Weight: 1 cup/5¼ ounces/150 grams
Characteristics: Exotic, alluring; you have to treat her just right or she can get a little volatile. Coconut sugar’s flavor profile is totally unique—a wonderfully toasty, deeply caramelized, almost savory vibe. As this sugar doesn’t come from actual coconuts, there is no coconutty flavor to be found here, so coconut phobics can relax and enjoy.
Where it comes from: Coconut sugar, sometimes also labeled coconut palm sugar, is the dried and granulated sap of flower buds from the coconut palm tree. Coconut palms are grown, and coconut sugar harvested, in many Southeast Asian countries, including Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines. It’s easy to confuse coconut sugar or coconut palm sugar with straight-up palm sugar, which comes from different varieties of palm trees, such as sugar palms or date palms, which yield a much different sugar. So it’s important to read the label closely to make sure you’re getting the coconut sugar you’re really after.
Best uses: Although coconut sugar can be used 1:1 for white granulated sugar in recipes (with a little loss of sweetness), there are definitely some applications that are better suited to coconut sugar than others. Coconut sugar tends to be drying, so I love it in things that have lots of fat or moisture, or in fruit purees, like banana, to compensate (check out the divine Coconut Sugar Banana Sheet Cake with Caramelized Coconut Sugar Frosting on page). Muffins, quick breads, and “soft baked”–style cookies tend to do well with coconut sugar.
Candies like toffees and caramels also take a seriously delicious turn when coconut sugar is in the mix. When it comes to candymaking, though, stick to candies that are in the soft-ball to soft-crack stage, such as the Orange Blossom Honey and Walnut Toffee—coconut sugar has a lower burning point than white sugar and can quickly burn and taste horribly acrid when it’s cooked higher than 285˚F.
Bonus points: Although spendy, coconut sugar is minimally processed and is considered a low-glycemic-index sweetener, which is making it a bit of a darling in the health food world. Because it’s a minimally processed product, coconut sugar also has a good handful of retained nutrients going for it, such as magnesium, potassium, zinc, iron, B vitamins, and amino acids.
How to store: Coconut sugar tends to clump up, so to protect your investment, once you open the bag transfer the sugar to a tight-sealing container and keep it in a cool, dry place.