Before I tell you how to make homemade brown sugar, I ought to apologize for the fact that it’s been ages since I wrote a post. No real excuses here, except to say that life has gotten CRAZY busy. My freelance writing work has exploded, and the kids have joined the community swim club. (Read: hours spent at the local high school pool!) Add in homeschool co-op and music lessons, and you have a mom who’s always on the go.

My dear sister, whose kids are about a decade ahead of mine, told me that life would get busier as the kids got older. I’m sorry to say that I didn’t believe her. I was so swamped with babies and toddlers that I couldn’t imagine a life more active than the one I was living. Well, she was right; I was wrong. It’s even hard to find time to get to the grocery, hence this post on how to make homemade brown sugar.

Homemade brown sugar…just as good as the store-bought variety!

So why did I need the homemade brown sugar? Well, my husband absolutely loves homemade chocolate chip cookies, and I haven’t had the time to make those, either. But when I gathered my ingredients to make the cookies this morning and opened the brown sugar canister, I found this:

Thankfully, the same sister who told me life would get busy is the one who bought me a handy refrigerator magnet, listing some common kitchen substitutes. Rather than rushing off to the store, I decided to give this tip a try.

For ¾ cup of packed brown sugar, simply add one tablespoon of molasses or dark corn syrup to a cup of white sugar. (Note: I use light brown sugar. For dark brown sugar, just add another tablespoon of molasses.)

Mix it well with a fork or in your stand mixer. You might still see a few lumps of molasses, but that’s okay. As long as the sugar is light and fluffy, you can add it to your favorite recipe.

Here’s the final product: a full stack of chocolate chip cookies! I let the kids taste the cookies, and no one could tell the difference between the store-bought brown sugar and homemade brown sugar.

Knowing how to make homemade brown sugar has made its way to my go-to kitchen tips and is well worth keeping some molasses on hand…you’ll run out of brown sugar long before you go through the molasses jar!