DIY – How to make Brown Sugar at home
In my kitchen I am very much trying to adopt a single ingredient shop, this means that I like to buy single ingredients that can be used in a variety of ways, this way I don’t have to keep as much of an inventory or as many different storage containers, making my own brown sugar means that I only buy one type of sugar – raw is my choice, and molasses, both of which I use in many different singular ways, so read on, or jump to the recipe to see how to make brown sugar at home.
Why make your own brown sugar at home ?
Realistically, there is no need for brown sugar, purely only a desire for that flavour, the addition of molasses into the raw sugar just adds a depth of flavour that I really like, but I do love it for things like crumble toppings, or for in like my apple cinnamon self saucing pudding as an example, that wouldn’t work as well without blending the molasses with the sugar because you want it nice and evenly distributed.
Now, if I was cooking something where all the sugar was just going in with other wet ingredients, I’d just use my raw sugar and drizzle a little molasses in the recipe, no need for the added steps.
Tips and ideas
Mixing
I have a Thermomix, so that is what I use for mixing my brown sugar, but a Kitchenaid works well also, and realistically even a whisk and a bowl, in fact even a fork and a bowl, it just takes a bit of elbow grease.
It can take a bit for the molasses to spread uniformly through the sugar crystals, which is why a food processor, Thermomix or Kitchenaid can make it a quicker process.
Molasses ratios
The more molasses you add, the darker your sugar will be! Some people like their brown sugar to be light, some dark, I am a little bit of a measure with your heart kinda a gal, and my brown sugar is never the same twice, but there is always times when darker sugar is more preferred, remember too though, that by adding molasses to your sugar, which is already moisture adding, you are adding more moisture to whatever you are baking, sometimes this is a good thing! sometimes, not so much.
Storage
Once you have mixed up your brown sugar, just store it the same way as you were storing the sugar before you added the molasses. Molasses is shelf stable just like the sugar, sometimes it will get a bit hard in your jar (not in this house though, we go through it far too quickly) and if it does there’s a few tricks out there, you can use a terracotta brown sugar keeper or some people swear by a piece of bread in the jar, but in the end, making smaller amounts up to use is easier than keeping too large a quantity, and as I said, you can always just add raw sugar and a drizzle of molasses to the dish you are making as an alternative if the recipe allows for it!
Homemade Brown Sugar
Ingredients
- 3 cups Sugar of choice
- 3 Tbsp Molasses or to taste
Instructions
- Place your sugar of choice* into your vessel, a food processor, Thermomix, Kitchenaid or stand mixer or just a plain bowl3 cups Sugar
- Add your molasses to the top, try not to get it on the blades if you are using a food processor/Thermomix.3 Tbsp Molasses
- Mix on speed 4 in your Thermomix or equivalent**, and keep going until the molasses is evenly distributed through the sugar grains.