1 cup of granulated sugar in grams — 200 g.

Why 200 g per cup

Granulated sugar is the reference density for the sugar category. 1 cup = 200 g is the figure used in nearly every modern American baking book.

Sugar packs more predictably than flour — granulated sugar's small uniform crystals settle into the same volume each time, so 1 cup ≈ 200 g whether you're careful or not. Brown sugar is the exception: recipes specify 'packed' brown sugar, which means pressing it firmly into the cup. Unpacked brown sugar weighs about 145 g/cup; packed jumps to 213 g/cup. The difference can ruin a chewy cookie.

The most accurate way to measure granulated sugar

For recipes where the outcome matters — bakes, doughs, anything leavened — measure granulated sugar on a kitchen scale set to grams. Set the bowl on the scale, press tare to zero, then add until the readout matches the gram value the recipe calls for. This removes the largest source of cup-to-cup variation: how you scoop.

The cup-based numbers on this page assume the “spoon and level” method — fluffing the ingredient in its container, spooning it into the cup, and levelling the top with a straight edge. Scooping directly with the cup packs more in, and can push the gram value up by 20-30 % for fluffy ingredients like flour and cocoa.