Brown Sugar Substitutes

A Brown Sugar Substitute is handy to know. You can use granulated sugar to replace brown sugar, but it is important to know the consequences and how they will affect your recipe. If a recipe needs a sweetener, it's handy to be be able to switch out and substitute for brown sugar with items you've got on hand. What is a good substitute for brown sugar? Can you use white sugar as a brown sugar substitute? Whether you need a light brown sugar substitute or a dark brown sugar substitute, check the table below.

So, use this table to substitute for brown sugar, whichever type of brown sugar substitute you may need.

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Brown Sugar Substitutes

Sugar Amount Substitute
Light Brown sugar substitute 1 Cup (firmly packed) 1 Cup White Sugar +Plus 1 Tablespoon Molasses
*OR* 1/2 Cup Liquid Brown Sugar
*OR* 1 Cup Raw Sugar
*OR* 1 Cup Granulated Sugar*
*OR* 3/4 Cup Dark Brown Sugar +plus 1/4 Cup White Sugar
Dark Brown Sugar substitute 1 Cup 1 Cup Granulated Sugar + Plus 1/4 Cup of Molasses
Muscovado Sugar substitute 1 Cup 1 Cup Dark Brown Sugar + Plus 1 Tablespoon Molasses
Turbinado Sugar substitute Any Equal amount of light brown sugar is most common, but raw sugar or demerara is also used
Other Sugar substitutes -- Please see our sugar substitute page to find replacements for most white sugars.
Confectioners Sugar substitutes -- Please see our powdered sugar substitute page to find replacements for Confectioners sugar.

But remember, when making a brown sugar substitute be sure to measure accurately for best results. Some brown sugar substitutes may alter slightly the taste, texture, weight, or moisture content of the finished product. Whether this is good, bad or indifferent depends on your tastebuds. Regardless, we feel that these are the best alternatives to substitute for brown sugar in a pinch.

*If you choose white sugar as your substitute for brown sugar when making cookies, the resulting cookies will be slightly crisper than the original recipe. You may also miss the molasses flavor that brown sugar brings to your recipe.

To use dark brown sugar as a substitute for light brown sugar, simply add granulated sugar to your dark brown sugar until the color lightens.

A note regarding Substitutions...

Using these substitute suggestions may slightly alter the taste, texture or appearance of your resulting recipe. However, we recommend these substitutions as similar replacement ingredients when the original ingredients are unavailable.

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