Sanding sugar substitutes

The closest widely available match. Crystals are large and hard, so they stay whole and audibly crunchy after 12 minutes in a hot oven. The difference is color: turbinado is honey-tan and slightly translucent, so instead of white glitter you get an amber, bakery-looking sparkle, plus a faint molasses caramel note that is genuinely pleasant on scones, muffin tops and shortbread.

Best for

muffin and scone tops, sugar cookies, pie crust edges, banana bread, cinnamon rolls

This is the swap to reach for first. Because turbinado is very slightly damp, spread it in a thin layer and press it gently onto the wet surface so it does not clump into wet beads.

Even coarser than turbinado, with big square golden crystals that give a heavier, more obvious crunch, closer to gravel than glitter. 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.

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. 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.

Honestly a compromise rather than a substitute. 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.

Both are simply large sugar crystals, so crushed and sifted they behave almost exactly like coarse decorating sugar and stay crunchy. 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.

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. 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.