Diy Brown Sugar Recipe
The best substitute for brown sugar is brown sugar. Since we know that its made up of about 90 percent white sugar and a small amount of molasses by weight, we can just combine these and end up in about the same place. To make DIY light brown sugar, measure out one cup of granulated sugar and one tablespoon of molasses. Just stir them together thoroughly before adding to your recipe. This will make the equivalent of one cup of light brown sugar. To make dark brown sugar, add in an additional tablespoon of molasses.
Turbinado Sugar And Demerara Sugar
Substituting turbinado or Demerara doesnt work so well, says Ong.
These types of sugar have larger crystals, so they wont melt like granulated white or conventional brown sugar in a recipe. He likes to take advantage of these bigger crystals texture by using them to crust cakes or cookies. Mmmm, crunchy.
White Granulated Sugar And Molasses
No surprise, this is the closest you can get to store-bought brown sugar without actually having any. Brown sugar is up to 10 percent molasses by weight so these ratios will give your DIY version just the right amount of moisture, plus the caramel flavor your crave. Substitute 1 cup white sugar and 2 teaspoons molasses for every cup of light brown sugar the recipe calls for. If it calls for dark brown sugar, up the molasses to 1 tablespoon per cup of white sugar.
Recommended Reading: What Type Of Sugar Is Good For Diabetics
White Sugar + Molasses
As you read above, some brown sugar is simply refined white sugar with added molasses. Thats why it makes sense that if you dont have any brown sugar, you can mix white sugar and molasses to use in things like cookies, banana bread, and muffins.
To use it in place of brown sugar, mix one cup of white sugar with about a tablespoon or half of the molasses. You can even store this sugar combination and use it later in coffee or tea.
Both products are easy to come by, and molasses comes in handy when making other recipes, so its a worth buying ingredient.
See More: Best Substitutes for Molasses
Beginning And Different Processes In Mills And Refineries
Harvested sugarcane from farms is sent to mills for processing. During this process, the crop undergoes washing, cutting, and is eventually crushed to extract the juice. A separator separates fiber and juice. The fiber is later used as fuel or to make bagasse.
The juice is clarifiedsometimes using limeand at others left to stand so the impurities settle at the bottom. The clarified juice is then boiled in huge evaporators. The liquid that remains is a sticky brown syrup that has become thickened by boiling. This viscous syrup is a combination of molasses surrounding sucrose crystals.
As the next step, the syrup goes into a centrifuge. This separates the sucrose crystals from the molasses by washing off the latter to a lesser or greater degree. The centrifugemuch like the drier in a spin cycletakes off as much of the moisture from the crystals as possible. The dried crystals are cane sugar.
To produce brown sugar, cane sugar gets color by mixing with molasses. The chunks of brown sugar are then de-crystallized, followed by recrystallization. Finally, the crystals are put in a granulator and ground to smaller sizes. They are sized by running through a number of strainers.
Also Check: Why Do I Crave Sugar
Whats The Difference Between Brown Sugar And White Sugar
All sugar is made from sugar cane or sugar beets. When the cooking process happens, the liquid that comes from the sugar can becomes a combination of molasses and sucrose. Depending on the kind of sugar being made, all or some of the molasses is removed and then the product is dried and crystalized into sugar.
Granulated sugar has had all the molasses removed and is pure sucrose. Brown sugar contains some of that original molasses , creating its brown color and distinct flavor.
Because of the molasses, brown sugar has more moisture in it than granulated sugar .
Brown Sugar Substitute Ideas: 4 Clever Hacks To Try
Youre just about to whip up a batch of your famous secret-ingredient chocolate chip cookies when suddenly you realize youre all out of brown sugar. Ugh! Put down the car keystheres no need to run to the store. Try these easy brown sugar substitute ideas instead!
Raise your hand if youve ever started on a recipe that calls for brown sugar only to find that yours was a clumpy, hard mess? Yeah. Us, too. Its the worst! But weve got good news. There are SO many clever ways to make a brown sugar substitute on the fly. Sweet!
*Note: When you click the links in this post, we may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.
Find out which ingredients make for an easy brown sugar substitute. Plus, learn how you can bring your hardened brown sugar back to life. No more dreaded clumps!
Also Check: How Can I Drop My Blood Sugar
Alfredo Lasagna Florentine With Mushrooms
9 lasagna noodles without baking
1 15-ounce mug of full-fat ricotta
1 16-ounce bottle of Alfredo sauce
1½ cups of whole milk
1 teaspoon of oregano
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 16-ounce packet of fresh mushrooms, rinsed and chopped
2 teaspoons of chopped garlic in oil
1 10-ounce packet of frozen spinach, thawed and drained thoroughly
2 cups of grated mozzarella cheese
2/3 cup of grated parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper to taste
Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lubricate a 9×13 inch baking dish with nonstick spray.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the ricotta, alfredo sauce, milk, oregano and basil Mixture should be pourable. Put aside.
3. Heat olive oil in a large pan. Fry the mushrooms and garlic over medium heat until the mushrooms are tender. Set aside to cool.
