Preparing and Baking Brownies | C&H® Sugar (2024)

FAQs

What is the best sugar for baking brownies? ›

Our answer. Nigella's recipe for Brownies (from HOW TO BE A DOMESTIC GOODESS) uses caster (superfine) sugar as this yields a squidgy brownie with a crisp crust. The texture and crust of baked goods will depend on the amount and type of sugars used.

There's an important caveat to understand regarding this method: sugar only dissolves in water. Not fat. In fact, you can dissolve a lot of sugar in water — twice the amount by weight of sugar in any amount of water as discussed by Dr. Pia Sorensen in Adam Ragusa's video on investigating how brownie skin forms.

Getting the perfect crust for you means choosing a recipe with just the right proportions of granulated and brown sugars. More brown sugar leads to dense brownies with incredible depth of flavor, but the additional moisture can cause their upper crust to be more solid than delicate as a result.

Though many brownie recipes call for "regular" granulated sugar, a half cup of brown sugar in your next batch can be a game-changer.

Your cakes will still hold up if you use granulated sugar as both the flavour and water content are the same. Caster sugar, however, is much finer and dissolves much easier than granulated sugar which is coarser in texture.

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.

The molasses content in dark brown sugar will make your baked goods moister than if you use light brown sugar. That means that not only is the flavor affected, but the texture will be, too. Light brown sugar will result in a subtler flavor, while dark brown sugar will give your baked goods a richer flavor.

Too much sugar and your brownies will develop a thick, meringue-like crust on the top, a super gooey center, and be very sweet. Too little sugar and your brownies will be super dry, dense, and bitter and won't keep fresh for as long.

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!

So, if your recipe calls for one cup of white sugar, swap one cup of brown sugar. The sweetness level will be the same, but the brown sugar may change the texture of your baked goods. You'll likely notice a more robust flavor, and the finished baked goods' color may also be darker.

Why are my brownies gritty? ›

Sometimes things go wrong and the fat separates out from the batter, making your baked brownies grainy and greasy. If this happens, try stirring in a splash of milk to bring the mixture back together.

When pastry chefs and experienced bakers craft their finest creations, they turn to C&H® Baker's Sugar. It's made especially for baking. Unlike white granulated sugar, the grain size is much finer. So it mixes, blends and melts more evenly, making it ideal for cakes, cookies, pastries, brownies, frostings and glazes.

The molasses content in dark brown sugar will make your baked goods moister than if you use light brown sugar. That means that not only is the flavor affected, but the texture will be, too. Light brown sugar will result in a subtler flavor, while dark brown sugar will give your baked goods a richer flavor.

“Regular” or White Granulated Sugar

Granulated sugar is the most common sugar called for in recipes when cooking and baking. “Regular” sugar granules are fine because small crystals are ideal for bulk handling and not susceptible to caking.