12 Types of Sugar for Baking

Sugar is not only a sweetener but also a vital role in the taste, texture, and appearance of baked goods. Learn about the common types of sugar in baking and their uses.

Yes, sugar makes things sweet. But in the world of baking and cooking, it also has a lot of other roles to play. It can stabilize, add texture, act as a leavening agent and affect the flavor of various baked goods. And you can bet that if you’re on the verge of a significant baking mishap, a mistake with sugar may be to blame.

It’s essential to understand what sugar is and its importance in baking, why certain sugars are used in recipes, and its functionality. Common types of sugar for baking will be reviewed here so you can be a more informed baker.

What is Sugar?

Before we jump into the different forms of sugar for baking, we must understand the fundamental science of these carbohydrates we adore. Sugar can come from various natural sources and exists in two forms:

• Monosaccharides: Glucose (blood sugar), fructose (fruit sugar), and galactose (milk sugar). These are simple sugars.
• Disaccharides: Maltose (malt sugar; glucose + glucose), lactose (milk sugar; glucose + galactose), and sucrose (table sugar; glucose + fructose). These are complex sugars.

Sugar varies in sweetness level

Sucrose is often used in the kitchen, typically sourced from sugar beets or sugar cane. It serves as the reference standard for sweetness. If sucrose is a 1 on a scale, then fructose can taste between 1.2 to 1.8 times as sweet, whereas lactose is about 0.2 times as sweet as sugar.

Interestingly, you could use less of a sweetener containing fructose, like honey, to reduce the calorie input while achieving a similar sweetness level. However, the chemical structure of different types of sugars will have a noticeable impact on the quality of baked products.

Best sugar for baking

There are many varieties of sugar, but the following eight types are the most commonly used in baking recipes, like cookies, muffins, and cakes.

Granulated Sugar

The table sugar that most of us use for baking chocolate chip cookies with–the white, tiny uniform crystals that come in a large bag. It’s highly refined and intended to be used for various purposes. Mostly, it’s made from sugar cane and sugar beets. It provides a very clean sweetness. The size of the sugar crystals makes it perfect for aerating batters and dough during the creaming process, creating light and tender crumbs.

White granulated sugar also helps cookies spread, adds a more crisp texture to cookies, and causes surface cracking due to crystallization, which can be desirable depending on the type. The amount of granulated sugar in a recipe and the presence of other sweeteners will determine the degree of texture, taste, and color changes.

Superfine Sugar

Also known as caster sugar, granulated sugar is processed to make smaller crystals. You can make your own by using a food processor to break down granulated sugar for a few seconds until a finer texture is achieved. It’s used to produce light and tender cakes.

How to Make It:  Process 1 cup plus 2 teaspoons of granulated sugar in a food processor for 15 to 30 seconds. The granules should be finer and still flowable, not powdery.

Sanding Sugar

A favorite topping to use by bakers! It’s also referred to as coarse decorating sugar. The large sugar crystals are used for decorating because it keeps their shape and doesn’t melt with heat. I use it to sprinkle on sugar cookies, scones, muffins, chocolate candies, pies, or apple turnovers for extra sweetness and crunch.

Powdered Sugar

Also known as confectioners sugar, it is coarse sugar ground into a light and airy, fine powder through different-sized sieves. The most common and finest in size is 10X powdered sugar. Cornstarch is added at around 3% to prevent clumping because sugar is very hygroscopic.

It’s ideal for dusting, royal icing, sugar cookie frosting, and other decorating as it easily dissolves in liquid to create a thick, spreadable substance. It can be used in cakes and cookies to give a dense texture. You cannot substitute powdered sugar for granulated sugar in baking because it behaves differently when mixed (aerates less in batters and doughs), and the cornstarch may affect the texture.

How to Make It: Process 1 cup of granulated sugar and 1 teaspoon of cornstarch in a blender or spice grinder for three minutes or until powdery. Strain through a mesh strainer to remove any remaining large particles. 

Brown Sugar

It is refined sugar that has varying degrees of molasses (the uncrystallized by-product of sugar refining) added. It’s sold as light brown sugar or golden (about 3.5% molasses) and dark brown sugar (approximately 6.5% molasses). It adds caramel flavor notes and golden brown colors to cookies, cakes, and muffins.

You can easily make brown sugar. Since it contains more moisture and binds water, it’s added to recipes to achieve specific characteristics like chewiness in cookies and keeping quick bread tender over extended periods. It can be substituted for granulated sugar 1:1 by weight in recipes. However, it will look and taste slightly different. If, after storing, it becomes hard, here’s how to soften brown sugar.

