Hi, I’m Margot, aka The Damsel in Dis Dress. I have 7 kids and yessssss!!! 2 grandkids. Best gig ever.
I write a blog teaching people how to do those old homey skills our grandmas used to know like the back of their age-spotted hand. Why would you want to learn this? Perhaps to become more reliant and because it seems sad to let those things be forgotten.
http://www,mynewoldschool.com Check every couple of days for something new–errr–I mean old.
First, let’s talk.
Is brown sugar more healthy than white sugar? Like brown rice vs. white rice, brown bread vs. white bread? Is it less refined?
The Damsel looked up an article about how commercial sugar producers make brown sugar and got confused. But it seems it comes down to this: maybe they used to do it differently, but nowadays, they make white sugar by refining out stuff, and make it brown by adding some of that stuff back in. #headscratch.
And, as you might guess, once the stuff is in your body, it can’t tell the difference. Sugar’s sugar.
But can you make brown sugar yourself at home? Yes! It’s as easy as kindergarten.
For every one cup of white sugar, add a tablespoon of molasses.
Mix well, being sure to scrape down the sides to coat all that nasty white stuff until it’s pleasantly brown. You can do it old school and just go at it with a fork, or an electric mixer will do the job quickly.
You can add another tablespoon at this point, for “dark” brown sugar. You can vary the kind of molasses you use, too, if you feel the need. The Damsel has enough going on in her life that she feels no need to add a brown sugar variable. But she gives you permission to go there. Have fun.
The resulting brown sugar is fluffy, yet clingy, so you can pack it into a measuring cup as usual. The Damsel found it interesting that when she measured, she had pretty much exactly what she started with: 1 cup + 1 tablespoon brown sugar.
No more running to the market when you’re in the middle of a cookie baking project! The Damsel feels in her heart that this method must also be cheaper than buying the plastic packages of brown sugar. But she has a cold, so she can’t do math today.
-Margot
I love your blog, Margot! I have used so many of your tutorials…keep ’em coming!
This is such a great and useful idea. Although, as you say sugar is sugar, the taste of brown sugar [to me] is quite different from the white one, – let’s say, it actually “tastes”. You can also make a homemade version of maple syrup with it in case you need a little bit for the morning breakfast pancakes and you happen to have run out of maple syrup, mix it up with some vanilla extract and it tastes just as good.
Even though for me, as a maple syrup lover, nothing can beat the flavor of real maple syrup, brown sugar turned into homemade ‘maple syrup’ can be a good enough substitute for it, and the kids love it!
Thank you for this useful recipe! 🙂
Have a great weekend,
Nury
So there are a lot of things I never realized I could make and this is one of them. Thanks for the post, I will be making my own now.
Thanks, Damsel! Once again, you come through with an amazing tip 🙂
I have been out of brown sugar so many times, and never realized how easy it is to make it. Thank you!
I like this idea- because you can make what you need and not have to microwave the hard stuff in your cupboard:)
I love your blog and will be checking back often. Thanks for the fun ideas.
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