Ah, brown sugar—you’re crucial for making the best chocolate chip cookies out there (and plenty of other desserts too), but you can be a pain to restock. For one, keeping large quantities on hand can be hard to justify, especially since it’s all too easy to forget to seal it up tight and wind up with a rock-hard brick of sweetener (psst: covering it with a damp paper towel and microwaving it in 20-second intervals, breaking it up in between, really helps). And for two, it’s often not top of mind as you’re running through the grocery store.

Plenty of stories online tout all kinds of substitutes for brown sugar, but how many are really worthwhile? And if you don’t have brown sugar, how likely are you to have these alternatives, anyway? That’s the question I posed at PureWow recently, testing various swaps for a YouTube video (check it out below). After trying them all, I had to admit: Some created an all-new riff on a cookie I didn’t expect—and in some ways, enjoyed even more.

The Top Brown Sugar Substitutes, Ranked from Worst to Best

5. Granulated Sugar + Maple Syrup

Brown sugar is really just traditional granulated sugar and molasses, so this seemed like a great sub. Who doesn’t have maple syrup on hand? I’d been told to try 1 cup granulated sugar and 1 tablespoon maple syrup; even at 2 tablespoons, the maple syrup doesn’t really come through. You might as well ditch the ingredient entirely.

4. Honey

This substitute comes with a couple caveats—it should only be used in recipes baked at 350 degrees or less, so the sugars don’t burn, and it’s way more expensive to use. But it transforms a simple cookie into a pretty incredible treat. The cookie turns light and airy, almost like a muffin top, and the honey flavor really shines through. It makes for an impressive treat, but in terms of being a substitute, it’s far from spot on. (Use roughly 3/4 cup of honey for every cup of granulated sugar.)

3. Granulated Sugar

If you don’t have any of the recommended substitutes on hand, just go for a 1:1 granulated sugar swap. You won’t get quite the depth and caramelized flavor, and it makes for a crunchier cookie, but it’s a solid swap.

2. Coconut Sugar

This natural, plant-based sweetener isn’t any healthier than regular sugar, according to WebMD, but it can reduce your chances of a spike in blood sugar, prevent low blood sugar and makes for a great sub for brown sugar. (Can I say ‘sugar’ one more time in this blurb?) Cookies get a light crackle on the outside, remain caramelized and chewy on the inside.

1. White Sugar + Molasses

Good news if you still have that jar of molasses in the back of your pantry: It’s going to finally be put to use, making the best brown sugar of your life. Seriously, a cup of granulated sugar + 2 teaspoons molasses (for every cup of brown sugar) = a rich, layered, toothsome cookie that could rival any bakeshop’s. You’ll get some subtle gingerbread-y notes that brown sugar doesn’t have, too.

It feels like a cop out suggesting it as the top sub, but let’s be real: If you want the most absolute, spot-on swap, go the DIY route.