When holiday baking season rolls around (or you find a recipe you can't wait to make but the measurements are in metric), it can be very helpful to know the cups of sugar in a pound conversion for different sugar types. Each variety of sugar has a different number of cups per pound due to their varying textures and consistency. To make your baking life even easier, you could stick to weights of sugar and use a handy kitchen scale ($30, Bed Bath & Beyond) for the most precise measuring. If you don't have a scale in your kitchen and just need to know the numbers, we break down the cups per pound of sugar for you here.
One pound of powdered sugar contains approximately 4 cups. This is the usual size and amount in one box of powdered sugar. Compared to the other sugars listed here, powdered sugar (or confectioners sugar) is fluffier and light, so you get more cups per pound.
Cups of Brown Sugar in a Pound
One pound of brown sugar (light or dark) contains about 3½ cups when loose and 2¼ cups when packed into measuring cups ($15, Target). Packed brown sugar is called for in most recipes.
Cups of Sugar in a Pound
One pound of granulated sugar contains approximately 2 cups. The grain of granulated sugar is the smallest of these sugars so it's much heavier by weight, therefore you get the fewest number of cups per pound of this type of sugar.
One pound of granulated sugar contains approximately 2 cups. The grain of granulated sugar is the smallest of these sugars, so it's much heavier by weight, and you get the fewest cups per pound of this type of sugar. Get Our FREE Emergency Baking Substitutions!
One pound of granulated sugar is equivalent to approximately 2.5 cups. To convert between cups and pounds for a specific type of sugar, it's best to refer to an online conversion tool or the package itself for exact measurements. As a general rule of thumb, 1 pound is equivalent to 2 cups of most dry ingredients.
Powdered sugar right out of the box or the plastic bag weighs 4 1/2 ounces per cup, so a 1-pound box (or 16 ounces) contains about 3 1/2 cups of powdered sugar. If a recipe calls for sifted powdered sugar, weigh out 4 ounces of sifted powdered sugar to equal 1 dry measuring cup.
A cup is a unit of volume that's equal to 8 fluid ounces. This means that there are two cups in one pound, since 16 divided by 8 equals 2. Knowing how many cups in a pound makes it easier for home bakers and cooks to accurately measure ingredients—particularly when making recipes from different countries or regions.
“How many cups of powdered sugar in a pound?” One pound of powdered sugar is equivalent to 4 cups. It's important to note that how you measure the sugar can affect how much you end up with, so it's best to use a kitchen scale and measuring cup when measuring out your ingredients.
How to Substitute Powdered Sugar for Granulated Sugar. You can also use powdered sugar to replace up to 2 cups of granulated sugar, using 1 3/4 cup unsifted powdered sugar for each cup of sugar.
The cup measure of 1 pound of flour will vary, depending on the type of flour. Here's a guide: If your recipe calls for 1 pound of all-purpose flour, use 3 1/3 cups. If your recipe calls for 1 pound of cake flour, use 4 1/2 cups.
Granulated sugar is also sometimes known as white sugar, or “regular” sugar. Granulated sugar has had all of the naturally present molasses refined out of it. It is the sugar that is most commonly used in baking.
Granulated and powdered sugar should be spooned into a dry measuring cup and leveled off with a straight edge. Test Kitchen Tip: Be sure to stir the sugar first to remove clumps. If there are a lot of lumps in your powdered sugar, you can pass it through a sifter or sieve before measuring.
The baking experts would tell you no. Since white and brown sugars have different characteristics, they will have slightly different effects on your baked goods. But the impact will vary depending on what exactly you're baking (sometimes, it's not that big of a deal to use one in place of the other).
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