two things to a bake: water and acid.

The water is why brown sugar bakes come out chewy and stay soft for days. Molasses is hygroscopic, meaning it pulls moisture out of the air and holds it, so cookies made with brown sugar do not go crisp and stale as fast.

The acid reacts with baking soda for extra lift, and it softens gluten slightly for a more tender crumb.

Both brown sugars weigh 213 g per cup packed, which is the standard for every American recipe. Loose, light brown drops to around 145 g. That is a third less sugar in the same cup, which is why brown sugar is the one ingredient you genuinely do pack.

Out of it? Mix 1 cup of granulated with 1 tablespoon of molasses for light brown, or 2 tablespoons for dark. Full method in our brown sugar substitute guide.

Muscovado

Unrefined cane sugar that never had its molasses removed. Very damp, sticky, strongly flavored, and it clumps. Use it where you want that taste to lead, like sticky toffee or gingerbread. It is also the sugar behind a dark fruitcake made without nuts, where the sugar has to carry more of the flavor on its own. Swap it for dark brown 1:1 and expect a stronger result. More detail in the muscovado sugar substitute guide.

Keeping brown sugar soft

Brown sugar turns into a brick because the molasses moisture evaporates. Store it airtight with a terracotta disk, a slice of bread, or an apple wedge. To rescue a hard block, see how to soften brown sugar.

The coarse sugars

Turbinado and demerara are large, dry, blond crystals with a trace of molasses left on the surface. They weigh 180 g per cup because the big crystals pack with more air between them. Their job is texture: scattered on a muffin, a scone or a cookie before baking, they stay whole and give you a sugar crunch.

Do not use them as a straight swap for granulated in a batter. They dissolve poorly, so you can end up with gritty pockets and a cake that creamed badly.

Sanding sugar is even bigger and comes in colors. Purely decorative, sits on top, does not melt.

Pearl sugar is compressed sugar in hard nuggets that survive oven heat almost intact. It is what makes Belgian waffles and Scandinavian buns look the way they do.

The liquid sugars

Honey, maple syrup, molasses, corn syrup and agave are all part sugar and part water. Swapping them into a recipe written for dry sugar means adjusting three things.

1. Cut the other liquid by about 3 to 4 tablespoons per cup of liquid sweetener.
2. Drop the oven 25°F. Liquid sugars brown much faster, so the crust colors before the middle is set. Our oven temperature converter handles the conversion.
3. Use less. Honey is sweeter than sugar, so about 3/4 cup of honey replaces 1 cup of sugar for the same perceived sweetness.

Honey and corn syrup are invert sugars, which means they resist crystallizing. That is why corn syrup goes into caramel and candy: it keeps the mixture smooth instead of grainy. A smooth caramel still slides off wet fruit, which how to keep caramel on apples deals with separately. It is also why a honey cake stays moist for a week.

For the full set of ratios and which bakes tolerate them, see sweetener substitutes for baking.

Worked example: one cookie dough, three sugars

Take a plain drop cookie: 2 cups all-purpose flour (250 g), 1 cup butter (227 g), 1 cup of sugar (whichever type), 1 egg, 1 teaspoon baking soda, salt and vanilla. Baked at 350°F.

With 200 g granulated sugar. The dough creams pale and fluffy. Cookies spread wide, set crisp at the edge and go fully crisp within a day. Color is light gold. The taste is clean and sweet with nothing behind it.

With 213 g packed light brown sugar. That is 13 g more weight in the same cup, and about 7 g of it is molasses carrying water and acid. The dough is softer and slightly darker. Cookies spread a little less, come out chewy in the middle, and stay chewy for three or four days. Color is deeper because the molasses browns early and the acid feeds the baking soda.

With 180 g turbinado. The dough creams poorly, since the big crystals never break down into the butter. Cookies come out denser and less risen, with visible sugar grit and pale edges. It works fine sprinkled on top of the granulated version, and badly as the whole sugar.

Same recipe, three completely different cookies, and the only variable was which jar you reached for.

If you want to run that comparison with weights instead of cups, the grams to cups converter handles all the sugars in the chart above.

The swap chart

Storage, in one paragraph each

White sugars last indefinitely if kept dry and sealed. Hard lumps are moisture, not spoilage, and they break up with a whisk.

Brown sugars dry out and harden. Airtight is not optional. A terracotta sugar saver soaked in water and dropped in the container keeps a bag soft for months.

Powdered sugar cakes badly in humid kitchens. Sift before using, always, and store it sealed.

Liquid sugars keep for a very long time. Honey that has crystallized is fine, just set the jar in warm water until it clears.

Frequently asked questions

What are the main types of sugar used in baking?

Granulated white, superfine, powdered, light and dark brown, and the coarse sugars like turbinado, plus the liquid sweeteners. Granulated covers most recipes, brown sugars add moisture and chew, powdered goes into frostings, and coarse sugars are for crunch on top.

What is the difference between granulated and caster sugar?

Only the crystal size. Caster, also sold as superfine, is granulated sugar milled smaller, so it dissolves faster in cold mixtures like meringue and creams into butter more smoothly. They weigh the same 200 g per cup and swap 1:1 in any recipe.

Can I use brown sugar instead of white sugar?

Yes, 1:1 by volume in most recipes. The bake will be chewier, moister, darker and slightly denser, because brown sugar carries molasses that brings water and acid with it. In a delicate white cake or a meringue, stick with granulated.

What is turbinado sugar used for?

Sprinkling. Its large dry crystals resist dissolving, so they stay crunchy on top of muffins, scones, pie crusts and cookies. It is a poor choice as the main sugar in a batter, since it creams badly and can leave gritty pockets in the crumb.

Why does powdered sugar weigh so much less per cup?

Because it is a light dust full of trapped air, plus about 3 percent cornstarch. A cup holds 120 g unsifted and around 100 g sifted, against 200 g for granulated. That is why you can never swap the two by volume without changing the recipe completely.

Is coconut sugar healthier than white sugar?

It is still sugar and your body treats it much the same, so treat any health claim with caution. What it does offer a baker is a caramel taste and a 1:1 swap for brown sugar. It weighs 154 g per cup, so weigh it rather than measuring by volume for accuracy.

Do different types of sugar change how long something bakes?

Not the time much, but the temperature reading of the crust. Sugars with molasses or in liquid form brown considerably faster, so a bake can look done outside while the center lags. Check with a tester or an internal temperature around 205 to 210°F for cakes rather than trusting the color.

How do I substitute honey for sugar in baking?

Use about 3/4 cup of honey for each cup of sugar, cut the other liquid by 3 to 4 tablespoons per cup of honey, and lower the oven by 25°F so the outside does not scorch. Expect a moister bake that stays soft longer.

Related guides

• What does sugar do in baking?
• Brown sugar substitute
• Powdered sugar substitute for frosting
• What is molasses?
• Types of flour