Baking
Granulated Sugar Conversion
Granulated Sugar weighs 200g per US cup.
| Amount | Grams | Ounces |
|---|---|---|
| 1 cup | 200.0 g | 7.05 oz |
| 1/2 cup | 100.0 g | 3.53 oz |
| 1/4 cup | 50.0 g | 1.76 oz |
| 1 tbsp | 12.5 g | 0.44 oz |
| 1 tsp | 4.2 g | 0.15 oz |
| 100 g | 100.0 g | 3.53 oz |
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Granulated sugar's 200g per cup is one of the more consistent density figures on this site — unlike flour, sugar crystals don't compress meaningfully whether spooned or scooped, since the crystals themselves (not trapped air) make up almost the entire volume. That consistency is exactly why sugar measurement errors are less common than flour measurement errors in home baking.
Where sugar measurement DOES go wrong is in confusing it with other sugars that look similar but weigh differently — powdered sugar (120g/cup) is far lighter because it's finely ground and aerated, while brown sugar (213g/cup, packed) is heavier because its molasses coating makes the crystals clump together more densely than dry granulated sugar does.
Sugar isn't just sweetness in a baking recipe — it also affects moisture, browning, and texture, which is why a straight sugar-to-honey or sugar-to-maple-syrup substitution (both far heavier and wetter per cup) requires reducing another liquid in the recipe, not just swapping the sweetener 1:1.
Granulated sugar's uniform crystal structure is exactly why its 200g-per-cup figure holds so reliably regardless of measuring technique — unlike flour, there's very little air-pocket variability to worry about, which makes sugar one of the more forgiving dry ingredients to measure by volume rather than weight when a scale isn't handy.
Creaming granulated sugar with butter does more than sweeten a batter — the process physically cuts tiny air pockets into the fat with the sugar's sharp crystal edges, which is part of what gives many cakes and cookies their initial structural lift before any chemical leavener even activates.
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Frequently asked questions
Does granulated sugar compress the way flour does when scooped?
Not meaningfully — sugar crystals pack fairly consistently whether spooned or scooped, since there's little trapped air to compress out, unlike flour. This is why sugar measurement is more forgiving of technique than flour measurement.
Why does powdered sugar weigh so much less per cup than granulated sugar?
It's been pulverized to a near-powder consistency and blended with a bit of anti-caking starch, and that finer, airier structure simply traps more empty space per cup than coarse granulated crystals do, so a full cup holds less actual sugar mass.
Is superfine (caster) sugar the same weight per cup as regular granulated sugar?
Close enough that this site treats them identically for conversion purposes — the crystals are simply smaller, not less densely packed, so a cup holds essentially the same mass; the practical difference between the two is dissolve speed, not weight.
Does the size of the sugar crystal ever matter for a recipe, beyond dissolve speed?
Yes, in a few specific cases — creaming sugar with butter relies partly on sugar crystals cutting tiny air pockets into the fat, so an unusually fine or coarse sugar can change how well a batter aerates during creaming, even at the same weight.
Does humidity in the kitchen change how sugar measures on a given day?
Slightly — sugar can absorb a small amount of ambient moisture in a humid kitchen, marginally increasing weight per cup, though the effect is minor enough that this site's figure remains a reliable everyday reference.