Cones, Blocks or Granules: The Best Piloncillo Brand, Compared

Piloncillo is the hard brown cone of sugar that sweetens café de olla, capirotada and the Christmas ponche. It is unrefined cane sugar: sugar cane juice boiled down and poured into molds, with the molasses never taken out, so it tastes deeper and rounder than white or brown sugar. Across Latin America the same kind of sugar goes by panela, and it is sold as cones, round blocks, small pieces and loose granules.

That variety is the hard part of buying it online. A cone, a block and a bag of granulated panela all come from the same cane juice, but they behave differently in the kitchen. This guide names the brands worth buying in each form, says where each one comes from where the maker tells you, and explains how to grate, melt and store it.

Julia’s earns a commission on purchases made through links on this page, at no cost to you. Recommendations are based on what a working Mexican kitchen looks for in piloncillo, the makers’ own product details and published sources, which we cite.

Quick verdict: which piloncillo brand to buy

Below, the eight brands side by side, then how to choose the form that suits your cooking.

Five piloncillo and panela picks compared

Our five standout picks side by side, one for each kind of cook, with the details each maker or listing gives. All seven are reviewed in full below.

Product images from Amazon. Origins and ingredients are as stated by each maker, listing or retailer we cite; check the package you receive.

Our picks for the best piloncillo brand

These seven cover every form piloncillo comes in: Mexican-style cones for café de olla, Colombian panela cones and blocks, quick-dissolving pieces, and granulated panela for anyone who would rather not grate. Each pick says what the maker states, what it does not, and one honest reason to choose something else.

How to choose piloncillo or panela

All of these start as the same thing, sugar cane juice boiled down until it sets. The choice comes down to four questions.

1. Cone, block, pieces or granules

Cones are the Mexican form and the one recipes for café de olla and capirotada assume. Round blocks are best when you melt the whole thing into syrup. Pre-broken pieces (fraccionada) dissolve fastest in drinks. Granulated panela is the most convenient for baking and coffee, at the cost of the traditional shape.

2. Piloncillo, panela and brown sugar

Piloncillo and panela are made the same way; piloncillo is the Mexican name, usually for cones, and panela the name used across much of Latin America for cones, blocks and granules. Brown sugar is different: it is usually refined white sugar with some molasses added back, which is why it tastes lighter. Piloncillo itself comes in a light style (blanco) and a dark one (oscuro); CooksInfo notes that the light kind is made from green sugar cane and the dark from purple cane.

3. Cone size

Cones vary a lot in size. CooksInfo puts the range at about three-quarters of an ounce to nine ounces. The cones here are 8 ounces each, a convenient size for a pot of café de olla. If a recipe calls for “one cone”, check what size it means.

4. Origin and certifications

Most cone listings do not say where the sugar is made. If origin matters to you, Fela (Colombia) and Wholesome (Costa Rica) state it. If you want organic, Just Panela and Wholesome are the certified options here, and Wholesome is also fair trade.

How to grate, chop and melt piloncillo

A piloncillo cone is hard, and the right method depends on what you are making.

• For drinks and syrups, do not cut it at all. Drop the whole cone, or a few large chunks, into the pot of hot water or coffee and let it dissolve as it simmers. For syrup, put it in a saucepan with a splash of water over medium-low heat and stir now and then until it melts, as Ale Cooks describes.
• For measured amounts, grate it. The coarse side of a box grater, as Ale Cooks recommends, turns a cone into loose sugar that melts quickly into drinks and batters.
• For chunks, use a serrated knife. Set the cutting board on a damp cloth so it does not slide, and saw from the tip of the cone down. Take your time; the sugar is hard and the knife can slip.
• To soften it first, wrap the cone in a damp paper towel and microwave it for 15 to 20 seconds, the method Ale Cooks gives. Do not overdo it: overheated piloncillo melts and sets hard again as it cools.

