This post may contain affiliate links. If you make a purchase through links on our site, we may earn a commission.
Learn How to Make Brown Sugar from scratch with only 2 simple ingredients. Never run out of brown sugar with this easy recipe to make it at home.
I always try to have my pantry stocked with simple ingredients. This makes it easy to prepare my favorite dessert recipes without running out of ingredients. If I do run run out of brown sugar, this recipe allows me to never run out of brown sugar.
We love the caramel flavor that brown sugar gives to my favorite cookies, baked breads or delicious brown sugar chicken. Make sure to check out these Brown Sugar Substitutes if you need even more ideas.
What's in this post: How to Make Brown Sugar
Can you Turn Regular Sugar into Brown Sugar?
Yes and you only need 2 ingredients, sugar and molasses. My chocolate chip cookies turned out delicious and I never had to make a trip to the store to get any. Making brown sugar at home is even easier with this simple recipe.
Keep reading to see just how simple and easy this is.
Ingredients
- White Granulated Sugar
- Molasses
Substitutions:
- Sugar Substitute – This brown sugar recipe works best with white sugar, but you can substitute if you prefer. You can use turbinado, raw sugar, or demerara. These substitutes are best for a crunchy topping and not for baking since it won’t dissolve as well as regular sugar. Coconut Sugar works too, but it is drier than white sugar so just add a tablespoon of butter and combine together.
- Molasses Substitute – When making brown sugar we recommend using light molasses or dark molasses. Fancy molasses or carob molasses will not give you the same results but can be used. We do not recommend using honey, pure maple syrup or agave nectar because the flavor may not be as deep as the molasses.
How to Make Brown Sugar
- Step 1 – In a small mixing bowl, mix together sugar and tablespoon of molasses.
- Step 2 – You can combine with a spatula, food processor, stand mixer or a hand mixer. This recipe makes a delicious light brown sugar.
Recipe Tips:
- Clumps in Mixture – Small clumps may appear as your mixing the molasses and the sugar together. If this happens, press the lumps against the mixing bowl to flatten them. Continue to mix the two ingredients until no clumps appear and the perfect texture.
- Measuring Brown Sugar – When your recipe calls for brown sugar, it is important to measure accurately. You will firmly measure the brown sugar into the measuring cup and level the top before adding into your baked goods.
How to Make Brown Sugar Soft?
To prevent this sugar from getting too hard, add a large marshmallow to your container. The marshmallow will dry out, not your sugar.
You can also put a slice of bread in the container to keep it soft and fluffy or a damp paper towel. This simple trick works great and the sugar will always be soft to use in your recipes.
Why Did My Brown Sugar Become Hard?
The main reason that brown sugar gets hard is because of air. When storing the prepared brown sugar, make sure the air has been removed.
If stored in an airtight container, you may need to place a plastic wrap on top to prevent keep the brown sugar from hardening.
Frequently Asked Questions:
Yes, if you run out of store bought brown sugar, you can easily make your own. It is then ready to use in many different baking recipes.
Store the leftover brown sugar in an airtight container. You can even store in a ziploc bag with the air squeezed out of it.
The main difference is that dark brown sugar with a bolder molasses taste and it is darker in color. If adding a larger amount of molasses it will also become darker in color.
Recipes to Use Brown Sugar:
We love hearing from you. If you make Homemade Brown Sugar Recipe, please leave us a comment or a star review.
How to Make Brown Sugar
Ingredients
- 1 cup granulated white sugar
- 1 tablespoon molasses
Instructions
- In a small mixing bowl, mix together sugar and molasses. Continue to mix until the molasses is completely incorporated into the sugar. This will take 2-3 minutes.
- If you need dark brown sugar, add another tablespoon (2 total) to the sugar.
- Use and store as you would the store bought brown sugar.
Every since I found this recipe on Pinterest, I have been making my own brown sugar. I highly recommend it
That is awesome! So glad! Thank you for taking the time to comment and rate the recipe.
Can’t believe how easy it is to make homemade brown sugar! I needed golden sugar so I used half a tablespoon and it turned out fantastic! I’m never buying it again
Baking cookies just isn’t the same without brown sugar. Needed some in a pinch, found this and I’m in heaven; I’ll never be without brown sugar again !!! Thank you for sharing this ?????
Tastes just like what I buy!
Fantastic I’m going try this tomorrow
Great! Let us know what you think. Thank you!
Love this it’s super easy and haven’t thought of making brown sugar before
The kids love it too!
Such a crazy easy recipe – good to know how to make in a pinch!
My problem is usually that my brown sugar has gotten rock hard. I currently don’t have any brown sugar in the cabinet, so when I saw this post I was so excited, until I realized that it requires molasses, something I definitely don’t stock in my cabinet. HOWEVER – I’m going to get some molasses so I can make my own brown sugar in smaller batches. That way it doesn’t get hard!
Great idea Cheryl!! Plus, just so you know, keep a marshmallow in with your brown sugar and it won’t get hard. 😉