How To Soften Brown Sugar

0

81

PrintJump to Recipe

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, which means I may earn a commission if you click on the link and make a purchase.

This is a step-by-step, very easy guide on how to soften brown sugar. If you have found yourself with rock hard brown sugar, not to worry! This post will show you how to get it back to normal brown sugar that’ll be perfect for these Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies–a crowd favorite!

How to Soften Brown Sugar

The Dilemma of Hard Brown Sugar

Have you ever gone to your pantry wanting to make cookies and then realize that the brown sugar is totally hard and dried out? I recently was craving these Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies and it was such a bummer! Don’t worry because I realized this is a common problem and there are a few fast and easy solutions.

Hard brown sugar.

The Best Ways To Soften Brown Sugar:

  1. Use an apple – You can actually place a sliced apple into your brown sugar bin and the moisture from the apple should transfer to the brown sugar.
  2. Using clay tiles. They sell clay tiles specifically for keeping brown sugar moist. Most bakeries use these and they are very effective. But unfortunately it’s not always something easy and assesble.
  3. Microwaving the brown sugar. You can always add the brown sugar and a drop of water or two to a bowl. And then turn the microwave on high for 1 minute. This works like a charm. (I don’t own a microwave. I know, I know…)
  4. Bread – White sandwich bread works best for this but any bread will work. Add a slice of bread to the bin and all of the moisture from the bread will transfer to the brown sugar.

How to Soften Brown Sugar

My favorite method is with a piece of bread. It’s so simple and I usually have a piece of bread readily available to sacrifice to this endeavor.

  1. I added the blocks of brown sugar to a bowl. If you have a big container of brown sugar, you can simply skip this step and just add the slice of bread to the bin.
  2. Add the bread. Wrap the bowl tightly with plastic wrap. And wait. I like to give it at least four hours but ideally just leave it overnight.
  3. Unwrap and it and be stunned at the soft brown sugar.

Brown Sugar FAQs

Why Does Brown Sugar Go Hard?

First we have to discuss, what is brown sugar. Each granule of sugar is coated in a thin layer of molasses. That’s really what brown sugar is: brown sugar coated and mixed with a bit of molasses. When the sugar is fresh and moist, the molasses that coats it, slips against the other granules easily. When it looses its moisture, that molasses hardens.

Is Hard Brown Sugar Bad?

The good news with hard brown sugar is that it can easily be re-hydrated. Molasses can absorb moisture from either bread or a clay plate or water (see above) and then you can proceed to use it in whatever recipe or way you like.

Softened brown sugar.

Cookies That Call for Brown Sugar

If you tried this how-to on How to Soften Brown Sugar or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below. Thanks for visiting!

No ratings yet

How to Soften Brown Sugar

Prep: 3 minutes
Inactive Time: 6 hours
Total: 6 hours 3 minutes
Servings: 4
This is a step-by-step on the best option to soften brown sugar. There are various methods and ways to do this–all are easy and quick!

Ingredients 

  • 1 hard brown sugar

Different Options:

  • 1 slice bread, (white bread works great)
  • 1 sliced apple
  • 1 clay tile , (for brown sugar softening)

Instructions 

To Soften Brown Sugar:

  • Add the brown sugar to a large bowl (or if your brown sugar is stored in a big bin, you can just add the things to that) and place the apple or bread right on top. Wrap it tightly with plastic wrap and let it sit for at least 4 hours, ideally overnight.
  • When you wake up, you can unwrap the bowl and you'll be met with soft brown sugar.

Nutrition

Calories: 19kcal | Carbohydrates: 3g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 0.3g | Saturated Fat: 0.1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.04g | Trans Fat: 0.003g | Sodium: 33mg | Potassium: 10mg | Fiber: 0.3g | Sugar: 0.4g | Vitamin A: 0.3IU | Vitamin C: 0.03mg | Calcium: 9mg | Iron: 0.3mg

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

Additional Info

Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Like this Recipe? Please Rate & comment below!

Cozy Latin-Inspired Comfort Food Recipes

Hi! I'm Adrianna and this is my cozy space on the internet that is super-charged by butter, flour and copious amounts of pasta. Stay awhile, will you!

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Leave a rating!




81 Comments

  1. These are awesome tips. I actually use the microwave tip but the bread tip could be useful for me as well!

  2. i don’t own a microwave either so this bread trick is great! i will definitely try this next time i need to soften brown sugar.

  3. whoaaaa I feel like my whole world just got turned upside down! This is magic!! No more throwing away rock- hard brown sugar! Now I just need to learn how to fold a fitted sheet and I’ll be set for life.

      1. I just fold the corners into each other and fold them up. The best tip I ever learned was to put both sheets and 1 pillow case into the 2nd pillow case. Whenever I’m changing the bed, everything is together, and I don’t have to scavenge through the linen closet for that lost pillow case. I know everything in that case will fit my bed. This has saved me SO much time, and that closet is the tidiest place in the house. Yes, I need help in the pantry AND my closet! Thanks for the reminder of the brown sugar. You’re right. Stores should sell just a couple pieces of white bread. I’d hate to waste my homemade bread!

      2. Both sheets and 1 pillow case into the other pillow case!? Genius! My linen closet thanks you!

  4. Get OUT. I had no idea you could do this. I needed this tip Saturday night. But instead I just grumpily crumbled the sugar in my hands for 15 thousand hours.

  5. I’d love to see your tips on how your organized your pantry. It’s something that I’ve been working on as well – but have been held back by what size container to buy for certain ingredients.

    1. I was thinking of doing this. I’ve scoured the internets for containers and don’t have all of them collected but I’ll post this after I’m done. Thanks!