How To Soften Brown Sugar: A Handy Guide By Blogs Toolkit

How To Soften Brown Sugar

Introduction

You may have faced situations like ”how to soften brown sugar” when you want to bake something like a cake or cookies and go to the pantry. Suddenly you realize that you get all your ingredients, but your brown sugar is completely hard like a rock.

Haha, we know your condition at this point. Well, don’t panic! You need to know “how to soften brown sugar” in a better way. A few people feel that it’s a very lengthy process, but believe us, it’s not like that hard nut to crack. And, once your brown sugar gets softened, you are all set to get back on your business. It sounds nice, no? What do you say?

So, if you are looking for tips to soften your brown sugar, you should follow this article and get them all. But, before we start, we would like to give you short information on brown sugar. And after that, you will meet with tips to soften brown sugar quickly.

Now, without wasting your precious time, let’s start your journey with us.

What is Brown Sugar?

What is Brown Sugar

Brown Sugar involves sucrose and monosaccharides and comes in a solid form. Also, it contains the number of calories per teaspoon as white table sugar. The presence of molasses adds more moisture, color, and taste and has different types.

You may have seen those different types of brown sugar, such as coarse or soft. And these types of brown sugar depending on the portion of moisture involved in it. Here, the people are most familiar with soft light and dark brown sugar, mainly used for baking.

But, it gets rock most of the time, and people don’t know how to soften brown sugar.

Tips To Soften Your Rock Hard Brown Sugar

Use the following five simple ways to soften your brown sugar with ease. But note that use these tips based on how early you need brown sugar.

A) Use Of Microwave

It is one of the most suitable ways to soften brown sugar. Take a microwave-safe bowl and add the brown sugar wedge into it.

  • After that, use a paper towel, soak it, and twist it to make it slightly moist.
  • You have to cover your microwave and bowl for 10 or 20 seconds intervals until the sugar gets powdery again.
  • Take a fork and try to lose the sugar between each interval. Keep doing it until the sugar gets normal.

Try this method and soften your brown sugar to bake your favorite cake and cookies.

B) Soften Your Brown Sugar Without Microwave (Bread Method)

You will need to have sufficient time to soften brown sugar without Microwave. However, it will work for sure.

  • Use a bag or a plastic container and put your hardened brown sugar into it.
  • Now, cut a slice of sandwich bread and keep it on top of the brown sugar.
  • Then, seal a bag if using a bag or pack the container if you are using the container.
  • Now, it will take 12 hours. (It is better to do the above process before going to sleep at night.)
  • In the morning or after 12 hours, you will see the magic. The moisture of that sandwich bread on top of the brown sugar helped to keep the brown sugar softened.

So, you can see that you have to put a slice of bread over the brown sugar and then wait for 12 hours. That means it does not look hectic except for the waiting process.

C) Use Of Oven

The oven is used to heat food items. Likewise, you can use the oven to soften your brown sugar as well.

  • Use a baking sheet grooved with parchment paper and put the hardened pieces.
  • Open the oven, put the brown sugar into it, and keep warming at 250 degrees.
  • You have to keep an eye on brown sugar every couple of minutes. After that, you have to take a fork and break brown sugar until it gets soft.

Now, wait for a few minutes until the softened brown sugar gets cool, and then use it in the recipes.

Note that you want to soften your brown sugar and not try to cook. Therefore, it would be better to use an oven with an average temperature and provide time to get soft.

D) Using Terra Cotta

Smart people solve the problem of hardened brown sugar to soften it. But how? Can you guess it?

  • First, take a terra cotta piece and soak it in water for almost 20 minutes.
  • Get the airtight container and place terra cotta with dried sugar wedges.  

After that, leave it as it is for a day. It is because terra cotta needs about a day to soften your brown sugar and prevent it from wedging. You can use the different terra cotta shapes such as leaves, bears, or more.

E) Use An Apple Slice

You have read this before! Are you wondering? Well, this is true! It’s just like the process of softening brown sugar without using a microwave.

Do you remember we used the sandwich bread to soften brown sugar? It is like that; you have to use an apple slice instead of sandwich bread, keep it on the top and pack the container or bag for 12 hours.

However, the difference is that you have to remove the apple slice after the process of 12 hours has been completed. Your brown sugar is ready to use for any recipe after removing that slice of apple.

So, these were the best tips to soften your brown sugar. Suppose you purchased the brown sugar and don’t know how to keep it soft, then what will you do? At this point, you should first see the following and learn to control the brown sugar softness.

How To Keep Brown Sugar Soft?

The first and foremost thing is to keep the brown sugar in the best possible manner. So that it will be saved from getting hard. There are high chances that your brown sugar will be available in a plastic container or a bag from the shop.

Therefore, once you reach your home, search for an air-tight container and transfer brown sugar into it, and it will help keep your brown sugar sticky or moist.

In this way, your brown sugar will remain soft for a long time, and you can bake anything on time. Also, you will be saved by using the above steps and softened sugar. Similarly, you do not have to waste your precious time.

Related FAQs

A) What makes your brown sugar hard?

Brown sugar comes with a lot of molasses that contain moisture. Also, you will see brown sugar looks like a wet sand texture and provides a strong caramel taste. However, if you reveal your kitchen factors, you will get the answer to this question.

Most of us might have guessed that something is fishy with molasses. So, we are uncovering that the molasses evaporates and turns your brown sugar into a complicated form like a brick.

B) When should you not make use of brown sugar?

When you don’t have the brown sugar for your recipes, or it becomes hard like bricks, you should avoid the use of brown sugar. You can use the substitute of brown sugar instead of using the same one. Or you have a choice of using the above steps to soften your brown sugar.

C) Does brown sugar expire after some time?

You can keep powdered sugar as long as you want. Also, you can keep confectioners’ sugar for almost two years from the opening date. But, it is not helpful in the case of brown sugar bags. Brown sugar comes with molasses, and you can store it as long as you want until 18 months from opening. But remember that it gets hard when the moisture evaporates.

D) How to know if your brown sugar is getting worse?

Brown sugar does not support microbial growth. And it will be safe if you keep away from the moisture and pantry pests. But, there are two ways to identify whether your brown sugar is beneficial or harmful:

  • Insects, larvae, or eggs – Insects find a way to keep your brown sugar unhealthy or bad.
  • Organic growth – Sometimes, brown sugar comes in contact with water or organic growth and becomes bad to use.

E) Figure out the benefits of brown sugar?

Brown sugar offers many health benefits to people starting from losing weight. You can see the following list of advantages of using brown sugar.

  • You can solve your digestive problem using brown sugar.
  • Use brown sugar to fight back the periods.
  • You can use brown sugar as a scrub for your skin.
  • Asthmatic patients can use brown sugar to get ill-health treatments.
  • You can use it as your antiseptic because it contains anti-inflationary and anti-bacterial factors.

Conclusion

When you want to bake or cook something sweet like cake or cookies, you need brown sugar. Similarly, you can get many health benefits by using this brown sugar. But, if you are worried about keeping the brown sugar softened, don’t be!

This article has explained the most prominent steps to make your brown sugar normal or soften. So, we hope this article will prove helpful to you, and you will keep your brown sugar softened using the above tips.

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Sally Norman

Professional Blogger

Hi, My Name is Sally Norman. I am a blog contributor for Blogs Toolkit. I write about techn...