Sugar 101 – 13 Most Commom Types of Sugar and Their Uses
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Learn about the different types of sugar, their differences, and how to best use them in this Sugar 101 guide. From granulated sugar to brown sugar and liquid sugars, we’re covering them all!
Caster sugar, brown sugar, demerara and muscavado sugar... The baking world is full different types of sugar. In this guide you’ll learn about the most common sugar varieties, their uses and roles in the kitchen.
In baking, sugar plays a crucial role beyond adding sweetness. It helps tenderize baked goods by interfering with gluten development, retains moisture in baked goods, and supports leavening by incorporating air during creaming.
Sugar also aids in browning through caramelization, stabilizes whipped mixtures like meringues, and provides food for yeast in bread-making. Overall, sugar contributes to the flavor, texture, and appearance of a wide variety of baked goods.
Why do the types of sugar matter?
Sugar is a key ingredient in most baked goods. Therefore, using the right type is important for achieving the perfect level of sweetness, overall flavor, and texture. Different sugars have different properties. So, substituting is not always as straightforward as making a 1:1 switch.
Brown sugar, for example, has more moisture than white sugar. As a result, it will create a softer, chewier cookie or brownie. However, it does not typically work well in your favorite vanilla cake or chocolate macaron.
Don’t worry, though. I’ll break down all the specifics so you can achieve perfectly sweet recipes no matter what type of sugar you use!
13 Different Types of Sugar
Now that we’ve covered what sugar is, let’s look at the different types of sugars available and how best to use them.
White Sugars
1. Granulated Sugar
White granulated sugar, made from either sugar cane or sugar beets, is the most popular sugar used in baking. It has a neutral flavor and comes in small crystals.
BEST USES: Use granulated sugar wherever a recipe calls for sugar. It is ideal for cakes, cookies, macarons, pastries, and pies as the crystals are just the right size to dissolve into batters, helping to sweeten them without making your recipes gritty.
2. Caster sugar
Caster sugar, aka superfine or baker’s sugar, is a type of granulated sugar with finer crystals than regular table sugar. It dissolves more quickly, making it ideal for delicate recipes like meringues and macarons where a smooth texture is crucial. Though it’s finer, it’s not as powdery as confectioners’ (or powdered) sugar. If caster sugar isn’t available, you can run regular sugar in a food processor for a few seconds.
BEST USES: Use caster sugar to sweeten liquids like hot chocolate or daiquiris. Because it is so fine it dissolves easily making it ideal for sweetening liquids.
3. Powdered sugar
Also known as confectioners’ sugar, powder sugar is a white granulated sugar that has been ground into a very fine white powder. Most commercial powdered sugar also contain cornstarch to prevent caking and clumping.
BEST USES: Use powdered sugar for icing, or frosting, or sprinkle it onto baked goods as a garnish.
4. Sanding sugar
Sanding sugar is a type of coarse, decorative sugar used primarily for topping baked goods. The crystals are larger than regular granulated sugar, giving a sparkly, glossy finish to cookies and muffins.
Unlike regular sugar, sanding sugar doesn’t melt as easily when exposed to heat, so it retains its crunchy texture and shine after baking. It’s available in various colors, making it popular for adding a festive touch to desserts.
BEST USES: Use sanding sugar to decorate cookies, muffins, and pastries.
Brown Sugars
5. Light brown sugar
Light brown sugar is a soft sugar that contains a small amount of molasses, around 3%. This gives it a light caramel color and a mild, slightly toffee-like flavor. It’s moist and packs well, which makes it ideal for baking recipes like cookies, cakes, and sauces where a softer texture and richer flavor are desired.
BEST USES: Use light brown sugar to sweeten cookies, brownies, and cakes. I especially love using light brown sugar to make my no-spread sugar cookies.
6. Dark Brown Sugar
Dark brown sugar contains a higher percentage of molasses than light brown sugar, around 7%. Due to higher molasses content, dark brown sugar is darker in color, richer in flavor, and has a stronger caramel or toffee-like taste. Its moist, sticky texture makes it ideal for recipes that call for deeper, more robust flavors, such as gingerbread, baked beans, or barbecue sauces. Due to its higher molasses content, dark brown sugar provides more moisture and richness compared to light brown sugar.
