Brown sugar cups to grams

Common brown sugar amounts (packed)

Brown sugar, packed firm, US cup:

• 1/4 cup packed = 53 g
• 1/3 cup packed = 71 g
• 1/2 cup packed = 107 g
• 2/3 cup packed = 142 g
• 3/4 cup packed = 160 g
• 1 cup packed = 213 g
• 1 1/2 cups packed = 320 g
• 2 cups packed = 426 g
• 1 cup loose (rare) = about 145 g

How to pack brown sugar the right way

Brown sugar holds molasses, which makes it sticky. Loose, it looks like a cup of damp sand with air pockets. Packed, the molasses fills those pockets and the sugar reaches its real weight.

To pack, press the brown sugar firmly into the cup with the back of a spoon or your hand. Level the top with a knife. When you turn the cup over, the sugar should hold the cup's shape for a second before falling out.

If you weigh, you skip the question. 213 grams equals 1 packed cup. Anything else means the recipe was written differently and the writer's note will say so.

FAQ

How many grams is 1 cup of packed brown sugar?

1 US cup of brown sugar, packed firm, is 213 grams. Loose brown sugar in the same cup is about 145 grams, which is why most recipes specify packed.

Do I really need to pack brown sugar?

Yes, for most recipes. Loose brown sugar weighs 30 percent less than packed. A recipe written for 1 cup of packed brown sugar will be sweet, moist, and balanced; the same recipe with loose brown sugar will be drier and less sweet.

What if my brown sugar is hard?

Soften it. Microwave a small bowl of brown sugar for 20 seconds with a damp paper towel on top, or put a slice of bread in the bag overnight. Hard brown sugar still weighs 213 grams per packed cup, but it is hard to pack accurately.

Is light brown sugar the same weight as dark?

Close. Dark brown sugar has slightly more molasses, but the weight per cup is the same to within 1 to 2 percent. Both are 213 grams per packed cup for cooking purposes.

Related tools

• Sugar cups to grams
• Flour cups to grams
• Cups to grams (any food)
• Recipe scaler