Erythritol

One US cup of erythritol weighs 196.4 grams (6.9 ounces). Going the other way, 100 grams is about 0.51 cups.

Also called granulated erythritol, granular erythritol, erythritol sweetener, pure erythritol, erythritol crystals, sugar alcohol sweetener.

Sugars compared: cup weights side by side, the source behind each, and why they differ.

A cup of granulated erythritol weighs about 196 g (6.9 oz), almost the same as a cup of granulated sugar (200 g). Pyure's specification sheet measures its bulk density at 0.83 g/mL, and the 4 g teaspoon printed on erythritol labels agrees within 2.3%.

Erythritol is a sugar alcohol, made by fermenting glucose, that looks and pours like granulated sugar. It has almost no calories and is less sweet than sugar, so recipes and makers often suggest using a little more of it than of sugar. It is sold pure, as a granulated or powdered sweetener, and as the main ingredient of blends such as Swerve and of many monk fruit sweeteners.

The best figure comes from a manufacturer's specification. Pyure's sheet for its organic erythritol, a 30 to 60 mesh crystal, gives a bulk density of 0.83 g/mL, which is 196.4 g per US cup. Jungbunzlauer, a large producer, specifies 700 to 900 kg per cubic metre for its ERYLITE grades, 166 to 213 g a cup; Pyure's figure sits in the middle of that span. Retail labels from So Nourished, Yupik and NOW Foods all give 4 g per teaspoon, which is 192 g a cup. That agrees with Pyure within 2.3%, but on its own it would be weak evidence: labels round to whole grams, and 4 g is the weight sugar labels give a teaspoon too.

Swerve's FAQ says a cup of Swerve Granular weighs 200 g, close to these figures, but the same page says a 12 oz bag holds about 1 1/2 cups, which would be 227 g a cup, and Swerve is a blend of erythritol, allulose and xanthan gum. It is listed without a figure. King Arthur Baking's chart has no erythritol row. Its "Baking Sugar Alternative", an erythritol-based blend with soluble corn fiber, is listed at 170 g a cup; that is a different product, lighter because of the fiber.

The physical check: erythritol crystals are a little lighter than sugar crystals, about 1.45 g/mL against 1.59. A cup of loose crystals of similar size fills a similar share of the cup, a little over half, so erythritol should weigh slightly less than sugar's 200 g a cup. At 0.83 g/mL, a cup is 57% crystal and 43% air, the same packing as granulated sugar's 53% crystal. The figure fits. Finer powdered erythritol, like powdered sugar, traps more air and weighs less per cup; the figure here is for the granulated form.

Practical guidance: use 196 g per cup of granulated erythritol, 98 g per half cup, 12 g per tablespoon and 4 g per teaspoon. Because a cup weighs almost what a cup of sugar weighs, swapping cup for cup changes the weight very little; what changes is the sweetness, which is lower. If a recipe gives sugar in grams, replace it gram for gram and add more only if you want the same sweetness. Erythritol does not brown or caramelise like sugar, and in large amounts it can recrystallise as a cake or frosting cools.