This guide shows how to make brown sugar very easily and quickly in your own kitchen. It requires only two ingredients: granulated sugar and molasses.
And I've included three ways to soften brown sugar that's hardened into a block in your pantry.
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Brown sugar is a common ingredient in cookies, like these Figgy Snickerdoodle Cookies, cookie bars, like these Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars, and even some breads, like this Brown Sugar and Plum Pull-Apart Bread and Cinnamon Rolls. It is essential to the distinctive caramel flavor that elevates the treat.
🥣 How to Make Brown Sugar
But sometimes, although we could just swear we had a whole bag of it in our pantry, we discover we are completely out. And we're in the middle of making a batch of chocolate chip cookies.
If this happens, all you need to make homemade brown sugar is granulated sugar, molasses, a bowl, a spatula or fork, and 5 minutes, and your problem is completely solved.
Simply combine the ingredients in a bowl and fold the sugar into the molasses with a spatula or a fork until it's completely mixed in.
I often finish mixing the two together with my fingers to massage any remaining small lumps of molasses into the sugar. That's it! It's really that easy.
The flavor is identical to that of the bags of brown sugar at the grocery store, and it can be used in literally any recipe that calls for brown sugar.
🎯 Tips
When measuring the molasses, first coat the measuring spoon with a very small amount of olive oil or other vegetable oil. This allows the molasses to pour easily from the tablespoon.
The bowl should be large enough to comfortably massage the lumps of molasses into the sugar at the end.
- You can use a food processor to make brown sugar instead of using a spatula or fork, but while it might be faster, the cleanup is much longer.
🤓 What's the difference between light and dark brown sugar?
The only difference between light and dark brown sugar is the amount of molasses added to the sugar. Dark brown sugar uses twice as much molasses as light brown sugar.
Light Brown Sugar uses 1 tablespoon of molasses for every cup of sugar. But Dark Brown Sugar takes 2 tablespoons of molasses for every cup of sugar.
💡 Ideas for Variations
You can customize the brown sugar to your preferences by adding a little more or less molasses as mentioned above. Here are a few additional ideas of flavors you can add:
- Vanilla extract
- Use vanilla sugar in place of plain granulated sugar
- Ground cinnamon
- Ground cardamom
- Ground allspice
👩🍳 Are there substitutes for molasses when making brown sugar?
Molasses is the only ingredient that gives the distinctive caramel flavors found in brown sugar. But if you don't have any molasses, use the following substitutes with a 1:1 ratio. Just understand the flavor won't be the same.
- Maple syrup - it should be 100% pure Grade A maple syrup; the darker the better.
- Honey - I prefer raw, unfiltered honey.
- Lyle's Golden Syrup
- Dark corn syrup
- Sorghum syrup
👩🍳 How To Soften Brown Sugar
We've all had it happen. We're ready to use brown sugar in a recipe, but it's hard enough to be a weapon. There are at least 3 ways to soften brown sugar.
- Fastest. Place the hardened sugar in a microwave-safe bowl and cover it with a dampened paper towel. Zap it on high in 15 to 20-second increments. After each zap, nudge the brown sugar lump to break it up.
- Pretty fast. Wrap the brown sugar in foil and place it on a baking sheet. Slide it into a 250˚F oven and check it every 5 minutes.
- Longest. Place the brown sugar lump in an airtight container with either a slice of bread or large piece of apple. The brown sugar should be soft by the following morning.
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How to Make Brown Sugar
Ingredients
- 1 cup white granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon unsulfured molasses
Instructions
- Place both ingredients in a bowl, and fold the molasses into the sugar using a small spatula or a fork to mash the molasses into the sugar. Finish by massaging any last nuggets of molasses with your fingers to fully combine the two ingredients.
- Use the spatula or fork to continue stirring the sugar from the bottom of the bowl to the top to achieve a consistent brown sugar mixture.
- Store in an airtight container.
Healing Tomato
All I need is two ingredients to make my very own brown sugar? How did I not know about it?? This is perfect for so many recipes and it looks super easy.
The Wimpy Vegetarian
It's very very easy - and you can customize it to your own likes - and according to how you'll use it. Enjoy!!
Sandra Shaffer
My pantry space is limited, so I either have light or dark brown sugar. Now I can make it when it's needed and any variety!
The Wimpy Vegetarian
Totally! I'm so happy this helps you during this big baking season!!
mjskitchen
This is one of those recipes that has me saying "Why didn't I know this sooner?" I ALWAYS have molasses and I use brown sugar for a lot of things. This is so easy and this way I can make what I need at the time and not worry about the sugar getting hard. Thanks for sure a useful idea!
The Wimpy Vegetarian
You are so welcome! I always have molasses on hand too - it lasts seemingly forever. A very Happy New Year to you, my friend!!
Liz
I go through so much brown sugar! I use it for baking, in seasonings and marinades, the list goes on! What a great idea to just make it at home!
Sharon
But why would a vegetarian be using sugar, which is mad with animal bone char? You'd have to buy organic or raw sugar and your link is to regular s non-veg sugar.
The Wimpy Vegetarian
You are absolutely correct about the common use of bone char. It's used as a de-colorizing agent. But, as my site name states, and my About page goes into some detail about, I'm a wimpy vegetarian, and do not pretend to be a strict vegetarian. We each have our own journey, and I believe that any step we all make towards eliminating meat and meat products from our diet is a good one.