Brown sugar substitutes
Brown sugar substitutes — 7 options, ranked, with the exact amount
Also called light brown sugar, dark brown sugar, packed brown sugar, soft brown sugar, golden brown sugar, muscovado (a wetter, stronger relative)
Use Granulated sugar + molasses
1 cup + 1 tbsp for every 1 cup brown sugar
It depends on whether the recipe needs the molasses or only the sweetness. The closest swap is granulated sugar plus molasses: for 1 cup packed brown sugar, use 1 cup granulated sugar plus 1 tbsp molasses for light brown or 2 tbsp for dark brown, and mix until no dark streaks remain. Plain granulated sugar on its own also works, but the cookies will come out paler, crisper and less chewy.
- Verdict —
- Works
- The tweak —
- Rub 1 cup granulated sugar with 1-2 tbsp molasses until evenly coloured and no streaks remain.
- Best for —
- when the recipe was written for brown sugar and you want the same result
Checked 22 Jul 2026 · no sponsored swaps
But first: what’s the brown sugar doing?
Pick your caseIs the brown sugar there for flavour and chew, or is it just the sweetener?
You need a dry, crystalline sugar here — a liquid sweetener cannot cut air into butter. Granulated sugar plus molasses is a true swap. Plain granulated sugar also works and is worth doing rather than driving to the store; just expect a crisper, paler, thinner cookie.
Notes on granulated sugar + molasses or granulated sugar (on its own)
1 cup + 1 tbsp per cup
The molasses IS the flavour, so do not drop it. Granulated sugar plus molasses, dark-brown proportion (2 tbsp per cup), or coconut sugar if you have it. There is more on the gingerbread case on our molasses page.
Notes on granulated sugar + molasses or coconut sugar
1 cup + 1 tbsp per cup
Almost anything crystalline works. Turbinado gives you extra crunch here, and plain granulated sugar is fine.
Notes on turbinado or demerara sugar or granulated sugar (on its own)
1 cup per cup
Do not improvise the sugar in candy — see the Do-not-swap section. Use straight granulated sugar and a tested recipe rather than a substitution.
Do not start from what tastes most like brown sugar. Start from what the brown sugar is doing: if it is being creamed with butter you need a dry, crystalline sugar, and if you can taste it in the finished dish you need molasses in the mix somewhere. Get those two right and everything else is arithmetic — granulated sugar plus 1 tbsp molasses per cup for light brown, 2 tbsp for dark.
Brown sugar is white sugar plus molasses: the crystals sweeten and cream air into butter, while the molasses holds water, which is what keeps a cookie chewy for days instead of crisp.
Moisture & hydrationprimary
Molasses pulls water out of the air and holds onto it, so brown-sugar cookies stay chewy on day three while all-white-sugar cookies have gone crisp.
Sweetnessprimary
Sucrose crystals do the sweetening; brown sugar is also slightly acidic because molasses is, so in a recipe leavened with baking soda alone it is part of what makes the soda fizz.
Aerationprimary
Because it is a dry crystal, beating it into softened butter tears air pockets into the fat, and that air is most of the lift in a creamed cookie or cake — a liquid sweetener has nothing to tear with.
Browning & colorsecondary
The molasses carries proteins and non-sugar solids that brown early, giving the darker crust and the toffee smell of a dark-brown-sugar cookie.
Every option, one card
Ranked · per 1 cup brown sugar| # | Substitute | Instead of 1 cup brown sugar | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Granulated sugar + molasseswhen the recipe was written for brown sugar and you want the same result | 1 cup + 1 tbsp molasses for light brown, or 2 tbsp for dark brownWorks | Works |
| 2 | Granulated sugar (on its own)when you have no molasses, syrup or coconut sugar in the house | 1 cupYou'll taste it | You'll taste it |
| 3 | Granulated sugar + maple syrupwhen you want the chew back but have maple syrup rather than molasses | 1 cup + 1 tbsp maple syrupYou'll taste it | You'll taste it |
| 4 | Granulated sugar + honeywhen honey is the only liquid sweetener you own | 1 cup + 1 tbsp honeyYou'll taste it | You'll taste it |
| 5 | Coconut sugarwhen you want the caramel flavour without keeping molasses in the cupboard | 1 cupYou'll taste it | You'll taste it |
| 6 | Turbinado or demerara sugarwhen the crunch of large crystals is a feature, not a problem | 1 cupYou'll taste it | You'll taste it |
| 7 | Maple syrup on its ownwhen the only sweetener in the house is a bottle of syrup | ¾ cupYou'll taste it | You'll taste it |
Granulated sugar + molasses
nothing you can detect
This is not an approximation — it is how brown sugar is made, so it behaves identically in the mixing bowl and in the oven.
