Brown Sugar | American Society of Baking (2024)

FAQs

What does brown sugar do to baked goods? ›

Brown sugar, meanwhile, is dense and compacts easily, creating fewer air pockets during creaming—that means that there's less opportunity to entrap gas, creating cookies that rise less and spread more. With less moisture escaping via steam, they also stay moist and chewy.

Dark brown sugar is often used in more heartily flavored spiced or chocolate baked goods. Despite the slight difference in molasses between these two sugars, they can be used interchangeably in any recipe, depending on whether you want a more or less pronounced toffee flavor.

- Good for digestion: Brown sugar is also good for digestion because it is made up of molasses which promotes a healthy digestive system and bowel movements. Furthermore, the fibre in brown sugar leads to lower absorption of sugar by the body, which helps you regulate blood sugar levels.

Brown sugar, on the other hand, contains more moisture and is slightly acidic, so cookies made with mostly brown sugar will be chewier and rise higher (because the baking soda reacts to the acid in the sugar).

Brown sugar is the simplest substitute for granulated sugar. You can use light or dark brown sugar as a 1:1 substitute. It makes for darker, denser baked goods with a more caramel or molasses flavor, which is wonderful for classic chocolate chip cookies, but less desirable for delicate cakes.

A light brown sugar has about 3.5% molasses and dark brown sugar has about 6.5%. That added molasses in dark brown sugar is what gives it more depth of flavor, which is why you'll see it in recipes where it's an important ingredient like when you make barbecue sauce.

India abuses heroin (the derivative of brown sugar) more than any other country in Southern Asia. According to a UN report, “One million heroin addicts are registered in India, and unofficially there are as many as five million.” Brown sugar accounts for much of this heroin use.

Health Risk of Brown Sugar

Increase blood sugar levels- Excessive intake of brown sugar may rapidly increase blood sugar levels and increase the risk of diabetes. Nutritional deficiencies- Brown sugar is a source of empty calories, and intake of excessive amounts of sugar may cause nutrient deficiencies.

Agreeing, Dr Nair said that even though brown sugar is safe and well-tolerated by most healthy adults when consumed in balance, “excessive use may increase the risk of weight gain, yeast infections, and diabetes“.

Brown sugar is often produced by adding sugarcane molasses to completely refined white sugar crystals to more carefully control the ratio of molasses to sugar crystals and to reduce manufacturing costs.

Does brown sugar expire? ›

Even though the shelf life of brown sugar is indefinite, it's best to use it within two years of purchase for maximum flavor. Don't store brown sugar in the refrigerator. However, if you are in a very dry area or are going to keep it for a long time, you may want to freeze it.

Packing brown sugar is a crucial component in making a consistent baking measurement. Packing brown sugar presses out all of those small pockets of air that get trapped between the sticky sugar granules, and in-turn will ensure that your sweet treat comes out as just that—sweet!

Keep in mind when baking that brown sugar helps to promote a dense, chewy texture thanks to the moisture content in the molasses. Think: chewy brownies or soft, dense chocolate chip cookies. On the other hand, white sugar helps to create crispy, crunchy cookies that have a drier texture.

As the fudgy crumb proves, the brown sugar addition keeps the cake moist. The white sugar, meanwhile, adds sweetness, as it is sweeter than the brown sugar.

There are a variety of common ingredient options — including white sugar, molasses, maple syrup, and coconut sugar — that can replace brown sugar. Depending on the substitute you choose, you may have to make some minor adjustments to your recipe — but after that, it's smooth sailing.

Granulated sugar: Derived from either sugarcane or sugar beets, this is the most commonly used sugar in baking, and for good reason. It's neutral in flavor and has medium-sized, uniform crystals that are small enough to dissolve into batters and large enough to create air pockets when creamed with butter.