Coarse sugar

Sugar with large crystals that keep their shape in the oven, sprinkled on top of baked goods for sparkle and crunch.

Coarse sugar: Small piles of sparkling sanding sugar and white pearl sugar side by side
  • Baking ingredients and additives

Also called: sanding sugar, pearl sugar, nib sugar

Sanding sugar has large, clear crystals that catch the light and often comes in colors for decorating cookies. Pearl sugar, also called nib sugar, is made of opaque, compressed white lumps that stay crunchy; it tops chouquettes and sweet breads and is folded into Liège waffle dough.

Coarse sugar is usually scattered over an egg wash or brushed cream on scones, muffins, pie crusts, turnovers and puff pastry just before baking. Because the crystals are so large, it does not dissolve well and is not a substitute for granulated sugar in doughs.

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Related entries

Sources

Written by VanillaGoods in our own words from these sources. Last reviewed October 15, 2026.

  1. The Application of Sugar, Understanding Ingredients for the Canadian Baker (BCcampus open textbook)
  2. Coarse sugar (Q914538), Wikidata