- Covers
- Moisture & hydration
- Sweetness
- Aeration
- Browning & color
- Amount
- 1 cup granulated sugar (200 g) + 1 tbsp molasses for light brown, or 2 tbsp for dark brown for 1 cup packed brown sugar (200 g)
- Then
- Rub it together with your fingers or pulse it in a food processor until the colour is even and no dark streaks are left — about 30 seconds. It should clump when you squeeze it, exactly like brown sugar out of the bag.
- Best for
- when the recipe was written for brown sugar and you want the same result, creamed cookie doughs, gingerbread and spice cakes, when you have molasses but no brown sugar
- Look
- identical, as long as you mixed until the colour was even
- Prep
- Rub 1 cup granulated sugar with 1-2 tbsp molasses until evenly coloured and no streaks remain.
- Suits
- vegan, dairy-free, gluten-free, nut-free
- Mix the molasses in before you cream the butter, not after — poured in later it streaks and you get dark patches in the baked crumb.
- Nothing else in the recipe changes: 1 tbsp molasses is close enough to no extra liquid that you do not touch the milk or eggs.
Light brown sugar is roughly 3.5% molasses and dark brown roughly 6.5%, which is exactly the 1 tbsp / 2 tbsp per cup difference. Dark corn syrup, sorghum or treacle stand in for the molasses at the same amounts.
Granulated sugar (on its own)
cleanly sweet instead of toffee-ish; you lose the caramel note completely
The swap almost everyone actually has. It sweetens correctly and creams correctly; what it cannot do is hold water, so the chew goes.
- Covers
- Sweetness
- Aeration
- Browning & color
- Misses
- Moisture & hydration — not covered
- Amount
- 1 cup granulated sugar (200 g) for 1 cup packed brown sugar (200 g)
- Best for
- when you have no molasses, syrup or coconut sugar in the house, cookies where you do not mind a crisper edge, recipes where brown sugar is a minor part of the total sugar, streusel and crumble toppings
- Texture
- crisper and snappier, and it goes stale faster — day-two cookies will be hard rather than chewy
- Look
- cookies spread wider and bake noticeably paler, with light gold rather than deep brown edges; cake crumb looks blonder
- Prep
- Measure granulated sugar level; brown sugar is measured packed, so do not pack the white sugar.
- Pantry
- Likely in your cupboard
- Suits
- vegan, dairy-free, gluten-free, nut-free
- Add 1 tbsp of water or milk per cup of sugar you swapped if the dough looks dry and stiff; brown sugar carried a little moisture that granulated does not.
- If the recipe uses baking soda and no baking powder, and brown sugar was the only acidic thing in it, expect less rise. Add ¼ tsp lemon juice or vinegar per ½ tsp baking soda to get the fizz back.
Worth knowing before you decide: this is a swap you will see, not one you will only taste. If the recipe's whole selling point is a chewy cookie, this will not deliver it.
Granulated sugar + maple syrup
maple instead of dark caramel; lighter and sweeter, less bitter edge
Maple syrup does the same water-holding job as molasses, so the chew survives; the flavour it brings is maple rather than toffee.
- Covers
- Moisture & hydration
- Sweetness
- Aeration
- Browning & color
- Amount
- 1 cup granulated sugar + 1 tbsp maple syrup for 1 cup packed brown sugar (200 g)
- Then
- Stir the syrup through the sugar until the grains are evenly damp before it goes near the butter.
- Best for
- when you want the chew back but have maple syrup rather than molasses, oatmeal and pecan cookies where maple is welcome, muffins and quick breads, pancake and waffle batters
- Texture
- very close to brown sugar — soft and chewy
- Look
- a shade paler than a brown-sugar bake, with the same soft top rather than a cracked one
- Prep
- Stir 1 tbsp maple syrup into 1 cup granulated sugar until evenly damp.
- Pantry
- Likely in your cupboard
- Suits
- vegan, dairy-free, gluten-free, nut-free
- Use 1 tbsp, not more. Past about 2 tbsp per cup the dough gets slack and the cookies spread thin.
- If the recipe leans on baking soda alone, add ¼ tsp lemon juice per ½ tsp soda — maple syrup is far less acidic than molasses.
Real maple syrup is about 34% water, so 1 tbsp adds roughly 1 tsp of water to the recipe — small enough to ignore at this amount and only this amount.
