If you’re looking for a brown sugar substitute consider this your ultimate guide so you can happily bake without brown sugar. Sometimes we don’t always have the right ingredients a recipe calls for in the pantry or maybe you are looking for healthy brown sugar alternatives, keep on reading!
Jump to:
- What is brown sugar?
- What is the difference between brown sugar and granulated white sugar?
- What is the difference between light brown sugar and dark brown sugar?
- What does brown sugar do in baking?
- What can I use instead of brown sugar?
- 1. Granulated white sugar
- 2. Granulated white sugar and honey
- 3. Granulated white sugar and maple syrup
- 4. Coconut sugar
- 5. Palm sugar
- 6. Date sugar
- 7. Maple sugar
- 8. Cane sugar
- 9. Demerara sugar
- 10. Turbinado sugar
- 11. Muscovado sugar
- 12. Piloncillo sugar
- 13. Jaggery
- 14. Golden syrup
- 15. Honey
- 16. Maple syrup
- 17. Agave nectar
- 18. Sukrin Gold
- 19. Homemade brown sugar recipe
- So what is the best brown sugar substitute?
- Brown sugar substitute FAQs
- More baking guides
- The BEST Brown Sugar Substitute
What is brown sugar?
In general terms, most brown sugar is white sugar that has been made by processing sugar cane or sugar beet, and then had molasses added back in. Sugar is produced by boiling down the juice from sugar cane or sugar beets and then passing it through a centrifuge to filter out the molasses.
Molasses is the thick, dark, and gloopy syrup made from the sugar-making and refinement processes. It is also known as treacle in some parts of the world.
Some types of brown sugar, like Muscavado sugar, may look the same as brown sugar but are less refined and retain some of their own molasses without any added back in artificially.
What is the difference between brown sugar and granulated white sugar?
The main difference between brown sugar and granulated white sugar is taste and color. They are made from the same plants (either sugar cane or sugar beet) and have both been processed, but brown sugar contains molasses while granulated sugar does not.
Brown sugar is marginally more nutritious than white sugar as it contains the mineral content within the molasses that has not been processed out, and it therefore still has small amounts of naturally occurring calcium, iron, and potassium.
Brown sugar has more flavor than white sugar, and the added molasses in brown sugar give a deeper and more caramel taste to baked goods, as well as adds more moisture to a recipe.
What is the difference between light brown sugar and dark brown sugar?
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Light brown sugar and dark brown sugar simply have different amounts of molasses added to them, around 3.5% and 6.5% molasses content respectively. Certain recipes might call for light brown sugar or dark brown sugar for reasons of a stronger, richer caramel taste and deeper color.
Often light and dark brown sugar can be used interchangeably, although dark brown sugar will have more moisture content due to the extra molasses. You might notice therefore that when you store brown sugar, it can go crisp and hard due to the moisture from the molasses content evaporating over time.
What does brown sugar do in baking?
Sugar plays several roles in baking including adding sweetness, tenderizing, and stability. Brown sugar is acidic so the way it interacts with alkaline ingredients and chemical leaveners like baking soda is different from white sugar. It is also more hygroscopic than white sugar, meaning it draws out more moisture from other ingredients and will affect the texture of your bake, making it softer.
These properties of brown sugar further refine the part it plays in baking, for example, cookie recipes often contain brown sugar to produce a chewier cookie like these Biscoff butter cookies. But it is also possible to bake cookies without brown sugar and still achieve a delicious result!
What can I use instead of brown sugar?
I have rounded up the best brown sugar substitutes for baking that you can use below, and I’ll also show you how to make brown sugar yourself. There are many reasonable brown sugar alternatives that you can use; granulated sugar alone or with honey and maple syrup, coconut sugar, palm sugar, date sugar, cane sugar, demerara sugar, muscovado sugar, golden syrup, sukrin gold, and so on, I will even share a homemade brown sugar recipe as well.
Some will work better in baking certain items than others, and I have noted where you may need to take care with other adjustments to achieve similarly delicious results.
1. Granulated white sugar
Granulated white sugar might lack the moisture, taste, and color that brown sugar does but it can still work perfectly well as a brown sugar replacement in terms of sweetness! However, before swapping brown sugar for white sugar, first consider what other chemical properties brown sugar may have been providing, and make further adjustments accordingly.
How to use it:
Use white sugar as a replacement for brown sugar in a 1:1 ratio.
2. Granulated white sugar and honey
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Honey is relatively acidic, so when added to white sugar it will help to mimic the properties of brown sugar better than pure white granulated sugar. White sugar and honey can work well as a brown sugar replacement in recipes containing baking soda that would normally use brown sugar to create that chemical reaction.
3. Granulated white sugar and maple syrup
Maple syrup has a delicious taste and caramel color, so when mixed with granulated white sugar it can have a similar appearance and taste to brown sugar. However its PH value is neutral, so it won’t have the exact same results when used as a brown sugar alternative in the same way that honey and white granulated sugar will have in recipes with baking soda.
Whether you’re wondering what to use if you’ve run out of brown sugar or if you’re experimenting with other sugar substitutes for flavor or health reasons, I hope you’ve found a suitable option here! Making substitutions in baking is hard, and it is tricky to find an alternative for brown sugar that will achieve exactly the same results. However, the good news, in this case, is that you can easily make your own…
19. Homemade brown sugar recipe
You can also easily make this homemade brown sugar recipe if you have run out and it only takes a couple of minutes and two ingredients. Make your own brown sugar just by using 2 ingredients:
Ingredients
- 1 cup / 200 grams of white granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon molasses or treacle (or to substitute dark brown sugar, add 2 tbsp).
How to make homemade brown sugar
- Measure your ingredients.
- Mix the white granulated sugar and molasses together in a mixing bowl until thoroughly combined.
- Use as needed in your delicious baked goods.
So what is the best brown sugar substitute?
The best brown sugar substitute is to make your own by mixing white granulated sugar with molasses added to it (also known as treacle). If molasses are not readily available or you have none in the pantry and need brown sugar for a recipe straight away, an easily accessible good alternative is granulated sugar mixed with maple syrup or honey.
In recipes that include baking soda, you will need to ensure that the acidic properties of brown sugar are compensated for, so honey would be the better option there as it is mildly acidic.
Also, muscovado sugar can be a general great alternative for most home bakers replacing brown sugar in eg. cookies.
The healthiest brown sugar substitute would be sugar-free Sukrin Gold, which bakes very well according to tests and has zero calories.
Brown sugar substitute FAQs
More baking guides
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Categories: Recipe
