Out of Sugar, one case
Sugar substitute for cookies
5 options, ranked, with the exact amount
Use Light brown sugar
1 cup for every cup of sugar
For cookies, replace white sugar with the same amount of packed brown sugar: they come out softer, chewier and darker, and spread a little less. For sugar-free cookies, use a granulated erythritol-based baking blend cup for cup and flatten the dough before baking, because it barely spreads. Honey and maple syrup make soft, cakey cookies, not crisp ones.
- Verdict —
- Works
- The tweak —
- Pack it into the cup. Cream it with the butter as the recipe says.
- Best for —
- chocolate chip and oatmeal cookies
- Pantry —
- Likely in your cupboard
One casethe full sugar card
Every option, one card
Ranked| # | Substitute | Instead of 1 cup sugar | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Light brown sugarchocolate chip and oatmeal cookies | 1 cupWorks | Works |
| 2 | Coconut sugarchocolate chip and oatmeal cookies | 1 cupTweak it | Tweak it |
| 3 | Granulated erythritol-based baking blendsugar-free shortbread and sugar cookies | 1 cupYou'll taste it | You'll taste it |
| 4 | Powdered sugarshortbread and butter cookies | 1 ¾ cupsTweak it | Tweak it |
| 5 | Honey or maple syrupsoft oatmeal cookies | ¾ cupYou'll taste it | You'll taste it |
| Not a swap | Liquid stevia or pure extract alone | not a swapNot for this | Not for this |
Light brown sugar
caramel and toffee; a darker cookie
The molasses in brown sugar holds moisture and adds a little acid, so the cookie stays soft and chewy and bakes up slightly thicker.
- Best for
- chocolate chip and oatmeal cookies, peanut butter cookies, bar cookies and blondies
- Prep
- Pack it into the cup. Cream it with the butter as the recipe says.
- Suits
- vegetarian
- Where it fails
- Crisp, pale cookies: shortbread, cut-out sugar cookies and snaps come out soft and tan.
Coconut sugar
caramel, slightly less sweet, much darker
A coarse, dry brown sugar made from coconut palm sap. It creams like sugar but dissolves less, so cookies spread less and come out a little drier.
- Best for
- chocolate chip and oatmeal cookies, ginger and spice cookies
- Prep
- Cream it with the butter for an extra minute. If the dough looks crumbly, add 1 to 2 tsp of milk.
- Suits
- vegan
- Where it fails
- Sugar cookies and shortbread, where the brown color and speckled look show.
Granulated erythritol-based baking blend
sweet with a cooling aftertaste, strongest in plain cookies
A cup-for-cup blend of erythritol with monk fruit or stevia. It gives the bulk a cookie dough needs and bakes up crisp.
- Best for
- sugar-free shortbread and sugar cookies, sugar-free chocolate chip cookies, crisp cookies
- Prep
- Flatten each ball of dough to the thickness you want before baking, and take the cookies out when the edges are set: they brown very little.
- Suits
- vegan
- Where it fails
- Chewy cookies. Erythritol does not hold moisture and recrystallizes as it cools, so cookies turn hard and slightly gritty by the next day.
Plain erythritol with nothing blended in is less sweet: use 1 1/3 cups per cup of sugar.
Powdered sugar
the same sweetness; a softer, sandier texture
Ground sugar with a little cornstarch. It gives a tender, fine-crumbed cookie that holds its shape.
- Best for
- shortbread and butter cookies, cut-out cookies that should keep sharp edges, snowball cookies
- Prep
- Measure it unsifted, spooned into the cup and leveled.
- Suits
- vegetarian
- Where it fails
- Chocolate chip and other drop cookies that should spread and crackle: with powdered sugar they stay thick, pale and soft.
Honey or maple syrup
honey or maple comes through; darker and softer
Either syrup sweetens the dough but adds water where sugar would have melted and crisped, so the cookies puff and stay soft.
- Best for
- soft oatmeal cookies, soft ginger and molasses-style cookies, bar cookies
- Prep
- Cut any liquid in the recipe by 3 tbsp per cup of sugar replaced. If there is none to cut, add flour 1 tbsp at a time until the dough holds its shape, chill it 30 minutes and bake 25°F lower.
- Where it fails
- Crisp cookies, cut-out cookies and anything that should hold a sharp edge. The dough is sticky and the cookies brown fast on the bottom.
Honey must not be given to a child under 12 months, even baked into food.
Liquid stevia or pure extract alone
sweet, often bitter when concentrated
Drops and pure extract powders add sweetness and nothing else.
- Best for
- nothing in a standard cookie recipe
- Where it fails
- Sugar is a quarter to a third of a cookie dough. Without that bulk the dough is a stiff paste of butter and flour that bakes into a dry, pale biscuit.
How it behaves in this recipe
In a cookie, sugar melts in the oven and makes the dough spread, then sets as it cools to give a crisp edge. It also holds moisture for chew and browns the surface. That is why the swap changes texture more than taste: brown sugar gives chew, dry sugar-free blends give crisp and little spread, and syrups give a soft, cakey cookie.
Tips for substituting sugar
5 tips- Out of white sugar only: use all brown sugar in a recipe that calls for both. The cookies are chewier and thicker, and nothing else needs to change.
- Sugar-free blends do not melt and spread. Press each dough ball down to about ½ inch before baking, or the cookies stay as domes.
- Sugar-free cookies do not brown much, so judge them by set edges, not color, and start checking 2 minutes before the recipe says.
- With honey or maple syrup, chill the dough 30 minutes and bake 25°F lower on parchment paper. The bottoms scorch before the tops look done.
- For a closer result with any substitute, replace half the sugar and keep half. A cookie needs less change than that to stay recognizable.
Questions
5 questionsCan I use brown sugar in place of white sugar in sugar cookies?
Yes, cup for cup, packed. The cookies come out soft, tan and caramel-flavored where the original was pale and crisp at the edges. For cut-out cookies that should stay pale, powdered sugar at 1 ¾ cups per cup of granulated is the closer swap.
What is the best sugar-free substitute for cookies?
A granulated baking blend built on erythritol, used cup for cup, gives the most cookie-like result: crisp edges and real bulk. Allulose makes a softer, chewier, well-browned cookie at 1 1/3 cups per cup of sugar with the oven 25°F lower, but it will not crisp. Many bakers mix the two.
Why did my cookies not spread with a sugar substitute?
Sugar melts into syrup in the oven and that is what lets the dough spread. Erythritol, Splenda Granulated and powdered sugar do not do this to the same degree. Flatten the dough before baking, or add 1 tablespoon of milk per batch.
Can I use honey in place of sugar in cookies?
Yes, at ¾ cup per cup of sugar, but the cookies will be soft and cakey. Add flour a tablespoon at a time if the dough is too sticky to scoop, chill it, and bake 25°F lower. It suits oatmeal and spice cookies and does not suit shortbread or cut-outs.
How much substitute do I use for ½ cup of sugar?
½ cup packed brown sugar, ½ cup coconut sugar, ½ cup of a cup-for-cup baking blend, ¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons powdered sugar, or 6 tablespoons honey or maple syrup.