BEST USES: Light and dark brown sugars can be used interchangeably unless otherwise specified by a recipe.
7. Muscovado sugar
Muscovado sugar is a minimally processed sugar made from unrefined cane sugar. It has a higher molasses content than light and dark brown sugar, giving it a more intense caramel-like flavor and moist texture.
It comes in both light and dark varieties, with dark muscovado having a higher molasses content and a more intense flavor.
BEST USES: Use muscovado sugar on a one-to-one basis wherever a recipe calls for brown sugar.
8. Turbinado sugar
Turbinado is also a minimally processed canesugar that retains some of its natural molasses. Because of its large texture, turbinado sugar doesn’t mix well into batters.
BEST USES: Use turbinado sugar as a topping to add sweetness and texture.
9. Demerara sugar
Demerara sugar is similar to turbinado but its texture is more coarse and it is lighter in color.
BEST USES: Use demerara sugar as a finishing sugar as it does not blend well into batters.
10. Coconut sugar
Coconut sugar is made from the sap of the coconut palm tree and is less processed than many other sugars. It boasts a slightly higher nutritional profile, retaining more minerals and vitamins.
BEST USES: Use coconut sugar as a substitute for white or brown sugar on a one-to-one basis. It will, however, make your finished product a little darker than if you used white sugar.
Liquid Sugars
11. Corn syrup
Corn syrup is a sweet liquid made from cornstarch. It is used in commercially prepared foods as a sweetener and a stabilizer. Corn syrup is sold in the grocery and can be used at home to sweeten baked goods.
BEST USES: Use corn syrup wherever you’d use honey, maple syrup, or agave. It’s crucial ingredient in my microwave peanut brittle recipe.
12. Glucose syrup
Glucose syrup is another liquid sweetener similar to corn syrup. It’s less sweet than sucrose (table sugar) and an excellent anti-crystallizing agent. Glucose syrup is used to improve the mouthfeel of products and enhance the overall texture.
BEST USES: Use glucose syrup in ice creams and sorbets to keep them scoopable and prevent iciness. When added in ganache, glucose syrup keeps it soft and elastic.
13. Invert sugar
Invert sugar, aka trimoline, is a thick liquid sweetener and a great anti-crystallizing agent. It is sweeter than regular sucrose (table sugar), which means you might use less of it to achieve the same level of sweetness.
Invert sugar also helps retain moisture in baked goods, preventing them from drying out and extending shelf life.
BEST USES: Use invert sugar when making candy, ganache and ice creams.
Choosing Which Types of Sugar to Use
- Granulated sugar works well in most baked goods like cakes, meringue, pies, and cookies as it dissolves well. In some cases, you can substitute with brown sugar but you may find the finished product will be darker and the texture will be different.
- If you want your finished product to be moist and chewy, brown sugar, of any type, will work best as it has a higher moisture content; think brownies and bars.
- Substituting a dry sugar for a liquid sugar requires modifications. So, it is best not to attempt this unless you are provided with explicit instructions on how to do so.
- Most recipes will specify the type of sweetener to be used but if a recipe just says sugar, it is safe to assume it is white granulated sugar.
- Some recipes may ask for a more ‘natural’ sugar like monk fruit, which can be used on a 1-1 basis with granulated sugar.
- Sweeteners like stevia, allulose, and erythritol vary in their sweetness levels and do not typically work as a 1:1 swap for white or brown sugar. Luckily, most packages give a ratio for substitutions!
- Liquid sweeteners, on the other hand, can most often be substituted for each other. If you have a recipe calling for honey you can usually use maple syrup, agave, or corn syrup in its place on a 1:1 basis.
Types of Sugar FAQs:
Store dry and liquid sugars except maple syrup in a cool, dark place in an airtight container. If you find the original package doesn’t close securely, transfer the sugar to a storage container. Maple syrup should always be stored in the refrigerator once opened.
Storing brown sugar in an airtight container will help prevent it from hardening. However, I like to add a terracotta brown sugar saver to keep it fresh for longer. All you have to do is soak this brown sugar saver for a few minutes, dry it off, and place it in the bag or container of brown sugar. Note you’ll need to do this every few months to keep the brown sugar soft! Some people also use a slice of white bread or a whole apple.
I’ve got a few tips on how to soften brown sugar in case yours is hard and unusable.
