Can Baker's Sugar Be Substituted for Granulated Sugar? Ingredient Questions

Q: Is baker's sugar interchangeable with granulated sugar? Also, can you taste the difference between baker's sugar and granulated in, say, a cookie recipe?

Sent by Nicole

Editor: Baker's sugar is a finely-ground type of sugar synonymous with "superfine sugar." Bakers use it because it dissolves and incorporates more easily into recipes. Baker's sugar definitely tastes the same as granulated sugar, but I'm not 100% sure if the two can be used interchangeably. This post gives some insight:

• Is Superfine Sugar Really Necessary?

Readers, do any of you have advice on this?

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(Image: Anjali Prasertong )

Categories: Supplies, Main, Ingredient, Ingredient Questions, Questions, Sugar

Posted by Emma Christensen

Emma is the recipe editor for The Kitchn and the author of "True Brews: How to Craft Fermented Cider, Beer, Wine, Sake, Soda, Mead, Kefir, and Kombucha at Home," available in bookstores nationwide May 14, 2013.
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Comments (7)

according to the package (of mine), it says it can be used 1:1 for regular sugar.

It matters with cakes, but not cookes. Imho.

Is "superfine sugar" the same thing as "caster"?

Blue_Eyes, in my experience, they're the same thing.

A question, what IS granulated sugar? I've never seen it in Australia, and I just made a recipe that called for it (I substituted it for a low-Gi cane sugar and they worked fine, though). No one at the supermarket knew what the heck it WAS - does it have any synonyms?

I've always seen it 1:1 exchanged and no it really doesn't make a big difference (not noticeable to most at least) but if you think about it, it's almost like kosher/table salt in recipes. Granulated is bigger so 1 cup of that vs 1 cup of superfine is not going to be the same. By weight, sure though.

@RYTTU3K

In the US, granulated sugar is just your ordinary sugar that's called granulated simply to distinguish it from powdered sugar. I think you call it white sugar in Australia?

It looks like this: http://www.essentiallyhealthyfood.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/06/13/sugar.jpg

Ah, just plain white sugar? Okay, that works. No wonder I was confused, most sites just said, "...It's sugar."

I'll add it to the list of synonyms! (The other main ones I have are - caster is superfine, and icing sugar is powdered or confectioner's sugar. If you love cooking but most of your sources are American sites, you start keeping pretty detailed lists!)