Store cones in an airtight container in a cool, dark cupboard. Ale Cooks says piloncillo lasts for years kept that way, and CooksInfo says a sealed container keeps it indefinitely. Dry air makes them harder still, humid air makes them sticky, and granulated panela keeps best in a sealed bag or jar.

What to make with piloncillo

Café de olla. Coffee brewed with cinnamon and piloncillo, traditionally in a clay pot, as our guide to Mexican desserts describes. Simmer water with a cinnamon stick and a piece of piloncillo until the sugar dissolves, add coarse ground coffee, let it steep off the heat, then strain.

Capirotada. The Lenten bread pudding: layers of bread soaked in piloncillo syrup with cheese, raisins and nuts. A round block or a whole cone melted with water and cinnamon makes the syrup.

Ponche navideño. The hot Christmas fruit punch of tejocote, guava, sugarcane, cinnamon and piloncillo, which is what makes it taste of molasses rather than plain sugar. Our guide to Mexican Christmas food covers it.

Calabaza en tacha. Pumpkin simmered slowly in piloncillo syrup uses the same melted-down cone. Piloncillo also sweetens Mexican hot chocolate; see the best Mexican hot chocolate.

How we compared these piloncillo brands

We started from what a Mexican kitchen needs from piloncillo: pure cane sugar with its molasses kept, a form that suits the recipe, and an honest label. We then looked only at piloncillo and panela sold on Amazon in the United States that were in stock when we checked, from brands we could identify. For each one we took the details from the maker’s listing and, where they exist, from the maker’s own profile or a grocery retailer’s listing (Kroger for Iberia’s round panela; Nosh and Milk Street for Just Panela), and each review says which. Several familiar names were missing or nearly gone: Badia, Goya’s cones, Loma Vista and Tampico Spice cones were all showing low stock or none, and Goya’s panela-piloncillo listing gives no detail at all. We also left out bulk packs from unnamed “Generic” sellers. That left eight honest picks across every form, rather than ten with near-identical listings. We have not cooked with every brand here; flavor descriptions are the makers’ own, and we say so.

Piloncillo questions, answered

What is the best piloncillo brand?

Fela is our overall pick, for its two-pound bag and stated origin (Colombia). For traditional cones, COBASA: four 8-ounce cones labeled pure cane, per its listing. Just Panela is the pick if you want organic granulated panela.

Is piloncillo the same as panela?

Essentially, yes. Both are unrefined cane sugar made by boiling down sugar cane juice. Piloncillo is the Mexican name, usually for cones; panela is used across much of Latin America for cones, blocks and granules.

What can I use instead of piloncillo?

Dark brown sugar is the usual substitute, sometimes with a little molasses added. It is close, but piloncillo has a rounder, more caramel-like flavor because its molasses was never removed in the first place.

How do you break up a piloncillo cone?

Grate it on the coarse side of a box grater, saw it with a serrated knife on a board set on a damp cloth, or soften it for 15 to 20 seconds in the microwave wrapped in a damp paper towel. For drinks and syrups, just drop the whole cone into the hot liquid.

Does piloncillo go bad?

Not quickly. Kept in an airtight container in a cool, dark place, it lasts for years, according to Ale Cooks. It may harden or turn sticky depending on the humidity; neither stops it from melting into a recipe.

Our final pick for café de olla

Buy Fela’s 32-ounce bag of tejitos for most cooking and for frequent use. Choose COBASA’s four-cone pack if you want piloncillo the way Mexican recipes picture it, for café de olla, capirotada and ponche, Iberia’s round block if you mostly make syrup, and Just Panela or Wholesome if you would rather spoon granulated panela than grate a cone.

Piloncillo belongs on the sweet shelf of a Mexican pantry, alongside chocolate, canela and vanilla; our guide to Mexican pantry staples covers that shelf, and for the other great Mexican sweet, see the best cajeta brand.

Related guide: Piloncillo substitute.

And if you would rather someone else made dinner tonight, see the menu or call to order.