Sugar Converter

This converter swaps between volume and weight for sugar, the eternal headache of baking. Most American recipes measure in cups; most of the rest of the world, and every serious baker, measures in grams. The figures here are based on granulated white sugar.

One cup of granulated sugar:

• 200 grams (7.05 ounces)
• 16 tablespoons, or 48 teaspoons

Smaller amounts:

• 1 tablespoon = 12.5 g (3 teaspoons)
• 1 teaspoon = 4.17 g

Other sugars, per cup:

• Brown sugar, packed: 220 g
• Powdered (icing) sugar: 120 g
• Raw / turbinado: 225 g

The catch with any cup measurement is that it measures volume, not the sugar itself, and how you fill the cup changes the result. Scooped, tapped, or leveled can swing a “cup” by a noticeable amount. In sweet baking, where the sugar-to-flour ratio drives texture, that variability genuinely matters, and weighing is simply more reliable.

Notice how much the type of sugar shifts the weight. A cup of powdered sugar is only 120 g because it’s mostly air, while packed brown sugar reaches 220 g since the molasses makes it dense and you press it down. Swapping one sugar for another cup-for-cup quietly changes how much sugar you’re really adding. When a recipe gives grams, trust the grams.