I don’t know about you, but brown sugar is even more of a staple in my house than white sugar. I use brown sugar almost every time I reach for a sweetener when baking. It provides a rich flavor for baked goods and I love it.
I don’t even remember the last time I ran out of brown sugar, it has been years. I buy several bags of it at a time and replace them long before I’m about to run out.
However, last week, when I was working on a couple of new recipes, I ran out of both light and dark brown sugar. Thanks to these pineapple bars, their gluten free counterpart (coming soon!) and another new recipe I’ll be posting later this week.
I managed to burn through a whole lot of sugar. (Side note: I’m a wee bit sugared out now!) Luckily, I remembered a trick for adding molasses to white sugar and making brown sugar at home.
I decided to try making my own this time instead of going to the store. With just a tablespoon of molasses, boring white sugar is transformed into moist, rich, brown sugar and it tastes and works exactly like the store-bought brown sugar.
The homemade brown sugar is slightly more fragrant than store-bought, but that is the only difference I could tell.
Because I am a total nerd, I wanted to know if I was saving money. I figured out that I can buy a bottle of molasses for $6 and (3) 10 lb bags of white sugar for $14, making the total cost around $20 for 30 lbs of homemade brown sugar.
Brown sugar typically runs about $2.20 for a 2 lb bag, for a total cost around $33 for 30 lbs of brown sugar. So, yes, it is cheaper to make your own brown sugar. Will I do it again? Sure, but I’ll keep buying it from the store as well.
This is a handy tip worth remembering and well-worth the price of a bottle of molasses, just to keep it on hand for those times when you run out of brown sugar in the middle of a baking project.
Kitchen Tips: Make Your Own Brown Sugar
Ingredients
- 1 cup white sugar
- 1 tablespoon molasses
Instructions
- Combine the sugar and molasses in a mixing bowl and then mix with a whisk beater attachment (a fork will work as well, it just might take a little longer) until it combines. Initially, it won't look like it's going to work, but it will. When it is light and fluffy, it is done. If there are a few little spots of molasses in the mix in the end, that is fine. Store in an airtight container. Enjoy!
- Ingredients can be doubled or tripled easily.
