Learn how to make brown sugar with this simple recipe. It uses two ingredients and will save you a trip to the store when you run out. Check out my recipe below and learn how to make light or brown sugar.
Have you ever had a spontaneous idea about making someone a cake? Or, maybe you wanted to bake cookies but realized you don’t have brown sugar? On Veterans Day, we set out to make my father one of his favorite cakes. Spice cake. The only ingredient that we didn’t have was brown sugar. Thankfully, making it is one of the easiest recipes you will ever follow. It is one of the handiest recipes to have in your recipe box.
Light Brown Sugar Vs. Dark Brown Sugar
The difference between light and dark brown sugar comes down to flavor, acidity and moisture. Dark brown sugar contains more molasses and so has more moisture and will harbor a stronger flavor in your recipe. While light brown sugar has less molasses which will lead to a more milder molasses flavor.
Ingredients
- Sugar: White sugar is the base of this recipe
- Unsulphured Molasses: Molasses is what gives brown sugar its brown color and its flavor
How to Make Brown Sugar
No professional bakers needed. Just simply add your molasses into your sugar.
- Combine the sugar and the molasses in a bowl using a fork or spatula. If you want to get the job done in record time, sometimes I use a food processor.
The end result, fresh brown sugar, that is ready to use for baking or cooking.
The Magic formula
What is the magic formula? For light brown sugar, use 1:1 ratio, for dark brown sugar use a 1:2 ratio.
Light Brown Sugar
1 Cup Sugar
1 Tablespoon Molasses
Dark Brown Sugar
1 Cup Sugar
2 Tablespoons Molasses
Q & A
How should this be stored?
This can be stored in a zip baggie, with all of the air pressed out. It should Keep for quite some time if you compress the air out. I have found that storing it in a glass airtight container (like these) makes it last the longest. I made this recipe over a month ago, it is still soft as the day I made it.
What do I do to re-constitute hardened brown sugar?
No problem! Have you ever had crunchy cookies that should be soft? Use this trick for that too. Take a slice of bread and put it into your bag for a few hours. The moisture from the bread will go back into the sugar making it nice and soft again. (Same as it does for cookies, try it out!)
Can I use backstrap molasses?
Yes and no. You can use blackstrap molasses. But before you do be aware that the flavor of blackstrap molasses is much stronger and potent than regular molasses. Blackstrap molasses comes from boiling molasses in a third boil concentrating it. It leads to a bitter flavor. It will not taste very good in your cookies. For making this recipe, stick to regular molasses.
How to make Brown Sugar
Ingredients
- 1 Cup Granulated Sugar
- 1 Tbs. Unsulphured molasses 2 Tbs. molasses for dark brown sugar
Instructions
- Add the sugar and molasses to a mixing bowl or food processor
- Using a fork or spatula combine the molasses and sugar until it is well combined
- Mash the small bits of molasses on the side of your bowl. Having a few will not affect the quality of your recipe, just get out as much as you can.
- Store in a zip bag with all the air compressed out of it.
Check out other recipes!
Thanksgiving Shepherd’s Pie
Chocolate Marshmallow cookies
