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Learn how to make brown sugar in under five minutes, with only two ingredients. Make this brown sugar recipe at home, and never run out of this crucial baking ingredient again.
Homemade brown sugar is so much easier to make than you think. Make it at home and impress your friends! Or at the very least, you’ll impress yourself.
First things first, this recipe is EASY. And it is so simple to adapt to meet your baking needs. It’s totally fine to experiment with measurements to make it how you like it. You cannot break this recipe!
We go through a lot of brown sugar because they are a key ingredient in something I make a lot – my recipe for whole wheat chocolate chip cookies.
It’s also amazing in these pecan rolls, brown sugar banana bread, and of course, overnight cinnamon rolls.
What Ingredients Are in Homemade Brown Sugar?
- Sugar
- Molasses
Yep, that’s it!
The best kind of sugar is what you have on hand! Muscovado and coconut sugar already have that brown sugar flavor, so will need just a touch of molasses to really get it to that brown sugar level. If you want to use an alternative sweetener like Splenda or monkfruit, follow the same measurements as regular sugar.
What kind of Molasses Should I Use to Make Brown Sugar?
Light molasses will result in a lighter sugar. You may need to use a bit more to get the sugar exactly how you’d like it.
Dark molasses is a great “medium” molasses to use in this recipe. And lastly, blackstrap molasses will produce the darkest brown sugar, but start with a light hand with it as it can become bitter if overused.
How Do You Make Brown Sugar Without Molasses?
If molasses isn’t something you can get your hands on, treacle will also work. Treacle is not a common ingredient in the states, so my US readers will probably only know of it from Harry Potter. 🙂
Pro Tips/Recipe Notes
- Homemade brown sugar lasts as long as storebought.
- If you need to soften up some cakey brown sugar, place a few slices of apple in the jar and wait an hour. A soft piece of bread works as well.
- If you don’t have a stand mixer, you can use a hand mixer, food processor (though only on the pulse function or you’ll end up with powdered brown sugar!), or even two forks or a pastry cutter and a lot of patience.
Homemade Brown Sugar
Equipment
Instructions
- Combine ingredients in a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment.1 cup sugar, 2.5 tsp molasses
- Mix on low for two minutes, scrape the sides, and mix for another two minutes.
- Transfer to an air-tight container and store just as you would normal brown sugar.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I always turn to this in a pinch when I’m out of brown sugar.
So glad it has been helpful Elizabeth!
McFrugalpants never lets me down! This was super easy to put together. I will never buy brown sugar again!
You’re awesome Erin! Welcome to a whole new world.
Hi Sarah,
How do you store your homemade brown sugar? Do you keep it in the pantry or does this have to be refrigerated? Thanks for the recipe!
In a big mason jar in the pantry next to all the other baking stuff. It rules that it’s shelf-stable.
You are an angel for posting this – SO FANTASTIC and easy!
So glad you found it useful Monica! I appreciate you taking the time to leave a review. 🙂
Picture this: Thanksgiving day, getting ready to pan fry sweet potatoes in butter and brown sugar. Hubby takes that moment to tell me he used the last of the brown sugar 3 weeks ago but failed to mention it when shopping for turkey day supplies. I don’t panic, I just close my eyes and internally repeat the mantra “Love is a choice. I don’t always have to like you, but I choose to love you.” Outwardly, I tell him that my friend Sarah told me I could make my own. Matricide averted and day saved. Thanks! (Also, we’re friends now. Cool?)
Your husband is SO lucky we’re friends or I do fear that the bird in the oven wouldn’t be the only loss of life that day! He sounds so much like Troy and it makes me want to scream.
I’m thrilled I can help and even more excited we’re friends!
This tasted… just like brown sugar! Victory!
Neat! This I will have to try … makes so much sense!
um…. do you need more recipes for that molasses in your cupboard because I use it for everything from baked beans in the slow cooker to gingersnap cookies, and sometimes just with soft butter on brown bread, and for that matter IN brown bread.
Thank you, but oddly enough, I don’t love molasses-flavored things. Odd, right?
Sarah, you just made my day! I may sound stupid, but I had never given a thought about the composition of brown sugar, how it was made, let alone the fact that I could make it myself!!! This is brilliant! I just can’t wait to finish the bag I have from the grocery store and start making my own.
AWESOME. Thanks for this!
Do you make your own sugar for the cane juice? Do you have a post about that?
Nope, it’s already made for you in a crystal form. I get it at Costco. You can see what it looks like here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000E9WB8G?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creativeASIN=B000E9WB8G&linkCode=xm2&tag=thisb02-20
Yep!
If you don’t use organic sugar is the molasses amount going to be the same for reg sugar?
Is the molasses amounts also good if you don’t use organic with sugar?
If your homemade brown sugar is $1.22 a pound and the organic brown sugar (on sale) is $6.50 for 2 pounds then you are saving significantly more than 40 cents. The store price is $3.25 a pound so you are saving over $2. I think that makes this a great deal.
I usually just add the molasses into the recipe but this would be perfect for things like oatmeal where we’d like to have brown sugar. Also, I didn’t know that Costco carried evap cane juice – can’t wait to pick some up my next trip.
I didn’t know you could do this? Pretty neat.
OMG – DH has Dark Brown Sugar on the list, Organic Brown Sugar is cheaper than Dark Brown Organic Brown Sugar, do you think I even though to add more molases? I have tons of that lying around (my Oma used Molases never sugar or Honey so I grew up with it in barrels).
I would try adding a few tsp per cup and test it out to see how you like it. I always try to keep in mind when I’m cooking you can always add more, but it’s hard to fix it if you add TOO much! Try around with it, and see how you like it. ;-D
Sarah
I usually just add the white sugar to the mixer when I’m baking, and add the molasses separately. It still tastes like brown sugar, and then I don’t have to worry about making it.
Also, mini-rant: apparently most brown sugars are made that way these days. It used to be that brown sugar was less refined, but now they are usually “painted sugars”.
I did this one time to make some chocolate chip cookies and I must’ve used too much molasses, because they tasted a lot like gingerbread crossed with chocolate chip cookies! It is good to know how to substitute with ingredients you have on hand!