1 US cup of packed brown sugar = approximately 220 grams. "Packed" means pressing the sugar firmly into the cup — US recipes always mean packed when they say "1 cup brown sugar".
Ingredient: Brown sugar (packed) — ~220 g per US cup
This calculator uses the US recipe cup (240 ml); the precise customary cup is 236.6 ml.
| Cups | Grams |
|---|---|
| ¼ cup | ~55 g |
| ⅓ cup | ~73 g |
| ½ cup | ~110 g |
| ⅔ cup | ~147 g |
| ¾ cup | ~165 g |
| 1 cup | ~220 g |
| 1½ cup | ~330 g |
| 2 cup | ~440 g |
| Grams | Cups |
|---|---|
| 25 g | 0.11 cup |
| 50 g | 0.23 cup |
| 100 g | 0.45 cup |
| 150 g | 0.68 cup |
| 200 g | 0.91 cup |
| 250 g | 1.14 cup |
Note: packed into the cup; loose-fill gives ~200 g.
Brown sugar's moisture content makes it clump and compact, giving it different packing behaviour from granulated sugar. When a US recipe says "1 cup brown sugar," it always means packed — pressed into the cup firmly enough that it holds the cup's shape when turned out. This packed measurement gives approximately 220 g per cup.
Loose-fill (not packed) gives only about 200 g per cup. For a recipe that calls for 2 cups of packed brown sugar, measuring loosely could leave you 40 g short — enough to noticeably affect caramel, cookies, or cake. If you're unsure whether a recipe means packed, default to packed: it's the universal US convention.
This converter uses the packed standard (220 g/cup, marked as approximate because packing intensity varies). For consistent results batch after batch — especially in professional or high-volume baking — weigh brown sugar in grams. 220 g of brown sugar is the same quantity whether it came from a packed cup, a loose scoop, or straight from the bag.
For baking precision, always weigh ingredients in grams rather than measuring by volume. Ingredient figures are culinary approximations based on King Arthur Baking and USDA references.
1 cup of packed brown sugar equals approximately 220 grams. Loose-fill (not packed) gives about 200 grams.
Packed means pressing the brown sugar firmly into the measuring cup with your fingers or a spoon until it holds the cup's shape when turned out. US recipes always mean packed unless they specify otherwise.
200 grams of packed brown sugar equals approximately 0.91 cups.
Yes, dark and light brown sugar pack to the same density — both approximately 220 g per packed cup.