Granulated sugar + honey
faintly floral rather than toffee
Honey holds water even better than molasses and is genuinely acidic, so it covers both of the jobs plain white sugar misses.
- Covers
- Moisture & hydration
- Sweetness
- Aeration
- Browning & color
- Amount
- 1 cup granulated sugar + 1 tbsp honey for 1 cup packed brown sugar (200 g)
- Then
- Warm the honey for 10 seconds if it is set solid, then stir it through the sugar so it disperses instead of sitting in a lump.
- Best for
- when honey is the only liquid sweetener you own, soda-leavened batters that need an acid, soft cakes and loaves you want to keep for several days, when you want extra browning on top
- Taste
- faintly floral rather than toffee; slightly sweeter overall, since honey is sweeter than sugar
- Texture
- soft and chewy, close to real brown sugar
- Look
- browns sooner and a little more unevenly, so the edges darken before the middle is set
- Prep
- Stir 1 tbsp honey into 1 cup granulated sugar until evenly dispersed.
- Pantry
- Likely in your cupboard
- Suits
- dairy-free, gluten-free, nut-free, vegetarian
- Drop the oven temperature by 25°F (about 15°C). Honey browns faster than sugar and 1 tbsp is enough to darken the edges early.
- Keep it to 1 tbsp per cup. More honey and you have changed the recipe's liquid balance and need to cut other liquid to match.
This is the swap to reach for in a soda-leavened batter specifically, because honey restores the acidity that plain white sugar takes away.
Coconut sugar
similar caramel direction, a touch smokier, and slightly less sweet
Boiled-down coconut palm sap, dried to crystals. It already tastes caramel-ish, but it is dry — closer to granulated sugar than to brown sugar in the bowl.
- Covers
- Sweetness
- Aeration
- Browning & color
- Misses
- Moisture & hydration — not covered
- Amount
- 1 cup coconut sugar (about 160 g — it is lighter per cup, so weigh it if you can) for 1 cup packed brown sugar (200 g)
- Best for
- when you want the caramel flavour without keeping molasses in the cupboard, gingerbread, spice cookies and granola, rubs and marinades, recipes where a darker finished colour is fine
- Texture
- drier and a little sandier; cookies come out shorter and less chewy
- Look
- distinctly darker and browner than the recipe intended — pale frostings and blondies go beige
- Prep
- Use directly, adding 1 tbsp liquid per cup to replace brown sugar's moisture.
- Suits
- vegan, dairy-free, gluten-free, nut-free
- Add 1 tbsp water or milk per cup to make up for the moisture brown sugar had.
- Weigh rather than scoop if you have a scale. A cup of coconut sugar is roughly 160 g against brown sugar's 200 g, so measuring by volume quietly removes about a fifth of the sugar.
Do not treat coconut sugar as a health swap; it is sugar. Use it because of the flavour and the colour, and adjust for the fact that it is dry and lighter per cup.
Turbinado or demerara sugar
mildly caramel, much closer to white sugar than dark brown sugar is
Partly refined cane sugar with a thin film of molasses left on large, dry crystals — the sugar sold as raw or 'sugar in the raw'.
- Covers
- Sweetness
- Browning & color
- Misses
- Moisture & hydration — not covered
- Aeration — not covered
- Amount
- 1 cup turbinado or demerara sugar for 1 cup packed brown sugar (200 g)
- Then
- For anything creamed or whisked, grind it 15 seconds in a food processor first so the big crystals dissolve.
- Best for
- when the crunch of large crystals is a feature, not a problem, sprinkling on muffin and scone tops, crumble and streusel toppings, sweetening coffee and oatmeal
- Texture
- crunchy if you do not grind it; crisp rather than chewy once baked
- Look
- visible sparkling crystals on the surface, and a paler crumb than brown sugar gives
- Prep
- Grind 15 seconds in a food processor for creamed doughs; use as-is for toppings.
- Suits
- vegan, dairy-free, gluten-free, nut-free
- Grind it before using it in a creamed dough, or the undissolved crystals leave gritty spots and dark specks.
- Add 1 tbsp liquid per cup in cakes and cookies; these sugars are dry.
Muscovado is the opposite case: it is wetter and stronger than dark brown sugar, and swaps in cup for cup with no changes at all if you happen to have it.
Maple syrup on its own
clearly maple
Replacing all the sugar with syrup changes the recipe from a dough into a batter. It is edible, but it is a different thing.
