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Discover the simple method of making your own brown sugar at home with just two ingredients. Whether you need light or dark brown sugar, this guide shows you how to customize the sweetness and color to suit your baking needs.

Homemade brown sugar in a bowl, ready to serve.

Quick and Easy Homemade Brown Sugar Recipe

Making brown sugar is surprisingly straightforward and requires only granulated white sugar and molasses. This DIY approach allows you to create freshly made brown sugar that’s perfect for your cooking and baking recipes.

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Ingredients for Homemade Brown Sugar

  • Granulated White Sugar: The base of your brown sugar.
  • Molasses: Adds moisture, color, and flavor. Use 1 tablespoon for light brown sugar or 2 tablespoons for dark brown sugar.
Molasses and granulated white sugar to make brown sugar.

How to Make Brown Sugar

STEP 1: Combine Ingredients: Place the granulated sugar into a mixing bowl.

STEP 2: Add Molasses: For light brown sugar, add 1 tablespoon of molasses. For darker sugar, start with 2 tablespoons. You can adjust by adding more if needed.

Molasses ready to be poured into a bowl of white sugar.

STEP 3: Mix: Using a spatula, blend the molasses and sugar together. Make sure to break up any clumps of molasses and mix until the color is completely uniform throughout the sugar. The spatula is useful for pressing the molasses into the sugar to ensure it’s well incorporated.

Spatula being used to blend sugar and molasses into brown sugar.

STEP 4: Adjust Color and Flavor: If you desire a darker brown sugar, simply add more molasses a little at a time and continue mixing until you achieve the desired richness.

Brown sugar in a mixing bowl made out of granulated white sugar and molasses.

Tips for Making the Best Homemade Brown Sugar

  • Storage: Store your homemade brown sugar in an airtight container to keep it soft and moist. If it hardens over time, you can soften it by adding a slice of apple or bread to the container for a few hours.
  • Consistency: For a finer consistency, you can use a fork or an electric mixer to blend the sugar and molasses more thoroughly.
  • Usage: Use your homemade brown sugar just as store-bought brown sugar in any recipe, including baked goods, sauces, and marinades.

Homemade Brown Sugar Variations

  • Flavor Twists: Experiment with different types of molasses, such as blackstrap for a stronger flavor or golden syrup for a lighter taste.
Bowl of brown sugar on a white table.

FAQs for Making Brown Sugar

Can I use a food processor to make brown sugar?

Yes, a food processor can speed up the process and ensure that the molasses is evenly distributed throughout the sugar. Just pulse a few times until the mixture is uniform.

How long can I store homemade brown sugar?

Homemade brown sugar can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for several months. Ensure it’s well sealed to prevent hardening.

What’s the difference between light and dark brown sugar?

The difference lies in the amount of molasses added. Light brown sugar has less molasses, resulting in a milder flavor and lighter color, while dark brown sugar, with more molasses, has a richer color and stronger, more intense flavor.

Brown sugar on a spoon, ready to serve.

This simple method for making brown sugar not only saves a trip to the store but also adds a personal touch to your kitchen creations, allowing you to control the quality and flavor of a key ingredient in your culinary arsenal.

More Easy Recipes

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Homemade brown sugar in a mixing bowl, ready to serve.
5 from 1 vote
Servings: 16

Homemade Brown Sugar

By JENNIFER GAMBLE
Make brown sugar at home with just two ingredients. Whether you need light or dark brown sugar, this guide shows you how to customize the sweetness and color to suit your baking needs.
Prep: 5 minutes
Total: 5 minutes
Save This Recipe!
Get this sent to your inbox, plus get new recipes from us every week!
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Ingredients 

  • 1 cup granulated white sugar
  • 1 Tablespoon molasses, use two tablespoons for darker sugar

Instructions 

  • Combine Ingredients: Place the 1 cup granulated white sugar into a mixing bowl.
  • Add 1 Tablespoon molasses: For light brown sugar, add 1 tablespoon of molasses. For darker sugar, start with 2 tablespoons. You can adjust by adding more if needed.
  • Mix: Using a spatula, blend the molasses and sugar together. Make sure to break up any clumps of molasses and mix until the color is completely uniform throughout the sugar. The spatula is useful for pressing the molasses into the sugar to ensure it’s well incorporated.
  • Adjust Color and Flavor: If you desire a darker brown sugar, simply add more molasses a little at a time and continue mixing until you achieve the desired richness.

Notes

Yield: ABout 16 Tablespoons
Store your homemade brown sugar in an airtight container to keep it soft and moist. If it hardens over time, you can soften it by adding a slice of apple or bread to the container for a few hours.
Use your homemade brown sugar just as store-bought brown sugar in any recipe, including baked goods, sauces, and marinades.

Nutrition

Serving: 1Tbsp, Calories: 52kcal, Carbohydrates: 13g, Fat: 0.04g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.001g, Monounsaturated Fat: 0.001g, Sodium: 1mg, Potassium: 19mg, Sugar: 13g, Calcium: 3mg, Iron: 0.1mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Like this? Leave a comment below!

JENNIFER GAMBLE

Hello! Iโ€™m Jennifer, but you can call me Jen. Iโ€™m a wife and mom, cook, recipe developer, nutrition coach, and food photographer.

With a formal certification in nutrition and over a decade of hands-on experience in the online food industry, I bring a well-rounded perspective to all of the recipes here on Simply Macros.

As the creator and author, I ensure that every recipe not only looks visually appealing but is also grounded in sound nutritional principles.

I hope you enjoy these recipes as much as I enjoyed creating them.

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1 Comment

  1. JENNIFER GAMBLE says:

    5 stars
    Making homemade brown sugar has never been easier! Love this simple recipe.