Baking
Brown Sugar (Packed) Conversion
Brown Sugar (Packed) weighs 213g per US cup.
| Amount | Grams | Ounces |
|---|---|---|
| 1 cup | 213.0 g | 7.51 oz |
| 1/2 cup | 106.5 g | 3.76 oz |
| 1/4 cup | 53.3 g | 1.88 oz |
| 1 tbsp | 13.3 g | 0.47 oz |
| 1 tsp | 4.4 g | 0.16 oz |
| 100 g | 100.0 g | 3.53 oz |
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Brown sugar is the one sugar on this site measured PACKED rather than spooned-and-leveled, and its 213g-per-cup figure specifically reflects that convention — a firmly packed cup that holds its shape when turned out of the measuring cup, not a loosely spooned one. This is such a strong baking convention that recipes almost never say "packed brown sugar" explicitly; they just assume it.
That packing matters more than it sounds like it should: a loosely spooned cup of brown sugar can be 20-25% lighter than a properly packed one, since the molasses coating on brown sugar's crystals makes them clump with air pockets between clumps when not pressed together — pockets a firm pack removes.
Brown sugar's molasses content (light or dark, with dark brown sugar containing more molasses) is what gives it its characteristic moisture, flavor, and slight acidity compared to plain granulated sugar — which is also why brown sugar reacts differently with baking soda in a recipe than granulated sugar does, since molasses is mildly acidic and granulated sugar isn't.
Brown sugar is the one common baking sugar conventionally measured packed rather than spooned-and-leveled — pressing it firmly into the cup until it holds the cup's shape when turned out is what the standard 213g-per-cup figure assumes, a real exception to how virtually every other dry ingredient on this site is meant to be measured.
Brown sugar hardens into a solid block when its molasses content loses moisture to the air — a properly sealed container (or a slice of bread or a specialized terra cotta disc dropped in) helps keep it soft by maintaining humidity inside the storage container.
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Frequently asked questions
Why is brown sugar measured packed when nothing else on this site is?
It's an exceptionally strong, near-universal baking convention — brown sugar recipes assume a packed cup even when they don't say so, because the molasses coating creates air pockets between crystals that packing removes, and an unpacked cup would under-measure what the recipe actually expects.
Is dark brown sugar heavier per cup than light brown sugar?
They're close enough to treat as the same figure (213g/cup packed) for practical purposes — the difference between them is molasses concentration and flavor intensity, not a meaningfully different weight.
What happens if I use unpacked brown sugar in a recipe by mistake?
The recipe will end up with noticeably less sugar (and less of the moisture and acidity molasses provides) than intended, which can make baked goods less sweet, less moist, and can slightly affect how well a baking-soda-leavened recipe rises, since brown sugar's acidity plays a role in that reaction.
Is turbinado sugar the same thing as brown sugar?
No — turbinado is a less-refined granulated sugar with a light molasses note from minimal processing, not sugar with molasses deliberately added back in; it's coarser and doesn't pack the same way brown sugar does.
Why does this site list light and dark brown sugar as separate ingredient entries if they share a conversion figure?
Because their storage and substitution notes reference the specific molasses content that distinguishes them, even though the raw conversion weight is close enough to share — separate entries let each get its own accurate framing elsewhere.