Kitchen Tip: Homemade Brown Sugar

April 29, 2012 • Kitchen Tips, Recipes, Resources

Homemade Brown Sugar via Alaska from Scratch

Have you ever run out of brown sugar for a recipe? I made this fluffy, golden brown sugar at home in just about 5 minutes. All you need is white sugar, molasses, and an electric or stand mixer. It’s so easy, it’s almost effortless.

I get so excited about simple little things like this, the from scratch kitchen secrets that have been lost somewhere along the way. There’s something so pure and honest about it, almost nostalgic, except I’ve never in my life known a time when brown sugar didn’t come processed and packaged in a bag. Yet here we are, where homemade brown sugar feels like such an accomplishment, a revelation even. Sometimes it’s a triumph to go back to basics.

I immediately put my fresh brown sugar to the test with these delightfully chewy Ginger Brown Sugar Cookies. Never fear, they came out perfectly.

Kitchen Tip: Homemade Brown Sugar

Adapted from Martha Stewart

Yields: 2 cups

  • 2c sugar
  • 4T molasses

Pour sugar and molasses into a mixing bowl. Mix (I used a paddle attachment) on medium-low speed for about 1 minute. The mixture will be crumbly at this point. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl.

Increase the speed to medium-high and continue to mix until the sugar is all one beautiful golden brown color and there are no more chunks of molasses. The more you mix it, the more air gets into it and the fluffier it will become. Mine took 3-4 minutes total.

Store your brown sugar in a sealable bag or an airtight container. Use as you would store bought brown sugar.