- Covers
- Moisture & hydration
- Sweetness
- Misses
- Aeration — not covered
- Browning & color — not covered
- Amount
- ¾ cup maple syrup for 1 cup packed brown sugar (200 g)
- Then
- Reduce another liquid in the recipe by 6 tbsp, and drop the oven 25°F.
- Best for
- when the only sweetener in the house is a bottle of syrup, muffins and quick breads, which tolerate it best, oatmeal, yogurt and other uncooked uses, glazes and marinades
- Taste
- clearly maple, and noticeably less sweet-tasting per spoonful than the sugar it replaced
- Texture
- denser, wetter, cakier; cookies turn into soft cake-like mounds
- Look
- flatter, darker and glossier, with a smooth top instead of the crackled surface brown sugar gives
- Prep
- Use ¾ cup syrup per cup of brown sugar, cut other liquid by 6 tbsp, lower the oven 25°F.
- Pantry
- Likely in your cupboard
- Suits
- vegan, dairy-free, gluten-free, nut-free
- Cut 6 tbsp of the recipe's other liquid per cup of sugar replaced, because ¾ cup of syrup brings about that much water with it. If the recipe has not got 6 tbsp of liquid to remove, this is the wrong swap for it.
- Drop the oven 25°F (about 15°C) and start checking 5 minutes early — syrup-sweetened batters brown before they are cooked through.
- Do not attempt this in a recipe that creams butter and sugar; go to the granulated sugar row instead.
The reason this sits near the bottom of the list rather than the top: sugar crystals cutting into butter are most of the lift in a creamed cookie, and a syrup has no crystals to cut with. Note too that ¾ cup of syrup carries only about 160 g of sugar against brown sugar's 200 g, which is why the result tastes less sweet as well as softer.
Don’t swap it here
4 cases- Caramel, toffee, brittle, fudge or anything you cook to a temperature on a candy thermometer.Use plain granulated sugar and follow a tested recipe. If the recipe specifically calls for brown sugar (as many toffees do), wait until you have brown sugar rather than building it out of parts.
- Any recipe where brown sugar is most of what you will taste — butterscotch sauce, sticky toffee pudding, brown-sugar shortbread, brown-butter blondies.Make the granulated-sugar-plus-molasses mix at the dark-brown proportion, or make something else today. There is no swap that tastes of brown sugar without molasses in it somewhere.
- Replacing all the brown sugar in a creamed cookie dough with any syrup — maple, honey, agave or corn syrup.Keep the sugar crystalline. Use granulated sugar, and stir in only 1 tbsp of syrup per cup for the moisture.
- SafetyA pickle brine, chutney, relish or barbecue sauce you are canning from a tested recipe.Follow the tested recipe exactly, including the sweetener it names. See the safety note below.
Safety
2 notes- Canning
Do not change the sweetener, the acid or the proportions in a tested canning, pickling or fermenting recipe. Sweeteners carry different amounts of water, and altering the balance in a sealed jar can affect whether the product is safe. Follow the tested recipe as written.
Source — National Center for Home Food Preservation (opens in a new tab)
- Infant
If you swap in honey, remember that honey must not be given to children under 12 months, including baked into food you will serve to an infant. Use maple syrup or the plain molasses mix instead.
Source — U.S. Food and Drug Administration (opens in a new tab)
If it went wrong
4 fixes- The brown sugar in the bag has gone rock hard.It dried out. The molasses coating lost its water, and the crystals cemented together.Put it in a bowl with a slice of bread or a damp paper towel (not touching the sugar), cover, and leave overnight — it will be soft again. In a hurry: microwave it with a damp paper towel over the bowl in 15-second bursts, and use it while it is still warm, because it re-hardens as it cools.
- There are dark streaks or dark specks through the baked crumb.The molasses was not fully rubbed into the sugar before mixing.Nothing to do about this batch — it tastes fine. Next time rub the molasses in with your fingers or pulse it in a processor until the colour is completely even before it meets the butter.
- The cookies spread into one thin sheet.Too much liquid sweetener in place of crystalline sugar, so the dough had nothing holding its shape, or the butter was too soft.Chill the rest of the dough 30 minutes and bake one test cookie. If it still spreads, work 2 tbsp of flour into the remaining dough.
- The cake or cookies came out much paler than the picture.You used plain white sugar, so there were no molasses solids to brown.Give it another 2-3 minutes in the oven if it is not yet dry, but accept it will stay light. Next time keep 1 tbsp of molasses, maple syrup or honey per cup in the mix.
