Sanding Sugar substitute

Best substitute

Turbinado or raw sugar

Use the same amount as the sanding sugar you are replacing

Best for muffin and scone tops

Close match

Sanding sugar does exactly one job: sparkle and crunch on the outside of something. It contributes almost no sweetness and no structure, so you can change it freely. The best swap is turbinado or raw sugar (the Sugar in the Raw type) at 1:1, which has crystals nearly as large and stays crunchy through baking, though it is tan rather than clear so a pale cookie ends up golden-flecked instead of glittery white. Demerara works the same way with even bigger, darker crystals. Pearl sugar crushed coarsely is the closest match if you specifically need opaque white. Plain granulated sugar is the emergency option and it half works: it looks right going on, but the small crystals partly dissolve in the oven and you lose both the sparkle and the crunch. Powdered sugar is the one thing that fails outright, because it dissolves on contact and leaves a damp, patchy smear.

Other sanding sugar substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2Demerara sugar
Different taste
Use the same amount
Even coarser than turbinado, with big square golden crystals that give a heavier, more obvious crunch, closer to gravel than glitter.
What changes
The molasses flavor is stronger and it browns more in the oven, so a delicate vanilla cookie takes on a toffee edge and a slightly darker top.
Best for
shortbread, oatmeal cookies, crumble and streusel toppings, loaf cakes, coffee-flavored bakes
Use a little less than the recipe calls for by volume, since each crystal is bigger and the coverage looks denser fast. Demerara can hold enough moisture to bleed slightly into pale icing, so add it to bare dough rather than onto finished frosting.
3Pearl sugar, coarsely crushed
Close match
Use the same amount after crushing
Pearl sugar (nib sugar) is opaque bright white and specifically engineered not to melt, which makes it the only substitute that reproduces the white glitter look.
What changes
Whole pearls are far too big for decorating, so crush them in a zip bag with a rolling pin until the pieces are about the size of rock salt. Crushed pearls are irregular rather than uniform, so the finish reads rustic instead of neat.
Best for
white or pastel decorated cookies, Belgian waffles, sweet buns and brioche, anything that needs to stay white
Sift out the powder after crushing, or the fines will dissolve and dull the sparkle. Do not crush too far, since pearl sugar goes from chunks to dust quickly.
4Plain granulated sugar (least-bad option)
Different texture
Use the same amount
Honestly a compromise rather than a substitute.
What changes
It scatters and sticks fine and looks close enough on raw dough, but the crystals are small enough that oven heat and surface moisture partly dissolve them. What you get is a thin, faintly glassy sweet crust rather than distinct sparkling grains, and no crunch at all once cooled. On a no-bake surface such as frosting or a glazed doughnut it holds up better, since nothing is melting it.
Best for
last-minute baking with nothing else in the cupboard, sugar cookies where crunch does not matter, topping unbaked frosting or glaze
Two things help: apply it heavier than you would sanding sugar, and put it on a surface that is only just tacky rather than genuinely wet. Rolling the dough ball in a shallow dish of sugar gives better coverage than sprinkling from above.
5Crushed sugar cubes or crushed rock candy
Close match
Use the same amount after crushing and sifting
Both are simply large sugar crystals, so crushed and sifted they behave almost exactly like coarse decorating sugar and stay crunchy.
What changes
Clear rock candy is the best of the two for sparkle, since the pieces are properly glassy and reflect light. Expect irregular shard shapes and a few pieces bigger than you wanted.
Best for
cookie edges, pie crusts, improvised holiday decorating, colored sparkle from colored rock candy
Crush inside a folded kitchen towel to stop shards flying, then sift through a coarse strainer to remove the dust. Colored rock candy is a quick way to get colored crystal sugar without dyeing anything yourself.
6There is no substitute for it: powdered sugar
Different texture
not recommended
Powdered or confectioners sugar contains cornstarch and dissolves the instant it touches moisture, so on egg-washed dough it turns into translucent wet patches and in the oven it can scorch.
What changes
It gives a soft matte dusting, which is a genuinely nice finish on brownies or lemon bars, but it delivers none of what sanding sugar delivers: no light, no crunch, no defined crystals.
Best for
nothing that needs sparkle or crunch
If powdered sugar is all you have and the recipe wanted crunch, consider skipping the topping and dusting the finished, fully cooled bake instead. Dusting before baking almost always looks worse than leaving it plain.

