How To Make Brown Sugar at Home

If you want the best tasting brown sugar ever, try making it yourself. Have you ever wondered how to make brown sugar? Homemade brown sugar is so simple to make, and tastes way better than store bought. It is moist, fluffy, and adds so much depth and flavor to your baked goods as compared to store bought. Whether you need light or dark brown sugar, try your hand at making some today!

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Have you ever started to bake some cookies (like browned butter chocolate chip cookies) only to realize that you are out of brown sugar? You don’t want to run to the store, but also know you can’t just use granulated sugar in it’s place. Don’t worry we have all been there, but as long as you have molasses and granulated sugar you are all set! Follow along to see how to make it at home.

Ingredients to Make Brown Sugar

• granulated sugar: aka white sugar
• unsulfured molasses: I use Grandma’s Molasses. You know, the one in a jar with the yellow label

How to Make Brown Sugar

It is so easy. I am giving you measurements, but after doing a few times it is totally fine to just eyeball it. You can always add more sugar or more molasses to get it to the consistency you like it.

Pour molasses into sugar

For every one cup of sugar add about 1-2 tablespoons for light brown sugar, or 3-4 tablespoons for dark brown sugar.

Mix it up

Mix the sugar and molasses until it is all the molasses is evenly distributed.

What is the purpose of the molasses in brown sugar?

• Molasses helps give baked goods caramel-ish taste. It is also what makes brown sugar brown.
• Molasses is also hygroscopic, which means it retrains moisture. This helps keep cookies chewy. White sugar is also hygroscopic (but not as much as molasses), so when they are combined it helps to retain moisture.
• Sometime soon I hope to do a cookie comparison of cookies made with different types of sugar. Be on the lookout.

Frequently asked Questions

How do I store homemade brown sugar?

I currently store my homemade brown sugar in a plastic container with a locking lid (like this Oggi one). I have a set of them, and have had them since we got married (almost 18 years ago). I do want to switch to glass storage (trying to get away from all the plastic), but haven’t taken the plunge yet.

Can I substitute this for store bought brown sugar?

Absolutely! And dare I say, your baked goods will taste way better. In fact, I remember making making a batch of my chocolate chip cookies using homemade brown sugar. When my family tried them they noticed the difference and loved it!

Why did my brown sugar get hard?

Air will dry out any type of brown sugar, store bought or homemade. The water present in molasses starts to evaporate when exposed to air. As the air evaporates the molasses causes the sugar to stick and clump together. This is why storing it in an airtight container is important. I have heard of some people storing it with a slice of bread or a terra cotta brown sugar saver, but I have never had to do that.