Do you make your own brown sugar?? I do! My cookies, cinnamon rolls, oatmeal, and pretty much everything else that requires brown sugar, turns out much better with the home-made browns sugar. It also stores well. I have been making my own for a couple of years now, and from my personal experience, it has never gotten hard. It stays moist, unlike the store bought stuff.
The best part is how easy this stuff is to make. Who would have known? All you need is white sugar, molasses, and… umm… wait are those really the only ingredients? Yes they are! A mixer of some sort does make things a whole lot easier though, so I will add that to the list of things needed.
Homemade Brown Sugar
(1) 5 lb bag of granulated white sugar
(1) 12 oz. jar of Molasses
Directions: Take a large mixing bowl and add your sugar. While on a low speed add half a bottle of molasses. {The more molasses you add the darker the brown sugar. If you like the flavor of light brown sugar better, then don’t add as much molasses.}
Let the mixer go for 5 minutes, turn it off and scrape the sides of the bowl. If you like a darker brown sugar, this would be the time to add more. I usually add all my molasses to my sugar, but it all depends on your preference.
Continue Mixing and scraping until it’s well blended and looks the way brown sugar is supposed to look. Then go make some dessert… you know you want to!
Elizabeth says
August 23, 2014 at 8:55 amThis doesn’t seem like it would be more cost effective than just buying the brown sugar. Molasses is expensive. And as mentioned before, you are basically adding what was taken out. I think it would be good for when you’re in a pinch, but that’s it.
Kris G. says
July 2, 2013 at 5:47 amI’m really excited about this because we are moving to Central America to work at a children’s home. Their brown sugar is nothing like ours (dry). It should be much easier to pack some molasses than to pack a supply of brown sugar. Thank you for the tip.
JMZ says
December 29, 2012 at 9:31 pmSo many people I’ve told about making your own brown sugar.
Husband of the lady I shared it with, said, “What did you do to these Chocolate Chip cookies? There are the best you’ve ever made!” Funny, all she did was just make up some homemade brown sugar and used it in the recipe. She said, she is going to do that from now on.
jan says
August 18, 2012 at 6:50 amI am excited about trying this! I would think this would be healthier, or just as healthy as regular brown sugar, because even though the white sugar has the nutrients stripped, the molasses does not, so you are adding vitamins and minerals back in. Either way, it is a great “helpful hint” for when you are out of brown sugar.
Lori says
March 28, 2012 at 8:10 pmThanks for the idea, Karrie! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve opened my cabinet to make cookies (usually late at night, to be delivered the next day!) and have discovered that I was out or almost out of brown sugar. (Where DOES that stuff go??) This is a great way to get out of a pinch!
One of your readers posted about a bread slice in with their brown sugar to keep it moist, which is what I have done for the longest time, but I sometimes end up with crumbs in the sugar. I haven’t tried it yet, but I read on Pinterest that you can put marshmallows in with brown sugar to help it stay moist. I just thought I’d pass the idea along for your readers. Thanks again!
Jan says
April 3, 2012 at 12:40 pmOne very quick way to moisten up a container of dried brown sugar is to add a slice or two of peeled apple to it. In a few hours it is moist and usable. I imagine it would mold if left in the container longer than a day or so.
Karrie says
March 15, 2012 at 7:26 pmYes, Constanca, I do realize that it is not natural brown sugar. Thanks so much for pointing that out so nicely. 🙂
I didn’t realize that sugar in the first place was “healthy”. I am pretty sure that whether you are using brown or white sugar you are still ruining your teeth and eating items that aren’t good for your body. Just sayin’….
All I can tell you is that my baked goods come out wonderful using this method, and if anyone is out of brown sugar at home, but have white this is a wonderful quick way to substitute.
Matt says
March 19, 2014 at 7:28 amI wounder if you couldn’t get the same taste to your baked goods by adding a little extra molasses to the store bought brown sugar? I’m just playing the devils advocate and saying that you may be adding more molasses back in than would normally be taken out to make a 5lb bag of sugar. Also even though sugar is generally considered bad, brown sugar is usually considered less bad since it isn’t processed as much.