What Is Raw sugar and How Can I Use It?
Here's everything worth knowing about raw sugar and how to pick it, what it is, how to store it, and what to use instead, plus 17 recipes to cook tonight.
Key Points
- A US umbrella term for partially refined cane sugars that keep some molasses.
- "Raw" is marketing, not literally unprocessed; it is refined, just not all the way.
- Coarse golden crystals with light caramel flavor; dissolves slowly, best as a finishing sugar.
- Usually means turbinado or demerara, so check which type you actually have.
What is raw sugar?
In the US, raw sugar is an umbrella term rather than a single product. It covers partially refined cane sugars that keep a little of their molasses, which is what gives them golden crystals and a light caramel flavor. Turbinado and demerara both fall under it.
The word "raw" is mostly marketing. True unrefined cane sugar is not sold for table use, so what reaches the shelf has been processed, just not stripped all the way to white. It is a step less refined, not unprocessed.
How to Use It
Treat raw sugar the way you would the specific sugar it actually is. The coarse golden crystals dissolve more slowly than white sugar, which makes them best as a finishing touch rather than something stirred fully into a smooth batter.
Try a spoonful sprinkled on a crumble like this Nutty Plum Crumble, or worked into a sweet batter such as Poppy-Seed Cake with Lemon Glaze for a faint caramel note.
Because the label is vague, it helps to know which type you have. For the specifics, see turbinado sugar and demerara sugar, the two sugars most often sold under the raw name.
For how sugar works in baking and how to store it, see sugar.
Quick facts
- In Chinese
- 原糖
- British (UK) term
- Raw sugar
- en français
- sucre brut
- en español
- azúcar en bruto
Recipes using raw sugar
There are 17 recipes that contain this ingredient.
Banana Rolled Oat Waffles
Banana rolled oat waffles blended right in the pitcher: ripe banana, rolled oats, water and vanilla. Vegan, gluten-friendly, no flour, no dairy, no eggs. Six ingredients in 15 minutes.
Coconut Curried Butternut Squash Soup
Coconut curried butternut squash soup: sweet squash simmered with coconut milk, ginger, garlic, and curry paste, then blended silky-smooth. A creamy, dairy-free, paleo-friendly bowl.
Thai Cauliflower Curry
A bit sweet, sour with slightly spicy, this Thai cauliflower curry has lots of deliciousness that coconut milk, fish sauce and Thai curry paste have delivered. Serve it over a bed of rice that helps to soak up all the goodness.
Chinese Red Bean Pudding
Chinese red bean pudding, a silky steamed dessert thickened with rice flour and cornstarch, lightly sweetened with raw slab sugar, and studded with soft adzuki beans. Dairy-free and delicately sweet.
Marla Gibbs' Carrot Cake
Moist and delicious carrot cake with cream cheese frosting will satisfy everyone.
Mama's Best Strawberry Shortcake
I have searched for weeks for the recipe for bubba gump shrimp co's special strawberry shortcake. It was one of those trademark recipes so i had to travel to Chicago to ask for myself. I only managed to find out the biscuit recipe and the vanilla drizzle that goes on bottom, but the rest is pretty simple, so I guessed! :)
Tamarind Sauce
Indian tamarind chutney (imli ki chutney) made from soaked tamarind pulp with toasted cumin, chili, and mint. The classic tangy-sweet dipping sauce for samosas, pakoras, and chaats.
Phaalse Ka Sharbat (Blackberry Downpour)
Phaalse Ka Sharbat is a traditional Indian blackberry summer drink with mashed soaked berries, sugar, and a pinch of salt over crushed ice. Refreshing North Indian sherbet for hot days.
Red Beans & Rice (Arroz Con Habijualas)
Arroz con habichuelas, Puerto Rican red beans and rice with cumin, garlic, vinegar, and a touch of raw sugar. Soaked dried beans simmered until creamy, served over fluffy white rice.
Republica Dominicana Red Beans & Rice
Dominican red beans and rice (habichuelas con arroz), small red beans simmered with cumin, garlic, a touch of sugar, and vinegar, spooned over fluffy rice. A naturally vegan plate, great with avocado and plantains.
Poppy-Seed Cake with Lemon Glaze
Poppy seed cake with lemon glaze baked in a bundt pan. Pureed apricots replace butter for moisture, egg whites provide lift, and a tangy lemon glaze drizzles over the top. No butter, no yolks.
Kim Chee Poke in a Rice Paper Taco with Avocado Sauce
Kim Chee Poke in a Rice Paper Taco with Avocado Sauce recipe
Nutty Plum Crumble
Nutty plum crumble with peanut butter rubbed into a whole wheat and oat topping over fresh sliced plums. A single-serving vegetarian dessert with a crunchy, protein-rich crumble.
Wholemeal Zucchini Apple Cake
Moist wholemeal zucchini cake topped with sliced apple, crunchy walnuts, and warm allspice. Baked in a ring tin, this one's brilliant warm or cold with a cuppa.
Wholemeal Zucchini Apple Cake
Moist wholemeal zucchini cake topped with sliced apple, crunchy walnuts, and warm allspice. Baked in a ring tin, this one's brilliant warm or cold with a cuppa.
Satay Sauce
Thai satay sauce from scratch: a dry-toasted aromatic paste of chiles, shallots, garlic, and galangal cooked into coconut milk with peanuts, sesame, tamarind, and fish soy.
Fresh Sweet Corn & Parsnip Soup
Fresh sweet corn and parsnip soup blends summer corn with earthy parsnips, milk, and herbs into a silky pureed bowl finished with mascarpone and parsley. A vegetarian late-summer comfort soup.