What is Sanding Sugar?

Sanding Sugar is granulated sugar with crystals roughly two to four times the usual size, also sold as coarse sugar, crystal sugar or decorating sugar, made big enough to catch the light and to survive the oven without dissolving. Its entire job is on the surface - sparkle and a distinct crunch on a cookie, scone or pie crust - and it sweetens almost nothing.

Cooking tips

Coarse sugar only sticks to something wet. Brush the dough with beaten egg, milk, cream or a thin smear of corn syrup first, then sprinkle from about a foot above so the crystals land evenly rather than in a pile.
You can make colored sanding sugar yourself in two minutes: put 1 cup of turbinado or coarse sugar in a jar with two or three drops of gel food coloring, seal it and shake hard for 30 seconds, then spread it on a plate for 15 minutes to dry. Gel color works, liquid color makes it clump.
Sanding sugar is a topping, not an ingredient. If you stir it into batter it will not dissolve properly and you get gritty pockets, so any sugar mixed into the dough should be regular granulated.
On frosted or glazed items, add the sugar within a minute or two while the surface is still tacky. Once buttercream sets a skin or a glaze crusts over, nothing will stick and the crystals just slide off.
Cutting or skipping the decorating sugar never breaks a recipe, because it sits on the outside and does nothing chemically. Sugar that is creamed with butter or dissolved in a batter is doing structural work and cannot be reduced the same way.

Frequently asked questions

Can I just leave sanding sugar out?

Yes, with no consequences at all. It is decoration on the surface, so the cookie, muffin or pie bakes identically without it. All you lose is the sparkle and a bit of crunch on the top. This is one of the few ingredients you can genuinely omit without adjusting anything else.

Is sanding sugar the same as coarse sugar, crystal sugar or decorating sugar?

In practice yes, and you will see all four names on packages. They all mean granulated sugar with oversized crystals sold for decorating. Pearl sugar or nib sugar is a different thing: it is much larger, opaque white and specifically heat-resistant, which is why it survives on top of a Belgian waffle or a Liege bun.

Why did my regular sugar disappear in the oven?

Standard granulated crystals are small and dissolve when they sit in surface moisture at high heat, so instead of staying as separate grains they melt into the crust as a thin glaze. Larger, harder crystals such as turbinado, demerara or crushed pearl sugar have too much mass to dissolve in the time a cookie bakes, which is the whole reason coarse sugar exists.

Can I make sanding sugar at home from granulated sugar?

You cannot grow the crystals bigger, so no. The two workable routes are starting with something already coarse (turbinado, demerara, crushed sugar cubes, crushed rock candy) or coloring coarse sugar yourself with a drop of gel food coloring shaken in a jar. Grinding granulated sugar only makes it finer, which is the wrong direction.

Which coarse sugar stays whitest?

Crushed pearl sugar, because it is opaque white and does not melt. After that, plain white coarse sugar if you can find it. Turbinado and demerara are both tan, so on white royal icing or a pale buttercream they read as beige flecks rather than clean sparkle. If white matters, crush pearl sugar or use white nonpareils instead.

Related substitutes

More sweeteners substitutes

Sanding Sugar substitute

Other sanding sugar substitutes

2Demerara sugar

3Pearl sugar, coarsely crushed

4Plain granulated sugar (least-bad option)

5Crushed sugar cubes or crushed rock candy

6There is no substitute for it: powdered sugar