Molasses

The unsulfured molasses, which I use in my soft-baked molasses cookies, is lighter in color and has a mild flavor, made from pure cane syrup. Sulfured molasses is also available, with a darker color and bitter taste. It’s best to use light or dark molasses because the blackstrap can give a robust bitter flavor to the baked good. It is particularly popular in cookies like gingersnap and gingerbread.

This extremely dark and thick syrup is a by-product of sugar cane refining and has a strong caramel and cooked flavor. It comes in three forms: light and mild, dark and robust, and blackstrap. You will also notice on the label unsulfured or sulfured designations.

Honey

A popular sweetening alternative created by honeybees is sucrose, which has been enzymatically converted into inverted sugar (honey) composed of fructose and glucose. Because fructose is about 1.5 times sweeter than sucrose, its presence in honey makes it slightly sweeter than sugar. Use ½ to 2/3 cups of honey for every 1 cup of sugar.

Since the nectar’s flower, season, and ripening time varies, so can the taste and color. Honey is unique because it never spoils. Therefore it can be stored at room temperature. It’s very hygroscopic and loves to pick up moisture. It helps keep cakes and cornbread muffins moist and tender.

Since it contains 20% water, reduce the amount of liquid added, about ¼ cup of liquid to every 1 cup of honey. The fructose in honey also aids in increased browning. However baking temperature may need to be lowered to prevent over-browning by about 25°F. Make sure to check that the recipe has baking soda. If not, make sure to add ¼ teaspoon per 1 cup of honey used to help neutralize the acid in the honey for proper leavening.

Pure Maple Syrup

It is made from the sap of sugar maple trees that have been boiled down but not further processed, leaving more minerals like potassium, calcium, copper, and sodium. The sweet amber-to-brown syrup has a distinctive rich caramel flavor. It’s more expensive than other sweeteners but worth the investment.

The high moisture makes it susceptible to spoilage once opened and left at room temperature. Store in the refrigerator for 6 to 12 months. Make sure to skip the pancake syrups, as they are made with corn syrup and added flavors, which are nothing like the real thing.

To use in baking, substitute 2/3 cup maple syrup for granulated sugar. It also contains water, so reduce the total liquid input by 20 to 25%, about ¼ cup per 1 cup. Reduce the oven temperature by 25°F to prevent over-browning. It can replace honey, molasses, and corn syrup as a 1:1 substitution.

Coconut Sugar

Like coconut milk, water, and oil, coconut palm sugar has become a popular sweetening alternative. It’s made from coconut palm tree sap, creating an unrefined granular sweetener. Overall, it’s considered a little healthier than cane sugar as the conversion process retains more nutrients, including a fiber called inulin, which slows the absorption of sugar into the bloodstream.

This allows for a lower glycemic index relative to some other sugars. The calorie content is the same as granulated sugar at about 4 calories per gram. It can be used as a direct replacement for white sugar. However, its dark brown color and caramel, nutty and earthy flavor make a taste impact on baked goods. It can be used in cakes, gluten-free cookies, pie crusts, and muffins.

Demerara Sugar

A minimally processed sugar made from sugar cane. It’s produced into large golden-brown crystals. Use it to add a crunchy texture to baked goods, sweeten beverages, or even use it as the topping for creme brulee!

Muscovado Sugar

Also known as barbados sugar, khandsari, or khand. It’s unrefined cane sugar with molasses, giving a very dark-brown color, strong flavor, and the texture of wet sand. Dark brown sugar is a good substitute.

Turbinado Sugar

Coarse sugar crystals, light golden in color, called “raw” sugar. Turbinado comes from the first pressing of sugar cane and is boiled once, which creates large sugar crystals. It’s spun in a turbine to remove excess moisture, leaving just the crystals. It doesn’t melt away like granulated sugar. It’s great to add as a finishing sugar to baked goods for extra crunch or contrasting crust.

The importance of sugar in baking

• Texture: One key role of sugar is that it acts as a tenderizing agent while mixing batters and doughs. Because it is hygroscopic and loves to bind with water, it competes with gluten-forming proteins (glutenin and gliadin) so that complete hydration of those proteins does not occur. This inhibits some gluten development, so that cake, muffins, and cookies stay tender instead of rubbery.
• Color: As sugar is heated above its melting point (175°C/347°F), it becomes fluid and develops amber colors and pleasing aromas as it caramelizes. During the baking process in doughs and batters that contain sugar, and in the presence of heat, it helps to create browned surfaces and rich flavors of bread, cakes, and cookies.
• Taste: Not only does sugar contribute to sweetness, but it helps create new flavors of baked goods. The oven temperature causes the sugar to react with the proteins in the cooked product to form beautifully browned surfaces and irresistible aromas through the Maillard Browning reaction.