Name: Homemade Brown Sugar
Prep time: 5 min
Total time: 5 min
Ingredients: 1 cup granulated sugar; 2 teaspoons unsulphured molasses; 1 cup granulated sugar; 4 teaspoons unsulphured molasses

Jump to Recipe Pin Recipe Save Recipe

This post may contain affiliate links. Read the full disclosure here.

Learn how to make homemade brown sugar (light and dark brown). You need just two ingredients and 5 minutes of time to create this exact replica of store-bought versions.

Side view of homemade brown sugar in white bowl.

Want To Save This?

Enter your email below and we'll send the link straight to your inbox.

It never fails. You have a craving for your favorite baked good – maybe salted caramel chocolate chip cookies or cosmic brownies. After gathering all the ingredients needed you realize that you don’t have enough brown sugar.

Can you make the recipe without brown sugar? Maybe. Will it taste as good? No. Do you feel like running out to the store? No, definitely not. Brown sugar has a slightly rich, caramel flavor. It adds depth, richness and moisture to baked goods.

So when you find yourself with no brown sugar at home, this DIY brown sugar recipe will be a lifesaver!

The great thing about this recipe is that it makes light or dark brown sugar. Just adjust the quantity of one ingredient – the molasses.

While I might have light brown sugar in my pantry, I almost never think ahead to stock dark brown sugar. I’ve made this recipe so many times. It’s not just a substitute for store-bought brown sugar. It actually is brown sugar. You’ll never buy store-bought again.

A quick word about molasses – please don’t use blackstrap molasses. A simple keyword search will tell you that blackstrap molasses is commonly used for animal feed. That should be enough of a reason, but if you need more, blackstrap molasses is rich and bitter and just won’t work here. Really. Trust me on this one.

You won’t believe how easy it is to make brown sugar at home with this homemade brown sugar recipe. You can make just the quantity you need for your favorite recipe (snickers brownies or banana cupcakes anyone?)

Recipe Snapshot

TASTE: Sweet and caramel flavored
TEXTURE: Fluffy
EASE: Easy!
TIME: 5 minutes

What You’ll Need

Ingredients

Molasses – Unsulphered molasses has a rich and deep flavor.
Sugar – Believe it or not, all you need is granulated white sugar.

Recommended Tools

No special tools are required for this recipe

Overhead of brown sugar in a white bowl.

How to Make Homemade Brown Sugar

This recipe for richly flavored brown sugar really couldn’t be easier – you’ll have fresh homemade brown sugar in just minutes!

Be sure to check out the full recipe and ingredient list below

Combine Ingredients. Combine sugar and molasses in a mixing bowl.
Mix. Mix with a wooden spoon or mixer until thoroughly blended and the sugar turns brown. If needed use clean fingertips to massage the molasses into the sugar.
Store. Store in an airtight container.

Overhead of homemade brown sugar in glass bowl.

Handy tip:

Dark brown sugar will, not surprisingly, require more molasses than light brown sugar. Pay attention to the quantities.

Tips For Success

As the moisture from the molasses dries out, it can harden the sugar. To avoid worrying about this, either make just the amount of brown sugar you need for your recipe, or be sure to store the extra brown sugar in an airtight container.

Angled view of homemade brown sugar in white bowl.

Storage & Freezing

Store in an airtight container. To avoid the sugar hardening, I store the brown sugar in a zip-top plastic bag in an airtight container.