How to Make Brown Sugar
Fall baking fills the air with sweet, cinnamon goodness. One of the most important fall time ingredients is brown sugar. However, outside of fall time, you may not use it much.
After many seasons of discovering my brown sugar has dried out, I’ve discovered making brown sugar at home! After that discovery, I realized making it at home tends to be a forgotten skill. I’ll even admit, growing up I thought they were two completely different sugars that were only able to be produced at a specialized factory.
After discovering you can make it on demand, your will fall in love with making your own. The best part is, it’s super simple and you can make any amount you want. If you don’t use it regularly, mixing some up when you need it allows you to always have soft and fluffy brown sugar on hand.
Another great thing about making your own is that you can control how dark your sugar is. This can be important to some bakers because the amount of molasses your sugar contains can drastically change the flavor of your recipes’ finished product.
For example, light brown sugar will have a similar effect as using plain white or cane sugar (lighter colored and lighter flavored). While a dark brown sugar will provide a deeper almost caramel flavor and a deeper golden brown in your baked goods.
The Sugar
For best results, any white or cane sugar will work to make brown sugar. If you plan on making your own brown sugar, you may want to purchase your sugar in bulk to ensure you have enough in your pantry for when you need it. If you have a membership to a bulk store like Sam’s Club or Costco you can pick up sugar there. To avoid paying for a membership at a bulk store, I suggest purchasing from Azure Standard. They sell items in both single and bulk sizes. You will be able to find molasses and a variety of sugars on their website.
The Molasses
Although any molasses will work well in this recipe, you may find that unsulfured Molasses makes the highest quality molasses. If you enjoy a brown sugar with a deep flavor, you will want to use a blackstrap molasses. If you’re looking for a somewhat deep flavor, I suggest using dark molasses.
Ingredients and Tools to make Brown Sugar
- Sugar – White or cane sugar will work best but almost any type of granulated sugar will work well.
- Molasses – Any kind of Molasses will work. I recommend to use an unsulfured molasses.
- A bowl – Make sure the bowl you use is big enough to hold all your sugar with room to stir
- A Fork or Whisk – This will be for mixing the molasses into the sugar. A whisk generally works more efficiently but a fork will work just as well.
- Measuring spoons – either ½ tablespoon or a 1 tablespoon will be needed.
- An airtight container (if storing) – If you are making this ahead of time or have any leftover sugar, you will want to store what you make in an airtight container to ensure it stays nice and fluffy.
NOTES
The amount
Before you start, you may want to decide on how dark you want your sugar to be. If you don’t, that’s okay too. You’ll just want to slowly add the Molasses to ensure you don’t make it too dark for your taste. If you measure “by eye”, keep in mind you will need a lot less molasses than you think. A little goes a long way!
How to Store
Unless you are making exactly the amount you need for your recipe, you will want to store your homemade brown sugar in an airtight container. This will ensure it doesn’t try out. If you do end up with hard brown sugar, don’t worry. There are ways to revive it!
How to make brown sugar soft again
If you have hard brown sugar, my preferred revival method is to put a piece of bread in the same container. The moisture from the bread will transfer to the sugar. It does take a bit of time for the brown sugar to absorb the moisture of the bread but it works really well.
The Ratios
As a general guide, I have included some ratios for you to use to make different kinds of brown sugar. If you decide you want a darker sugar, just add a bit more molasses! If you add too much molasses, you can always add more sugar to make it lighter.
Light: ½ tablespoon molasses to 1 cup sugar
Medium: 1 tablespoon molasses to 1 cup sugar
Dark: 1 ½ – 2 tablespoons molasses to 1 cup sugar
Making Brown Sugar
In a large bowl, add the desired amount of cane sugar.
To the sugar, add the corresponding amount of Molasses for your amount of sugar and how dark you want your brown sugar to be.
Mix your Molasses into your sugar with your fork or whisk until well combined.
Your brown sugar is now ready to use! If you made more than you currently need, be sure to store in an airtight container.
Looking for more DIY recipes? Try this Homemade Vanilla Extract or this Simple Elderberry Syrup for Cold and Flu Season.
Brown Sugar FAQ:
What kind of sugar should I use?
For best results, any white or cane sugar will work to make brown sugar. If you plan on making your own brown sugar, you may want to purchase your sugar in bulk to ensure you have enough in your pantry for when you need it. If you have a membership to a bulk store like Sam’s Club or Costco you can pick up sugar there. To avoid paying for a membership at a bulk store, I suggest purchasing from Azure Standard. They sell items in both single and bulk sizes. You will be able to find molasses and a variety of sugars on their website.
What kind of molasses should I use?
Although any molasses will work well in this recipe, you may find that unsulfured Molasses makes the highest quality molasses. If you enjoy a brown sugar with a deep flavor, you will want to use a blackstrap molasses. If you’re looking for a somewhat deep flavor, I suggest using dark molasses.
Did you try this recipe? I’d love to know! Comment below or tag @missyshomestead on Instagram.
