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Ran out of brown sugar for those chocolate chip cookies you were craving? No problem, honey, I got the solution right here! Learn how to turn granulated white sugar into brown sugar using 2 simple ingredients.
Have you ever been in the midst of making a really crave-able dish, like chocolate chip cookies, and realized that you just don't have enough brown sugar or have completely run around? Me, too, friend. Me, too.
But never fear, your local neighborhood culinary-school-trained expert is here to show you that you probably won't have to buy brown sugar ever again.
You can make literally the same exact brown sugar you buy at the store right at home!
How Brown and White Sugar are Made
White sugar is simply sugarcane juice that has been heated, crystalized and filtered and bleached with bone char to create that white color.
Commercially brown sugar is made by adding sugarcane molasses back to refined processed sugar crystals. This is different than unrefined 'raw' sugars that retain some molasses from the mother liquor naturally. Molasses is what gives brown sugar and baked goods that caramel flavor.
The reason why brown sugar is made like this is because the newly created white sugar industry in the 1800's started a smear campaign against brown sugar since they could not regulate or control brown sugar production.
The campaign claimed brown sugar was inferior, dangerous, and infested with 'minute insects'....which we know as microbes. Unfortunately because of general ignorance of science overall at the time, this campaign was successful and the white sugar industry overtook the commercial brown sugar business.
Those less-refined or unrefined brown sugars are often called 'raw' sugar, turbinado sugar (these sugars are spun in a centrifuge until very little molasses is left) and muscavado, kokuto, jaggery, panella, and other names depending on what country the sugar is from (these sugars are minimally processed with large amounts of molasses).
How to Make Homemade Brown Sugar
To make your own brown sugar all you need are two ingredients: white granulated sugar and molasses.
Most store-bought brown sugar is made this way: adding molasses to refined white sugar to create a soft, moist brown sugar. Light brown sugar at the store has around 3.5% molasses while dark brown sugar has around 6-7% molasses.
So to make the brown sugar from white sugar at home, you need to coat the sugar crystals with the molasses by mixing it using an electric hand mixer or stand mixer.
You can try hand mixing with a whisk but it's much more tedious and will take a lot longer to do.
When mixing, you'll see the molasses mixing into the sugar and some will turn into tiny sugar-coated clumps....you may think that it's time to stop, but don't. All the molasses will incorporate if you give it a little more time.
What can I use instead of molasses?
If you're looking for a molasses alternative a few great ideas are...
- Real Maple Syrup. Not the pancake stuff.
- Agave Nectar.
- Golden Syrup.
- Dark Corn Syrup.
All of these alternatives will give that moisture that brown sugar needs but will give you a different flavor than the brown sugar you're used to from the store since they aren't made with sugarcane. Although maple brown sugar sounds pretty damn good, honestly.
How to Store Brown Sugar
Store brown sugar in an airtight container. I really love Pop Containers for this since they suction the lids into the container, making it less likely for your brown sugar to harden.
For long-term storage you can vacuum seal the sugar into freezer-safe bags and store them into the freezer for 18 months.
You can also buy a brown sugar saver to keep in your container to keep your brown sugar soft.
How to Soften Hard Brown Sugar
So your brown sugar was left exposed, the moisture in it evaporated, it stiffened up and you can't scoop it out. No biggie.
To soften the brown sugar you can use a brown sugar saver and keep it in your container to soften the sugar back up.
If you need the sugar soft right now then follow these steps:
- Put your hard brown sugar in a microwave-safe bowl.
- Wet a paper towel big enough to cover the brown sugar, and wring it out so it's just damp without a lot of excess water.
- Microwave the brown sugar in 15 second increments on high power. Stir it with a fork the best you can and repeat a second time. By the second time, it should be soft enough to use.
You can also use this method to soften all of your hard brown sugar, not just the immediately needed amount. Make sure to put the softened brown sugar back into an airtight container.
Now that you have brown sugar...
Here are some recipes to use it in:
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How to Make Brown Sugar
Ingredients
Light Brown Sugar
- 1 cup white granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon unsulfured molasses
Dark Brown Sugar
- 1 cup white granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoon unsulfured molasses
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer with the or a large bowl with an electric hand mixer, mix the granulated sugar and molasses together on medium speed.
- Let mix thoroughly until the molasses is fully combined with the sugar, this shouldn't take more than about 3 minutes.
- Store in an airtight container.
Recipe Notes
Molasses Substitutes
If you're looking for a molasses alternative a few great ideas are...- Real Maple Syrup. Not the pancake stuff.
- Agave Nectar.
- Golden Syrup.
- Dark Corn Syrup.
How to Store Brown Sugar
Store brown sugar in an airtight container. I really love Pop Containers for this since they suction the lids into the container, making it less likely for your brown sugar to harden. For long-term storage you can vacuum seal the sugar into freezer-safe bags and store them into the freezer for 18 months. You can also buy a brown sugar saver to keep in your container to keep your brown sugar soft.How to Soften Hard Brown Sugar
- Put your hard brown sugar in a microwave-safe bowl.
- Wet a paper towel big enough to cover the brown sugar, and wring it out so it's just damp without a lot of excess water.
- Microwave the brown sugar in 15 second increments on high power. Stir it with a fork the best you can and repeat a second time. By the second time, it should be soft enough to use.
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