Do-It-Yourself: Brown Sugar

Have you ever needed brown sugar for a recipe, but were out and didn't really want to run to the store? Well, if you have sugar and molasses in your cupboards then you don't need to make an extra grocery trip!

Recently Ryan decided to make some chocolate chip cookie dough (not for cookies, just for the dough). He loved the dough so much that when it was all gone he wanted more! Yes, he does realize that he has a sugar addiction and I think I have him convinced to go on a sugar fast with me after his birthday (Valentine's Day). I've been trying to do it without him and it just hasn't been working. Anyway, back to the brown sugar...We happened to be out of brown sugar the second time around and I had completely forgot that in the past I had made my own. After making chocolate tapioca pudding to fulfill our sweet craving, I remembered that I could make my own brown sugar.

What you'll need:
1 cup sugar *
1 -2 Tblsp molasses*

Combine the sugar and molasses and stir until combined. You can get out a handheld mixer or standing mixer if you like, but I used a fork and a mixing bowl and it worked just fine. Store in an air tight container - or use immediately for your recipe. In the past I used white sugar and depending on whether you want/need light or dark brown sugar use more or less of the molasses (2 Tblsp will make dark and 1 Tblsp will make light). If you are using turbinado sugar, 1 Tblsp of molasses will likely be plenty.

*My notes: Recently I started using sucanat (sugar cane natural) and when a recipe called for sugar or brown sugar I just used the Sucanat since the molasses is not separated from the sugar. But for some recipes you need the added moisture and the last time I was at the co-op I decided to try turbinado sugar as it was less expensive than the sucanat that I had been buying. And it was hard to tell the difference between the two on the labels - they both appeared to be "evaporated cane juice." If you want to know more about the differences between the two types of sugars and the benefits of these over white sugar, click on this link. Unsulphered molasses would also be my recommendation for the molasses you choose.

Later this week I plan to use the brown sugar I made for my favorite whole grain cookie recipe. Due to the intense Packer game last night I did not get around to posting my Red Velvet Surprise cupcake recipe today. But I still plan to post that this week in case you would like to make something unique for Valentine's Day!