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    Home » Recipes » How to Soften Brown Sugar

    How to Soften Brown Sugar

    Published: October 12, 2020 · Modified: Oct 12, 2020 by John Kanell

    This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.

    Brown sugar is a magical ingredient. It gives you a great caramel depth of flavor, it is slightly acidic so it reacts with baking soda, and it adds a chewy moisture to cookies. The only problem is it's tendency to turn into a rock when left in your pantry! Here I'm showing you how to soften brown sugar plus how you can keep it moist!

    Hardened brown sugar clumps on a marble counter.
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    chunks of hardened brown sugar on a white plate.
    A bag full of lumps of hardened brown sugar
    a bowl of brown sugar being softened with a fork
    Lumps of hardened brown sugar on a white plate.

    Softening brown sugar only takes a few seconds but it’s just as important to know how to keep it soft once you’ve opened the box. Many packages of brown sugar don’t come in resealable bags so once you open them they start loosing moisture immediately. 

    How to Keep your brown sugar moist

    Store in a ziplock bag with the air pressed out.

    If your sugar is going to be kept for a while then pop a marshmallow or piece of white bread in there. The moisture from either of these will keep your brown sugar nice and sift.

    Use a sugar bear!

    You can buy ceramic brown sugar keepers for a few dollars. They last forever and work wonders. Just soak in water for 20 minutes then place in your bag of brown sugar to keep it soft for months.

    Keep it in the right storage container 

    If you like your pantry a bit more organized then get an airtight brown sugar container! It has a gasket to keep the moisture in and you’ll never have a mess from sugar falling out of your floppy bag.

    Two copper measuring cups filled with brown sugar.

    Why does brown sugar become hard?

    A scant bit of moisture creates that characteristic wet sand texture that makes brown sugar so distinctive. As soon as your brown sugar is exposed to open air that moisture evaporates and the sugar hardens. It doesn’t help matters that the sugar has a tremendous amount of surface area from which the moisture can evaporate.

    How to Soften Brown Sugar

    A damp paper towel on a bowl of hard brown sugar.

    Add the hard brown sugar to a bowl then wet a paper towel, wring out the excess water and place over the sugar and microwave for one to two increments of 20 seconds. 

    A golden fork breaking up brown sugar after it has been softened.

    Use a fork to break the sugar up and mix. It’s now ready to use or store in an airtight container. 

    If you’re not in a rush to soften your sugar up then you can place a few apple slices, or a damp papaer towel in the bag a day or two in advance and it will be soft when you need it.

    If you love this recipe try these out!

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      How to make Italian Buttercream

     

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    Thanks for stopping by! I’m John Kanell, a husband, dad to twins Lachlan and George, Los Angeles native, and an avid baker and cooker of all things delicious thanks to a life long education from my mother. This blog is where I share all of my kitchen creations!

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