Brown Sugar In Banana Muffins

Our answer

Nigella's Banana Muffins from HOW TO BE A DOMESTIC GODDESS) and Chocolate Banana Muffins (from KITCHEN) use soft brown sugar as part of the ingredients. The sugar has a slightly caramelly note that adds flavour but brown sugars are also particularly helpful for adding moisture as they are more hygroscopic than regular refined sugars, meaning that they attract moisture.

You can substitute regular sugar in the same quantity as long as it is not a very coarse granulated sugar as this will not dissolve easily enough. So in the UK it is better to use caster sugar and in the US you may prefer to use superfine sugar. The flavour of the muffins will only be very slightly different but you may find that they stale a little more quickly.