How am I at the bottom of a seven pound bulk bag of brown sugar and it’s still nice and soft?
Early in my marriage, someone shared this tip with me.
Last month, I happened to mention it to a friend and they had never heard this solution before, so hopefully it will be useful to a few of you.
Put a piece of bread in the top of your bag or container and the brown sugar will not solidify. Use can also use a marshmallow or two. Just throw either of those items into your bag of brown sugar and voila, soft as can be.
The bread absorbs any moisture keeping it baking day perfect. I replace the piece of bread as needed, but I never worry anymore that I will open up the bag to a solid chunk of brown sugar.
If your sugar is already hard and you need to use it immediately (i.e. chocolate chip cookies), put a chunk of brown sugar in a container along with a separate small bowl of water and microwave for one minute.
Check and repeat until soft.
I’ve also heard that you can keep a few marshmallows in the container and that sounds like the same idea as bread, so I’ll definitely try that as well.
Have fun browsing some more of Jen’s Best Kitchen Tips here.
I’ve been using this trick for years. I’m sure it’s something my mom taught me which, at the time, I probably thought was a completely useless piece of information. Turns out she was smarter than I thought. 😉 It comes in particularly handy out here in the desert where brown sugar can turn to a rock over night.
Have a great weekend.
Lisa
I do the same thing for a batch of cookies and it keeps the cookies from getting hard! I never thought about doing it for brown sugar though. Thanks for the tip Jen!
That’s an interesting tip – and here I’ve been banging that jar against the counter hoping it will break up! 🙂
I have recently discovered that marshmallows do the same thing, so I keep a marshmallow in my brown sugar. They also work for keeping cookies soft.
Yeah I heard that same tip on Martha Stewart but then I got to thinking about the bread going mouldy and never tried it. Good to know it really does work! Thanks.
Thanks for the tip. I just bought a new bag of brown sugar and I’d like it to stay soft.
Hi Jen,
Another thing that works really well is putting a couple of marshmallows in the sugar and you don’t have to replace them…they last much longer than your sugar will!
Thanks for the tip!
I was just wondering about this the other day actually….
((Hugs))
Laura
I have had bread in my brown sugar for YEARS (not the same slice) and never had a problem with the bread going bad. And the sugar is always nice and soft. I do transfer my sugar to a Rubbermaid bowl when I buy it. I have never figured out how to scoop it out of a bag and not make a huge mess.
This really works! I just tried it recently on a half bag of already hard brown sugar from Sam’s. The bread even softened the sugar back up. (Not fast enough to make cookies! For that I had to use the microwave.)
It really does work!
Thank you for this tip, Jen! I’ve heard that keeping marshmallows in the brown sugar container works, but it hasn’t worked for me–I’m going to try your method! And I knew there must be SOME way to make the solidified brown sugar soft again!
Would you just come to my house, please, and organize my kitchen for me? I’ll make you some of those chocolate chip cookies. And coffee. And anything else you want. 🙂
I love this tip! I had totally forgotten about it, going out today and buying new brown sugar!!
Ohhh! I’m tattooing this in my brain right now. I’m pretty sure I heard this at some point maybe a decade ago but it was one of those things that flew in and out of my cute little brain like a sweet little bird. Thank you for reminding me! 🙂
Hi Jen-
I recently read that marshmellows work well too. I do however have a bag that is like cement in my pantry. I am going try the water and microwave method you described. Thanks
My mom did this too! I haven’t had mine get hard – too humid where I live? Or I can’t buy very big bags? But the tip is stored away for later!
I’m a marshmallow girl….but I’ll have to try bread because I’m plum out of the white squishy things!
Jana
Been putting bread in the bag when the sugar is already hard to soften it and how simple is it to just keep bread in the bag all the time and replace as needed. We also put a piece of bread into a container of cookies to soften if needed. Thanks for the tip.
I was just trying to figure out how to do this. Thanks for the tip.
A couple of marshmallows thrown in the bag work, too! I found that the bread sometimes started to crumble into the sugar.
Did you know that you can also keep it in the freezer? It does not come out “frozen”, but maybe just a wee bit harder than normal. That is how I’ve been keeping my brown sugar soft for a while now.
This also works when you put a slice or two of apples in the brown sugar and replace as needed works like a charm 🙂 I didn’t know about microwaving it with water though thsts one I will definitely try!
My grandmother always put saltine crackers in both the white and brown sugars. I do this for white sugar, but never have had to try with brown because I just don’t have it long enough for it to get hard!
Has anyone else tried crackers? my grandmother was a master cook and ran a smorgasbord restaurant her whole life, I learned all my cooking from her.
A piece of fresh apple left in the container
piece of paper towel bunched up moist in container