8 Ways to Soften Brown Sugar
If you’ve ever done any baking at all then your probably come across rock hard brown sugar. We’ve come up with a list of tips about how to soften brown sugar. They are all simple, frugal, prevent food waste and of course, will save you a trip to the grocery store! All of these ideas to soften brown sugar work well and some of them work in just a few seconds!
Always store your brown sugar in an airtight container. Some people say store it in the refrigerator or freezer but the best way to make sure you don’t have to soften brown sugar is to keep it airtight in the first place.
If it does dry out, here are some long term ways to soften brown sugar:
- Microwave the brown sugar for 15-20 seconds. If this doesn’t work place a glass of water in with it and microwave again for 20 seconds. Then you should have softened brown sugar.
- Place it in a 250 degree oven on a cookie sheet. Set a pan of water in the oven with it. Then bake until you soften the brown sugar. Check frequently as it will melt if you let it bake too long.
- Place the brown sugar in a blender and pulse until chopped.
- Place it in a plastic bag and hammer it into pieces.
- Place a piece of bread in the bag with your brown sugar and seal.
- Place a moist paper towel in with the brown sugar to help soften the brown sugar. Leave for several hours.
- Place a few apple slices in with the brown sugar and seal. In the morning your should have softened brown sugar. Take out the apples after it’s soft.
- Moisten a piece of clean terracotta clay, let it drip dry and place the piece in the bag to soften brown sugar. You can also store a piece of terracotta in with the brown sugar to keep it soft.
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You can also throw in some marshmallows to the container. Works like a charm!
Air tight tupperware hands down!
A piece of citrus peel (orange or lemon) works great too! Just place it in the bag, seal and let sit for a couple of hours. Discard with peel once the sugar is soft again.
I keep a slice of bread in my Tupperware container that Ikeep my brown sugar in.
best best best way to keep sugar good is an airtight container and stick a piece of bread in it with the sugar! I’ve done this for years and never had sugar dry out on me. And a trick for iceberg lettuce is to take out the core by pounding on the counter – then moisten a paper towel, wring it out and put the lettuce back in a plastic bag with the paper towel loosely covering the hole where the core was. Lettuce will keep for a very long time this way. Easy peasy!
I do the same as Jessica a. I have never had a problem of the brown sugar hardening on me. I always stockpile brown sugar when it’s on sale so I always have it on hand.
These are great tips.
Once when I was working in a restaurant/bakery, the delivery of baking ingredients arrived; the 20-lb. bag of powdered sugar was found to be partly hard as a rock. The baker, in her anger, threw the bag on the back porch to be discarded later. I put in in my car, took it home (I’m quite the “baker” myself!), shared some with co-workers, and each time I needed some, I’d break it up, and put it in my Cuisinart, until the lumps were gone. That stuff is too expensive to throw out :-)
If the brown sugar is really hard, break it into pieces to fit an airtight container with a lid. Take out a clean wash cloth, thoroughly soak it with clean water, wring it out, then spread the cloth over the top of the hard sugar in the container. Put on the airtight lid, and wait a day. Remove the cloth the next day. The sugar may be bleached out on the surface, but underneath the colour will be fine, and the sugar will be soft.