If raisins white has turned up in a recipe or caught your eye at the store, here's what you need to use it with confidence and how to choose it, cook it, store it, what to substitute, and 15 recipes to try it in.

What is raisins white?

White raisins, more often called golden raisins or sultanas, are simply dried grapes that have kept a pale amber color instead of going dark brown.

The trick is in the drying. They're treated with sulfur dioxide and usually dried mechanically rather than left in the sun, which stops them from oxidizing and turning black.

That difference is more than skin deep. Golden raisins taste a little tarter and brighter than dark raisins, often plumper and more tender, with a cleaner grape-and-honey sweetness. Because they don't bleed dark color, they keep light doughs and sauces looking clean.

How to Cook With Golden Raisins

In baking they slip into anything that wants sweetness and chew without muddying the crumb. They stud Fillings for Strudel, the fruit in Christmas Lizzies, and the soft texture of a Moist Spice Cake with Nuts & Raisin, where their brightness keeps a heavy spice cake from tasting flat.

Their real edge over dark raisins shows in savory cooking. Golden raisins are a staple of North African tagines and Middle Eastern pilafs, where their tart-sweet pop balances cumin and lamb without dyeing the rice gray.

That same balance makes them a backbone of chutneys and relishes. They cook down soft and sweet in Joan's Pear Chutney and Traditional Chutney, and they sweeten the spiced meat in a Greek Chopped Meat Stuffing.

Before they go into a cake or a quick bread, soak them. Ten minutes in warm water, juice, rum, or tea plumps them so they don't pull moisture out of the batter and end up like dry pebbles.

Pairing and Common Mistakes

Golden raisins pair naturally with warm spices and bright acids. Cinnamon, nutmeg, cumin, and curry lean on their sweetness, while a splash of lemon or vinegar sharpens them in savory dishes. Toasted nuts and tangy cheeses round them out.

The most common mistake is adding them dry to a stiff dough or a long bake. Unsoaked, they steal water from the batter and turn hard.

The fix is simple: soak first, or fold them into a wetter mixture.

The second mistake is reaching for dark raisins when the recipe calls for golden. The swap works for flavor but ruins a pale dish, since dark raisins bleed brown streaks into white cakes and cream sauces.

Substitutes

Dark raisins are the obvious one-for-one swap when color doesn't matter, just expect a deeper, slightly less tart result. Dried currants, which are tiny dried Zante grapes, work where you want smaller pieces.

For the same bright tang, chopped dried apricots or golden-colored dried cranberries fit cakes and savory grain dishes well. In a chutney, any dark dried fruit will do, since color is no longer the point.

Soaked and plumped golden raisins, blended smooth, also make a quick natural sweetener for oatmeal or muffin batter when you want to cut back on added sugar.

Buying and Storing

Good golden raisins should be soft and pliable in the bag, not rattling and hard. Squeeze the package: if it feels stiff, they're old. A faint amber-to-pale-gold color is what you want.

Store them in an airtight container in a cool, dark cupboard, where they keep their texture for six to twelve months. For longer storage, or in a warm kitchen, refrigerate or freeze them and they'll stay plump well past a year.

If they dry out and harden over time, they aren't ruined. Steam them briefly or soak them in warm water for a few minutes and they'll come back soft enough to bake with.

Discard them only if you see mold or smell fermentation. The harmless white sugar crystals that sometimes form on the surface are just crystallized natural sugars, not spoilage.

Quick facts

In Chinese

白葡萄干

British (UK) term

Raisins white

en français

raisins blancs

en español

pasas blancas

Recipes using raisins white

There are 15 recipes that contain this ingredient.

All 15 recipes