4. Fold the spinach and mushrooms into the alfredo mixture. Spread 1/3 cup in the prepared bowl and shake it to coat the bottom. Add three rows of lasagna pasta lengthways,
5. Cover with half of the alfredo-spinach mixture Sprinkle with 1 cup of mozzarella cheese, 1/3 cup of parmesan. Repeat. Cover with greased foil.
6. Bake for 45 minutes uncover and bake for another 15 minutes or until pasta is tender. Cool 20 minutes before cutting. Makes 12 servings.
When To Use White Vs Brown Sugar
Brown sugar makes baked goods moister than white sugar because of the molasses content, says Pichet Ong, pastry chef and author of The Sweet Spot: Asian-Inspired Desserts.
This means you may have to adjust some of the other proportions in the recipe if you sub brown sugar for white, like slightly decreasing the wet ingredients or upping the dry ones. Brown sugar will also add a hint of caramel flavor and affect the color.
Ong says he decides which to use based on the texture he wants.
For something like zucchini bread or banana bread, where hes looking for a moist texture, brown sugar works pretty well. But he likes layer cakes to be drier and more aerated, so he sticks to white. He says that many cookie recipes also use a combo.
Speaking of cookies, in her book BakeWise, Shirley Corriher notes that high proportions of white sugar make for a very crisp cookie that stays crisp. She describes brown sugar as more hygroscopic, meaning it draws in water more easily from the air.
Cookies made with brown sugar will absorb moisture from the atmosphere and soften on standing.
You May Like: Can I Check Blood Sugar At Home
Can You Just Use White Sugar
The short answer is, yes. You totally can use white sugar!
One word of warning, though. While substituting white sugar for brown wont alter the taste of your recipe, it will change the consistency.
If, for example, you like your cookies on the softer side, you may prefer to use brown sugar. Cookies baked with white sugar tend to turn out a bit crispier.
If you do decide to use white sugar instead of brown, use an equal measurement.
Can You Make Brown Sugar Without Molasses
What if you dont have molasses? Well, then youre kind of out of luck and a grocery store run is in your future. However, you can substitute maple syrup for brown sugar. Its a bit tricky: use about 2/3 cup pure maple syrup for each cup of brown sugar, and reduce the liquid in the recipe by ¼ cup.
Substitutions like this dont always produce the same results, so I recommend sticking to using actual brown sugar or making your own with granulated sugar and molasses.
Also Check: How Do You Lower Blood Sugar Levels Quickly
Can You Substitute Light Brown Sugar For Dark Brown Sugar And Vice Versa
Before we get into our favorite brown sugar alternatives, its important to note that if you happen to have one variety of brown sugar, they can be used interchangeably.
If your cookie recipe calls for light brown sugar and you only have dark brown sugar, you can absolutely use it. Dark brown sugar contains more molasses than light brown sugar, so the end result might be deeper brown and have a slightly richer, more molasses-forward flavor, but truthfully, you probably wont notice any difference at all.
Best Brown Sugar Substitutes
*This post may contain affiliate links. Please see my disclosure to learn more.
Sugar is a staple kitchen ingredient that makes our life sweeter daily.
We are using it as a sweetener in baked goods to keep them moist and soft, in desserts, drinks, jams, and many other recipes. But sugar is not only a sweetener. It has many other functions in food production.
Sugar works as a preservative, coloring agent, flavoring agent, to assist the fermentation process, and as a bulking agent. It is made by extracting the juice of the sugar cane and sugar beet plants.
Brown sugar is a common ingredient in sauces, baked goods, marinades, baked beans, drinks, and other recipes. However, if your recipe calls for brown sugar and you dont have it on hand, you can use other sweeteners instead.
The best substitutes for brown sugar are coconut sugar, muscovado sugar, white sugar, white sugar & molasses, white sugar, and maple syrup, or some of the following products.
Read on to learn more about each substitute.
You May Like: How Many Grams Of Sugar In Almond Milk
How Do You Make Brown Sugar From White Sugar
There are a few ways you can make brown sugar from white sugar, this is because there are a few variations light brown sugar, dark from white sugar, and dark from light brown sugar.
Each will have its primary uses, darker sugars are often used in baking more than other foods.
If you want to make light brown sugar from white sugar simply measure one cup of granulated white sugar and a tablespoon of molasses then stir until completely mixed.
If you want to make dark brown sugar from white sugar then measure a cup of granulated white sugar and two tablespoons of molasses and stir until completely combined.
Yet, if you want to make dark brown sugar from light brown sugar then measure a cup of light brown sugar and add a tablespoon of molasses then stir until completely mixed together. Nice and simple. There is not much to it.
How To Soften Hard Brown Sugar
Looking for a brown sugar substitute because your brown sugar is too hard to use? There’s actually a really easy fix for that.
Add 1 tablespoon of molasses to a cup of light brown sugar to turn it into dark brown sugar. This will give you the real deal.
If you don’t have molasses, use 1 tablespoon of maple syrup instead, or just use your light brown sugar in place of the dark brown sugar that’s called for. You probably won’t notice any difference in your recipe, if you do. Need light brown sugar and only have dark brown sugar? Go ahead and use it. You’ll hardly notice the difference.
