Learn from my mistakes!
Read this post to learn how to make Brown Sugar from Scratch the right way.
I needed to make some cookies for a church activity tonight.
I went into my pantry and found this...
My brown sugar container was empty!!
I didn't have time to run to the store and going only for brown sugar was not worth it.
I decided that I would make my own.
I remember reading a recipe for brown sugar on my molasses container.
I always thought that it would be fun to try.
So I pulled the jar out and read it:
"Mix 1 cup granulated sugar with 1/2 cup molasses."
Do NOT use this recipe, read on to find out why.
Hmm, that is simple enough.
I decided that I wanted to make a good sized batch.
I poured 4 cups of sugar into my container.
As per the recipe, I proceeded to pour 2 cups of molasses on the sugar.
That looks like A LOT of molasses!
I assumed that it would blend nicely and I would have perfect brown sugar.
I pulled out my hand mixer and started mixing away.
I kept mixing and mixing, making sure that I had all of the granulated sugar mixed with the molasses.
When I was sure that it was mixed thoroughly, I was extremely disappointed!
This didn't look ANYTHING like brown sugar!
It was a sludge consistency and was dripping off my beaters.
This can't be right?
Did I do the math correctly?
I pulled out my calculator to double check and sure enough, I had done the math right.
I jumped on the computer to see if anyone had a different recipe.
I found three websites/blogs that had a recipe.
They called for 1 - 2 TBSP of molasses to 1 cup of granulated sugar.
To put into perspective the amount that I used when following the Grandma's Molasses recipe:
I put in 8 TBSP of molasses to 1 cup of granulated sugar.
There was no way that I was going to use this in a recipe.
I couldn't afford to throw out what I used.
I transferred my sludge into a bigger container and started adding more granulated sugar.
I ended up with 10 cups of granulated sugar and 2 cups of molasses.
As you can tell by my picture, my homemade brown sugar is darker than my store bought brown sugar.
The measuring cup has residual store bought brown sugar.
I got to a point where I could no longer add any more sugar since I was running out of room in my bowls and my poor hand beater was starting to feel warm and I didn't want to burn out the motor.
I could have added an additional 6 cups of sugar to make the brown sugar properly.
I didn't have storage, so I ended up leaving it as is.
My final ratio was 3.2 TBSP molasses to 1 cup sugar.
I made a batch of my chocolate chip cookies with it and to my surprise, it tastes the same!
There is a hint of molasses when you taste the cookies.
Thankfully, it isn't so much that you don't like it.
The moral of this story?
Make brown sugar from scratch, but use the correct recipe.
Homemade Brown Sugar
1-2 TBSP molasses (depending on how strong you want the flavor to be)
1 cup of granulated sugar
Mix with beaters or a fork until combined well
Store in an airtight container
If it gets too hard, put a slice of bread in the container
I hope that you learn from my mistake and spread the word to
NOT use the recipe on the Grandma's Molasses bottle!