What Is Powdered sugar and How Can I Use It?

Powdered sugar is easier to cook with than it looks. Here's how to choose, use, and store it, what to substitute, and 2,798 recipes to get you started.

Key Points

Granulated sugar ground ultra-fine and cut with about 3 percent cornstarch so it pours.
Dissolves instantly cold, which makes it the sugar for frostings, glazes, and dusting.
Do not swap it into a creaming batter; no crystals means a dense, greasy crumb.
Make your own from 1 cup granulated plus 1 tablespoon cornstarch in a blender.
Store airtight and dry, then sift out lumps before icing or dusting.

What is powdered sugar?

Powdered sugar is granulated sugar ground to a fine dust and cut with about 3 percent cornstarch so it pours instead of clumping. You will see it sold as confectioner's sugar in the United States and icing sugar in Britain and Canada; all three names point to the same thing.

That cornstarch is the whole story. It keeps the powder free-flowing, but it also dissolves instantly in liquid and in fat. That is why this is the sugar for frostings and glazes, and for the snowy finish dusted over a brownie.

It is not a drop-in for granulated, though, and the reason is the same starch that makes it so handy. Recipeland lists powdered sugar in nearly 2,800 recipes, almost all of them desserts and finishes rather than batters.

Ways to Use It

Reach for it any time you want sugar to disappear without heat. Beat it into softened butter and you have buttercream in a couple of minutes, the backbone of a Cream Cheese Maple Frosting or the filling piped into Cream Horns.

For a thin no-cook glaze, stir powdered sugar with a splash of milk or lemon juice until it ribbons off the spoon. A drizzle this loose sets to a soft sheen on coffee cake and cinnamon rolls.

Royal icing is the same idea taken stiff: powdered sugar whipped with egg white or meringue powder until it holds a peak, then thinned for flooding cookies like Easy Christmas Cutout Cookies.

The simplest use needs nothing but a sieve. A dusting over Triple Treat Brownies, a tart, or French toast adds a clean sweetness and hides a multitude of surface sins.

Pairing and Common Mistakes

Powdered sugar plays well with anything rich and slightly tangy: cream cheese, butter, citrus, cocoa, and ripe fruit. Its job is to sweeten and smooth without adding its own flavor, so it sits behind whatever it is dressing.

The mistake that bites people is swapping it into a creaming recipe. When a cake or cookie recipe tells you to cream butter and granulated sugar, it is counting on the sharp crystals to cut air pockets into the fat.

Powdered sugar has no crystals to speak of, so it cannot do that. You get a flat, dense, greasy crumb instead of a light one.

The other trap is using it to sweeten drinks. The cornstarch turns cold coffee or iced tea faintly cloudy and can leave a starchy haze, so dissolve granulated or use a simple syrup instead.

Dust at the last minute, too. Powdered sugar melts into anything warm or moist within minutes, so a cake dusted an hour ahead shows up to the table bare.

Substitutes

The best stand-in is the one you make yourself. Blitz 1 cup granulated sugar with 1 tablespoon cornstarch in a blender or spice grinder for 30 to 60 seconds, until it turns to powder, then let the dust settle before you open the lid.

Homemade comes out slightly grittier than the 10X you buy, which is fine for glaze and frosting but shows in something delicate like a fine dusting or a smooth royal icing.

Skip the cornstarch only if you are grinding sugar to use right away, since it is the anti-caking that lets store-bought sit on the shelf.

Going the other way, do not replace powdered sugar with granulated in a frosting or uncooked glaze. The crystals will not dissolve cold and you are left with grit.

Buying and Storing

The number on the box tells you how fine the grind is. More Xs means finer powder: XXX and XXXX are standard for home baking, while 10X is the finest common grade and the smoothest choice for frosting and royal icing.

Most boxes do not print the grade prominently. Any standard supermarket powdered sugar is fine for everyday frosting and dusting, so seek out 10X only when you want the silkiest result.

Store it airtight and dry. The cornstarch makes it thirsty, so an open bag in a humid kitchen will pull moisture from the air and seize into hard lumps.

Sealed, it keeps more or less indefinitely, since sugar does not spoil. Before you use it, especially for icing, push it through a sieve to break up any lumps; a single hard nugget will streak an otherwise smooth glaze.

For the wider story on what sugar does in cooking and how the different forms compare, see sugar.

Nutrition

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 1 cup unsifted (120g)

Amount per Serving

Calories 466Calories from Fat 1

% Daily Value *

Total Fat 0.1g 0%

Saturated Fat 0.0g 0%

Trans Fat ~

Cholesterol 0mg 0%

Sodium 1mg 0%

Total Carbohydrate 119.5g 40%

Dietary Fiber 0g 0%

Sugars 117.5

Protein 0.0g

Vitamin A 0% Vitamin C 0%

Calcium 0% • Iron 0%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your caloric needs.

recipeland.com/nutrition

Quick facts

Where to find powdered sugar: Powdered sugar is usually found in the baking supplies section or aisle of the grocery store or supermarket.

Food group: Powdered sugar is a member of the Sweets US Department of Agriculture nutritional food group.

In Chinese: 糖粉
British (UK) term: Powdered sugar
en français: sucre en poudre
en español: azúcar en polvo

How much does powdered sugar weigh?

Amount	Weight
1 cup unsifted	120 grams
1 cup sifted	100 grams
1 tbsp unsifted	8 grams
1 teaspoon	2 grams

Sweets

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Recipes using powdered sugar

There are 2798 recipes that contain this ingredient.

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