Also Check: What Happens When Your Blood Sugar Level Gets Too Low
Can You Replace Brown Sugar With White Sugar In Cookies
Plain white sugar. When all else fails, you can replace brown sugar with an even measurement of granulated white sugar without fear of ruining your recipe. White sugar lacks the same rich flavor that brown sugar adds, but depending on the type of recipe, you may not notice much flavor change at all.
White Sugar + Maple Syrup
This is another good combination that yields very similar results to using brown sugar. Maple syrup is commonly used in pancakes, waffles, and sauces. You can use one cup of the white sugar you have at home and mix it with one tablespoon or more of maple syrup.
These two ingredients are very easy to come by, and maple syrup is a good item to have in your pantry. You can use this mix in baking banana bread, cookies, coffee cake, and more. Make sure you adjust for liquid, as this mix can be stickier than regular sugar.
Read Also: When Do Diabetics Check Blood Sugar
Try A Little Coconut Instead
Even though were fully committed to the sugar cause, we do try and keep an eye on any healthier alternatives that can provide the same sweet taste that we crave in a far more beneficial manner.
That led us to coconut sugar, which as its name suggests, is made from the sap of the coconut tree. Taste-wise, its incredibly similar to coconut milk and has the same immediate, yet delicate sweetness.
In hindsight, that shouldnt have surprised us anywhere near as much as it did, as theyre both derived from the same source, the humble coconut.
If you do want to use coconut sugar rather than brown sugar in your baking, and we implore you to try it at least once, work on a like-for-like basis. Use the same amount of coconut sugar in your recipe as you would brown sugar.
So if the recipe calls for one hundred grams of brown sugar, use one hundred grams of coconut sugar instead.
That said, it isnt a substitute that wed recommend using regularly as coconut sugar does tend to be a little on the costly side, and if you do intend to use it as a permanent replacement for brown sugar, youll definitely see a marked increase in your grocery bills.
Cons Of Brown Sugar Substitutes
Changing recipe ratios. If a recipe is written with a brown sugar substitute in mind, you dont have to make adjustments. But if youre trying to bake something that calls for brown sugar, you may have to adjust the ingredients to get the right consistency.
Overeating. Its still possible to over-indulge in foods that dont include sugar. Check nutrition labels when you consider brown sugar substitutes. Not all of them make foods healthier, and you should still eat them in moderation.
Also Check: Can High Blood Sugar Cause Chest Pain
Honey Syrup And Nectar Oh My
If youre feeling a little more adventurous, you could always try a liquid substitution instead, and use either honey, maple syrup, or agave nectar as a brown sugar substitute.
There is however a problem with these delicious infusions of sugary flavor, which manifests itself in the form of the increased liquid content of whatever it is that youre baking.
Its a potential minefield of mistakes and timing errors, so youll need to be incredibly careful with the amount of each that you use.
The main issue is the amount of reduction that youll need to do in order to preserve the sanctity of your bake. Youll need to reduce the amount of each that you add to the mix as a replacement, and as youre adding extra liquid to your bake, youll also need to reduce the quantities of the other liquid ingredients that it includes.
We wish that we could give you some precise measurements, but as youll need to use different amounts of honey, nectar, and syrup in your bake, the only way to really get to grips with how much you need to use and how much you need to reduce, is through trial and error, and by baking from the heart.
Its tricky and time-consuming, but it is worth doing as all three can produce a myriad of wonderful flavors that everyone should try at least once in their lives.
Your Best Bet: Make Your Own Light Brown Sugar
Since both light and dark brown sugar consists of refined white sugar and molasses, it is relatively easy to make your own. Remember to remove as much refined sugar as the molasses that you add to the mixture. To arrive at a cup of dark brown sugar, combine 1 tablespoon of molasses with a cup of refined white sugar. Mix by hand using a whisk or with a stand mixer to get a light brown sugar substitute that looks exactly like the prepackaged version. Light brown sugar should only be made with true molasses and not with blackstrap molasses, which has a very different character.
Don’t Miss: How Much Sugar Is In Twisted Tea Peach
Best Substitutes For Brown Sugar
When you see a great new recipe, it’s natural to want to try it right away. But it can be frustrating to find that you’re out of one of the pantry staples you need, like brown sugar. Luckily there are some substitutes you can use in place of brown sugar, but it’s important to understand which is best.
Brown sugar is essentially sugar that still has some sugar cane juice or molasses in it, though some has evaporated. Granular sugar has all of the molasses removed from it, and light brown sugar has had up to 10% molasses by weight added back into white granular sugar, per King Arthur Baking. There are more differences between white sugar and brown sugar that don’t make them exactly interchangeable, though.
Brown sugar is acidic and can lower the pH of a recipe. This means that baking soda is often added as a leavening agent because the reaction between the low pH brown sugar and the high pH baking soda help baked goods rise. White sugar does not have the same pH as brown sugar, which can lead to uncertain results. Some baked goods might be fine, while others might not spread or rise correctly if you use white sugar as a substitute. However, The Pioneer Woman claims that it’s still possible to make a swap. Fortunately, there are plenty of brown sugar substitutes that will make your baked goods turn out well every time.