Name: Homemade Brown Sugar
Prep time: 5 min
Total time: 5 min
Yield: 3
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 2 1/2 cups white granulated sugar; 2 Tbsp molasses or 4 Tbsp for dark brown sugar

Here’s A Great Tip That Can Save You A Trip To The Store

Would you be surprised to know you can make homemade brown sugar? We have all experienced that frustrating moment when we are well into a recipe and realize we are out of a key ingredient. Who wants to drop everything and run to the store for just one thing?

Great news! You can easily make homemade brown sugar with two ingredients that will rival anything in the grocery store! Brown sugar is nothing more than white granulated sugar with molasses added. I’m almost embarrassed to have had this many birthdays before I learned how!

Molasses made from sugar cane gives brown sugar its color and moisture. Light brown sugar has about half the molasses in dark brown sugar. You can whip up homemade brown sugar in about five minutes using a mixer, food processor, or even a plastic zipper bag.

Brown sugar acts differently than white sugar when you use it in cooking or baking. It is often used in recipes for the flavor and moistness it adds to baked goods. It generally makes baked goods softer and moister. The molasses in brown sugar also helps prevent cookies and cakes from drying out as quickly.

Brown sugar adds a layer of caramelly flavor, and when you use it in a sauce, it creates a beautiful glaze. It is excellent on meats like pork and chicken.

When you make your own homemade brown sugar, you also save a ton of money! Molasses lasts forever in your cupboard, and you can make over twenty pounds of homemade brown sugar from one bottle!

Here Is How To Turn White Granulated Sugar Into Golden Brown Sugar

I used my Cuisinart food processor to make homemade brown sugar for the first time, and it worked beautifully. Scrape the sides and bottom of the container a time or two, and the brown sugar forms almost miraculously.

If you don’t have a food processor, you can use a stand or hand mixer to do the job! If you don’t have a mixer, put the molasses and sugar in a zipper bag and massage it until the two ingredients are well blended. This can be very therapeutic! Have the kids help; they’ll probably think it’s fun!

I was surprised at how identical the product feels and tastes compared to what I buy in a bag at the grocery store! I also realized why it is so important to pack brown sugar in the cup when you measure it because the molasses increases the volume of the sugar significantly.

It’s very important to put your newly made brown sugar into an airtight container for storage because brown sugar can dry out easily. If you keep a big marshmallow or two in with the brown sugar, they will dry out, and the sugar will stay soft. A slice of fresh bread serves the same purpose.

What if the brown sugar drys out? Put it in a microwave-safe bowl, cover it with a damp paper towel, and zap it in the microwave in twenty-second intervals, stirring in between, and the sugar will soften up.

What If I Don’t Have Molasses To Make Homemade Brown Sugar

That’s a fair question. You can use pancake syrup, maple syrup, or agave syrup. The flavor will be a little different, and the color will be lighter, but it will have the added moisture brown sugar would add to your recipes.