What To Assume About Every Recipe That Uses Brown Sugar

Baking is a science, and understanding different methods and techniques can be a delicate balance between precision and creativity. Whether you're an experienced baker or someone just starting out, you likely know how drastically the results of your recipe can change with even the tiniest of cookie baking mistakes, like using cold ingredients when a recipe calls for room temperature, or measuring the flour improperly when baking bread. This applies to everything in the baking process, including the type of sugar you use and how you measure it out.

For instance, you can often substitute brown and white sugar for one another, so it's natural to assume that using brown sugar would require the same process as white sugar. However, this isn't the case. When you're measuring out brown sugar, you need to make sure you're packing it when you're measuring it out, something that you don't have to do for other dry goods. This way of measuring brown sugar is the standard, so you can assume that it's what is required every time you see this type of sugar in a recipe.

Even though many people assume that brown sugar is just sugar in its "raw" form, this actually isn't the case at all. Brown sugar is simply regular white table sugar with molasses added. This addition to the process creates a sugar with more moisture and a slightly richer flavor, both of which can alter the results of your recipe. Because of the moisture in brown sugar, it is great for giving cookies and brownies a slightly dense, chewy texture that some people love. 

So, whether your recipe calls for brown sugar or you've decided on your own to swap it for white sugar, the standard rule you must follow is that it needs to be packed every time it's measured. This is because the added molasses and moisture create small air pockets in it that you won't find in other dry goods like white sugar, flour, baking powder, etc. (This is also why it's important to store brown sugar in an airtight container.) Packing it down helps remove these air pockets. 

Packing down brown sugar is super simple. All you do is fill the measuring cup with sugar, then lightly press it down with a fork or spoon. Then fill it up some more, and press it down again, as many times as you need, until it's full to the top. You don't need to press super hard at all, just a light tap to remove the air pockets. Then you can be sure that you're using the right quantity for whatever tasty treat you're making.