Let’s talk recipe ingredients today, shall we?
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been in the kitchen, baking up a storm, when I have gone over to my pantry and reached for the brown sugar, only to come up short. I blame it on my {somewhat} obvious habit of poor planning. But seeing as how my brown sugar typically lives on the top shelf in my pantry, it can’t help but happen to a girl sometimes, right?
After a few times of mid-recipe runs to the grocery store, I decided that there had to be an easier way to overcome this problem. I always, always have turbinado sugar on hand…”there has to be a way you can create your own brown sugar!” – I was mumbling this to myself, over and over. After settling in at my desk with a cup of coffee, I began to click away.
And then I saw it – homemade brown sugar.
Eagerly scanning the page, I couldn’t help but think how easy this would be! A simple combination of two ingredients and a food processor {I imagine you could use two forks, or a mixing spoon if you don’t have one}, a few minutes of your time and – BOOM – done. Fresh, simple and perfect brown sugar ready whenever you need it.
Since finding this magical combination, I haven’t batted an eye about buying brown sugar from the grocery store. Light or dark, this recipe has you covered. Simply adjust the amount of molasses according to your recipe (less yields a lighter brown sugar, and more will produce a darker brown sugar), and taste as you go to make sure you’ve got it how you need.
This is truly a fool-proof recipe. Once you try it, you’ll never go back.
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Brown Sugar
{recipe is adaptable to any quantity needed; this will yield you one cup}
Ingredients:
1 C. sugar {I prefer using turbinado sugar}
2-4 tsp. molasses {the amount used will result in either light or dark brown sugar}*
To prepare:
Pour your sugar into the bottom of a food processor, fitted with the standard blade. Drizzle the desired amount of molasses onto the top of the sugar. Process until the two ingredients merry; you will know this has happened when the molasses has been fully integrated into the sugar. Reach into the bowl {power off!} and pinch a small amount together with your thumb and forefinger – if it’s sticky and holds together, you’re done!
*depending on the recipe you’re making brown sugar for, you can adjust the amount of molasses added into the sugar as you need to. A light brown sugar will require the lower end amount of molasses, whereas the higher amount will yield you a dark brown sugar. If you plan on making both light and dark brown sugar for a recipe, simply add in the total amount of sugar needed for both sugars, and start with the lesser amount. Once you’ve reached the light brown stage, pull out the required amount of light brown sugar and continue adding the molasses until your dark brown sugar is completed.
Sometimes I come up short too! Or I come up with a hardened brick of brown sugar! Either way, It’s so good to know you can do this!! I never did before!
It’s amazing what a few simple pantry staples can do! This is probably one of my favorite tricks :) glad you enjoyed it, Susan!
This is so amazing – and I don’t know why I didn’t think about trying this myself!
Thanks Laura! It’s such a great solution for those “baking and you’re in a pinch” moment! – I do that way to often ;)
This will be a life saver some day! Thanks for sharing it! :)
You are so welcome Nancy!