Learn how to make powdered sugar at home! Also known as confectioner's sugar, it's the secret to making gooey brownies, luscious frosting, and more.
Who else has a bag of powdered sugar in their pantry that they’ve been working through for years? Powdered sugar isn’t something I use often, but every once in a while, I need a cup to make perfect gooey brownies or luscious cream cheese frosting. When I add it to the grocery list, I dread watching another bag sit in the cupboard as I make my way through it at an agonizing pace.
But all that’s about to change! I don’t know what took me so long, but I finally learned how to make powdered sugar at home. Seriously, this recipe’s a game changer. Gone are the days of hauling an ancient sack of confectioner’s sugar (yes, they’re the same!) out of the pantry every time I make carrot cake. Now, I can make the exactly the amount of powdered sugar I need for a given recipe. And the best part? It only requires 2 ingredients and 1 minute.
How to Make Powdered Sugar
To make powdered sugar at home, you’ll need two ingredients: granulated sugar and cornstarch. Use 1 tablespoon cornstarch for every cup of sugar. My recipe below calls for 2 cups sugar, but feel free to scale it up or down depending on the size of your blender and the quantity of powdered sugar you need. Expect the amount of sugar you start with to double. For example, if you start with 2 cups granulated sugar, you’ll end up with 4 cups confectioner’s sugar.
Add the granulated sugar and cornstarch to a powerful blender or food processor, and blend for 30 seconds, until the sugar is white and fluffy.
Use it right away, or store it in an airtight container at room temperature for later use. If it’s lumpy, be sure to sift it before you use it. That’s it!
Favorite Powdered Sugar Recipes
So you learned how to make powdered sugar…now what do you do with it?
First and foremost, confectioner’s sugar is what makes icings and frostings thick and sweet. Find it in my vegan frosting recipe, or in the glazes and icings that accompany these baked goods:
- Cinnamon Rolls
- Best Carrot Cake
- Chocolate Zucchini Cake
- Vegan Sugar Cookies
- Easy Sugar Cookies
- Vegan Raspberry Scones
It’s also a valuable ingredient in certain baked goods. For example, it enhances the chewy, fudgy texture of these homemade brownies and these vegan brownies.
Last but not least, a dusting of confectioner’s sugar adds a little extra something to any stack of pancakes or French toast. Sprinkle it over my classic French toast, this French toast bake, or any of these pancake recipes:
Yum!
More Easy Baking Basics
If you loved learning how to make powdered sugar, try making these baking basics next:
How to Make Powdered Sugar
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
Instructions
- Place the sugar and cornstarch in a high speed blender and blend for 30 seconds, or until fluffy.
- Store in an airtight container. If the powdered sugar gets lumpy, sift before using.
This is awesome, worked like a charm! I will never buy powdered sugar again.
Worked great for me! Nice and powdery! I had only half as much powdered sugar as I needed, so I followed your recipe and made more. I used a small electric appliance that’s intendrd to grind coffee beans. (I’ve also used it to make hazelnut paste. It’s a very versatile appliance. ) I could only make 1 cup of powderd sugar at a time, but one was all I needed.
Perhap those who haven’t experienced success with this recipe are simply using the wrong appliance.
Works, kind of, but only if you have a very good blender. My old food processor did nothing. The blender worked okay but it still wasn’t the best. It worked in a pinch so I didn’t have to go to the store. So thank you for that.
Sadly, this didn’t work for me at all! I tried both my high speed blender and my food processor for two minutes each to no avail. Now not only do I have a sink full of things to wash, I have to go to the store too.
it came out gritty. I had to throw the entire batch of cream cheese frosting out. I used a blender.
Hmm, this didn’t work for me. I tried a small food processor then a second bigger processor and still grainy, not fluffy. I should have tried the blender but didn’t want to dirty a 3rd appliance.
Can I substitute arrow root for corn starch? I have a severe corn intolerance.
yep, you can!
Omg. You just saved my life. I was making egg tarts for Thanksgiving and upon my surprise, my powdered sugar was invaded by weevils (cries). It is currently 2 am, thank you and have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe! I am not able to eat anything with corn in it, but cannot find a confectioner’s sugar that doesn’t have cornstarch. This recipe gives me a base for experimenting with other types of starch – so excited to try it out!
Hi Jessica, just wanted to reach out about the cornstarch. I’ve seen some other homemade powdered sugar recipes that did not include it. Cornstarch is added as an anti-caking agent to help prevent clumping when storing the powdered sugar for a time. If you’re going to use it immediately after making it, I don’t see why the cornstarch would be necessary. Give it a try without!
Cornstarch or something equivalent is definitely needed if turning it into icing as it works as the thickener.. otherwise you’d end up with just sugar water .. can get away with it if it’s just for dusting.
I would recommending substituting Arrowroot powder for cornstarch. It is a 1 to 1 substitution for baking, but for sauces arrowroot thickens faster than cornstarch. So if thickening go lighter with arrowroot.
Worked like a charm! 90% through a recipe and at 9 pm discovered I was out of powdered sugar. Great hack! Used a Beast blender
I’m so glad it worked out well!
This was really easy. I have a Vitamix Blender and it was a piece of cake… Pun intended 🙂