Measure it
6 measures- 1 cup brown sugar, packed200 g = 7 ozBrown sugar is always measured packed — press it into the cup until it holds the shape when you turn it out. Scooped loose, the same cup can be 30 g light.
- 1 cup granulated sugar200 g = 7 ozThe same weight as packed brown sugar, which is why the swap is cup for cup.
- Light brown sugarabout 3.5% molassesThat works out to 1 tbsp molasses per cup of white sugar.
- Dark brown sugarabout 6.5% molasses2 tbsp molasses per cup of white sugar. Swapping dark for light is fine in almost anything; you get more colour and a stronger toffee note.
- 1 cup coconut sugarabout 160 gLighter per cup than brown sugar, so a volume measure removes roughly a fifth of the sugar. Weigh it if you can.
- Molasses in 1 tbspabout 20 g, roughly 25% waterSmall enough at 1-2 tbsp per cup that you do not adjust the recipe's other liquid.
Questions
6 questionsWhat is the difference between light and dark brown sugar?
Only the amount of molasses. Light brown sugar is about 3.5% molasses; dark brown is about 6.5%. Dark gives a deeper colour, a stronger toffee flavour and slightly more moisture. You can use one in place of the other cup for cup in almost anything — the exception is a recipe where the colour matters visually, like a pale blondie or a light-coloured frosting.
How do I make brown sugar from white sugar?
Rub 1 tbsp molasses into 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar with your fingers, or pulse it in a food processor for about 30 seconds, until the colour is completely even and it clumps when squeezed. That is light brown sugar. Use 2 tbsp molasses for dark brown. Dark corn syrup, sorghum syrup or black treacle all work in place of the molasses.
Can I just use white sugar instead of brown sugar?
Yes, cup for cup, and it is a reasonable thing to do mid-recipe. What you lose is chew and colour: white sugar cannot hold water the way molasses does, so cookies bake crisper, spread wider, come out paler and go stale faster. If the recipe uses baking soda without baking powder, also add ¼ tsp lemon juice or vinegar per ½ tsp of soda, because the brown sugar was supplying part of the acid.
Can I use honey or maple syrup instead of brown sugar?
In small amounts, yes — stir 1 tbsp of either into 1 cup of granulated sugar and you have a good stand-in. Replacing all the brown sugar with syrup is a different matter: use ¾ cup syrup per cup of sugar, cut 6 tbsp of the recipe's other liquid, and drop the oven 25°F. Do not do it in a dough that creams butter and sugar, because syrup cannot aerate butter and the cookies bake flat.
Why does my brown sugar go hard?
It dries out. The molasses film on each crystal loses its water and the crystals cement together. Store it in an airtight container or its resealable bag pressed flat. To soften it, leave it overnight in a sealed container with a slice of bread, or microwave it under a damp paper towel in 15-second bursts and use it warm.
Is coconut sugar a healthier substitute for brown sugar?
Treat it as a flavour and colour swap, not a health one — it is sugar, and we are not making nutrition claims about it here. Practically: it is dry rather than damp, so add 1 tbsp liquid per cup, and it weighs less per cup (about 160 g against brown sugar's 200 g), so weigh it if you can or you will quietly use a fifth less sugar.
Tips for substituting brown sugar
7 tips- Measure brown sugar packed: press it firmly into the cup so it keeps the cup's shape when you tip it out. Loose-scooped, you can be 30 g short per cup, which is enough to change how far a cookie spreads.
- Light and dark brown sugar are the same product at different molasses levels (about 3.5% and 6.5%). You can swap one for the other in almost any recipe — dark gives more colour and a stronger toffee flavour.
- To make your own: rub 1 tbsp molasses into 1 cup granulated sugar for light brown, or 2 tbsp for dark. Rub until the colour is even, or you will get dark streaks in the crumb.
- Brown sugar's molasses is acidic. In a recipe leavened with baking soda and no baking powder, replacing the brown sugar with plain white sugar removes part of what the soda reacts with — add ¼ tsp lemon juice or vinegar per ½ tsp soda to keep the rise.
- Brown sugar keeps baked goods chewy for days because molasses holds water. If you swap to plain white sugar, eat them the same day; they go crisp fast.
- Hard brown sugar is fixable, not ruined: an overnight sit with a slice of bread in a sealed container softens it completely.
- In creamed doughs, keep the sugar crystalline. Sugar crystals cutting into butter are most of the lift, which is why an all-syrup swap gives flat, cakey cookies.
Sources — National Center for Home Food Preservation (opens in a new tab), USDA FoodData Central (opens in a new tab)