Easy How To Make Brown Sugar Recipe
How To Make Brown Sugar With Just 2 Ingredients
Seriously, just 2 ingredients to make brown sugar? Can it really be that easy?
It has happened to all of us right in the middle of making your favorite banana nut bread or chocolate chip cookie recipe. You reach up for the brown sugar only to discover the bag is empty. Or, if you have kids, the bag is just missing altogether. No need to ask who, because you already know it was the mystery kid down the street named Not Me. In my house, the kid was here so often I threatened to set a dinner plate out for him, but I digress.
At this point, you may think about using plain old granulated sugar instead of brown sugar, but you know it will not come out the same. So what do you do? Run to the store, skip the recipe altogether?
Why not learn how to make brown sugar at home and on the spot? Yep, as long as you have two common pantry staples in your pantry, you have brown sugar.
Are You Using Fresh Brown Sugar
I mean really fresh brown sugar, not the stuff you find in the bag at your local grocery store. In fact, if you've ever learned how to make brown sugar yourself, you have probably never tasted fresh.
The difference between the brown sugar you buy off the grocery store shelf and the homemade 2-ingredient brown sugar is stunning.
Honestly, this recipe is the real thing and not a substitute recipe. This no-fail recipe is so easy to make and makes the best around. This brown sugar will work in any recipe and will store perfectly well in an airtight container kept in your pantry. If you want moist, aromatic, brown sugar, rich in both flavor tones and color? I believe homemade is the only way to go
So How Do I Do This
Even though they are not, we tend to think of sugar and brown sugar as two completely different things. Whether you are looking to learn how to make brown sugar light, or dark, this is probably one of the easiest recipes on the site because it requires just two ingredients!
- Granulated sugar. Yep, plain white sugar. We can talk about the differences between cane sugar, beet sugar, and raw sugar later.
- Unsulphured molasses.
- These two ingredients are all it takes to make brown sugar yourself and creates both its moist texture and distinct flavor.
When making just a cup or two at a time, you need no fancy equipment. All you need is a mixing bowl, a spatula, a spoon, or a sturdy whisk.
- Add the granulated sugar and molasses to a mixing bowl.
- Stir the sugar and molasses together until they are well combined.
- When you see no lumps, no clumps, and everything is one even color, poof, you're done.
Better Still
Once you discover how to make brown sugar you'll also discover that it stores every bit as well as the store-bought version. So as long as you have a mixer of any kind. Be it a hand mixer, stand mixer, or a child who was silly enough to say they are bored, you can make brown sugar by the pound.
Personally, my preference these days is the stand mixer, and you can check out that process in the video below. But then my kids and grandkids all learned long ago never to tell me they were bored. Your preference may vary.
FAQ's
How should I store this?
- You are going to want an airtight container. Here is what I use, and I will always recommend storing things like brown sugar in because they work. These are incredibly durable containers that can last a lifetime. The best part, when I open one up months later, my brown sugar is still perfect.
- What I would never recommend for store-bought brown sugar or for your fresh when you make brown sugar yourself, is a plastic bag. Even when you squeeze the air out, sooner or later, the bag will get torn, then leak, and eventually attract critters. Worst of all, at some point, end up in a landfill or the ocean.
Will this work as a brown sugar substitute?
- Beyond Yes, when you make brown sugar yourself, it is the real thing, not a substitute. This is what's in the bag at the store. It's just fresh!
Does brown sugar go bad?
- Whether you choose to make it one cup at a time or five pounds at a time, storing it in an airtight container will keep it fresh.
- As for how long it will last? When properly stored and kept free from contaminants, when you make brown sugar it has an indefinite shelf life.
- We tend to think of sugar as a sweetener, and it certainly is. Not only is it sweet, but it can also be a preservative.
- The Big Six Methods of Preserving.
- Freezing Food - Preserves food by lowering the temperature at or below 32 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Dehydrating - Reducing moisture of food to low levels
- Pickling - preserve (food or other perishable items) in vinegar, brine, or a similar solution.
- Canning - Storing, properly, cooked food in a vacuum-sealed jar or can)
- Curing - Using salts to draw the moisture from food for preservation
- Candying - Cooked in or with sugar, or syrup, to preserve
- The Big Six Methods of Preserving.
Why does my brown sugar become hard?
- Air hardens brown sugar. Airtight containers help prevent this.
How do I soften brown sugar?
- If you use a bag or a container that is not airtight to store your brown sugar, sooner or later, you will own a doorstop. Don’t panic! Place a slice of bread in the package with the brown sugar, and within a few hours, the bread will harden, and the sugar will be nice and soft again.
What’s the difference between light and dark brown sugar?
- The only difference between light and dark is the amount of molasses added to the sugar. Dark has more molasses.
A Few Things You Can Make With Brown Sugar
- Frosting
- Cookies
- Syrup
- Caramel Corn
- Muffins
- Pineapple Upsidedown Cake
- Apple Cake
- The list goes on and on
Your Great Grand Parents Were Wiser Than You Think
- They Bought In Bulk
- Stored In Bulk
- They realized surviving tomorrow, just may depend on it
No need to buy brown sugar. Make it yourself and save!
- 3 cup granulated sugar
- 3 tbsp molasses
- 3 cup granulated sugar
- 6 tbsp molasses
- Combine
Add sugar and molassed to the bowl of a kitchen stand mixer.
- Mix
On medium-low speed, mix ingredients until well combined.
- Store
Store in an airtight container and use as you would any other brown sugar.
Servings 32
- Amount Per Serving
- Calories 188kcal
- % Daily Value *
- Total Fat 1g2%
- Saturated Fat 1g5%
- Sodium 3mg1%
- Potassium 82mg3%
- Total Carbohydrate 49g17%
- Sugars 48g
- Calcium 12 mg
- Iron 1 mg
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily value may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
For dark brown sugar simply double the molasses.