Homemade Brown Sugar
Erica Lea on Feb 15th 2010
Brown sugar is such a lovely ingredient. Yet it is just as processed as regular sugar. So I decided to attempt to make my own, using ground natural sugar and molasses. Â This article/video from Martha Stewart was very helpful.
Admittedly, my sugar was much different than commercial brown sugar. But I think it is a very nice alternative.
Would you like to try it for yourself? Here’s what you’ll need:
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Ingredients:
For light brown sugar:
- 1 cup ground natural sugar or 1 cup granulated white sugar
- 1 1/2 tablespoons molasses
For Dark Brown Sugar:
- 1 cup ground natural sugar or 1 cup granulated white sugar
- 1/4 cup molasses
Directions:
Place the sugar & molasses in a blender or food processor. Mix until fully combined. Store in an airtight container, with a slice of apple or bread to keep soft.
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Filed in Homemade, Kitchen Tips
LOVE this idea!!
apparently a marshmallow is also a trick for keeping it soft. i like that idea much better — an excuse to buy marshmallows =)
definitely will try this next time i run out of brown sugar (which happens frequently)… why do we never seem to run out of molasses, though? =)
We’ve done this the last couple times we baked. Somehow we can’t remember that we’re out of brown sugar! Great idea on the marshmallow.
I’ve seen this recipe before, but I still haven’t made this. Your brown sugar looks lovely.
Greetings from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia!
Hello, Erica Lea! I’m so glad to have stumbled upon your blog somehow, which I now can’t seem to recall how this happened.
Reading your blog makes me feel closer to back to northern Minnesota. I spent the last 2 years and 8 months of my life in Bemidji to pursue my undergrad education at Bemidji State University. I simply miss Minnesota Nice! The only I dreaded was the harsh winter up there. Haha! And I still don’t like it. Minnesota is such a beautiful place, with the friendliest people I’ve ever known, including my American family and best friend. Hope to revisit there someday as I’ve long considered Minnesota my second home on Earth.
As for the brown sugar, your post is definitely a helpful one. I started baking and cooking back in Bemidji. “U.S.-type brown sugar” is one of those ingredients I’ve been having hard time sourcing in Malaysia, alongside butterscotch and peanut butter chips, unsweetened baking chocolate (Baker’s) and so much more. It even took me some effort just to find molasses, especially blackstrap molasses. I believe the brown sugar we have here is what the Brits would call golden caster sugar, which is dried, i.e. not as moist and soft as the one I’d come to know of in the States. So, what I’ve been doing is adding more molasses (Brer Rabbit brand, mild or full flavor) to organic molasses sugar. I’m trying my best to “reproduce” the type of moist brown sugar I once knew. After returning home, I only came to know that brown sugar can vary depending where you’re! Fascinating!
Keep up with the good work! Will definitely come back for more.