My recipe just says '1 cup brown sugar' without specifying packed or not — which should I use?

Use packed, which is about 220 g per cup. Packed is the standard convention in most baking recipes unless the recipe explicitly says 'lightly packed' or 'unpacked,' which would be closer to 180-200 g.

I'm converting a recipe from grams to cups and got 110 g of brown sugar — that's half of 220 g, right?

Yes — 110 g ÷ 220 g per cup = 0.5 cups, or half a cup packed. If your brown sugar has dried out and become hard, breaking up clumps before packing will give a more accurate measurement.

Brown Sugar (packed): Cups to Grams Converter

Convert brown sugar (packed) between cups, tablespoons, teaspoons, milliliters, grams, and ounces.

Ingredient

Amount

From

Brown Sugar (packed): 220 Grams

Measured packed into the cup, as most recipes intend.

Brown sugar is almost always measured 'packed' — pressed firmly into the measuring cup so it holds its shape when turned out — which is the 220 g per cup figure used here. An unpacked cup of brown sugar can weigh significantly less, so if a recipe doesn't specify, packed is the safer assumption since it's the more common convention in baking.

Common Amounts

Brown Sugar (packed) cups to grams
Cups	Grams
1/4 cups	55 g
1/3 cups	73 g
1/2 cups	110 g
3/4 cups	165 g
1 cup	220 g
2 cups	440 g

Frequently Asked Questions

Last reviewed: 2026-06-11 · Source: USDA FoodData Central / King Arthur Baking ingredient weight charts · see our methodology

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Brown Sugar (packed): Cups to Grams Converter

Common Amounts

Frequently Asked Questions

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