Brown sugar exist somewhere in the middle of white sugar and liquid sweeteners. Brown sugar behaves like white sugar in most situation. However, brown sugar contain molasses, which adds moisture and flavor to any baked good that includes brown sugar.
The moisture and flavor from the molasses will impact how the cookies spread and how cakes brown and will also impact the length of time that the baked goods remains soft. Should a recipe call for brown sugar and you dont have brown sugar, you will have to find an alternative sweetener for you recipe. White sugar and coconut sugar can be used as the substitute for brown sugar since both of these alternative contain the same amount of sweetness by volume as brown sugar.
How to Use Brown Sugar and What to Use Instead
However, liquid sweeteners such as honey, maple syrup, and agave cannot be used as a one-to-one substitute for brown sugar since these sweeteners are both wetter and contain more sweetness than brown sugar. However, since the main issue with using these sweeteners in place of brown sugar is the additional moisture that they contain, you will have to use a smaller amount of these alternatives to the brown sugar. In addition to this, you will have to make another adjustment to the recipe to account for this, whether it is the amount of liquid or the leavening agents in the recipe.
You also have to use the packed cup method to measure the brown sugar since brown sugar can easily compress when measured in a cup. Many people uses brown sugar in their baked goods as a way to add moisture and flavor to the end product. The molasses that is contained within brown sugar will attract water and the molasses will hold the water.
Consequently, chocolate chip cookies that use brown sugar will be softer for many days as compared to chocolate chip cookies that use white sugar. Furthermore, dark brown sugar contains approximately twice the amount of molasses compared to light brown sugar. Therefore, the difference in the amount of molasses is noticeable when making products like gingerbread or barbecue sauce.
Light brown sugar contain the same amount of moisture as dark brown sugar but without the color and flavor of the molasses. Thus, you can easily substitute light brown sugar for dark brown sugar in recipes by using the same amount of both sweeteners. In order to use brown sugar in a recipe, it has to be packed correctly into the measuring cup.
Brown sugar can easily compress when scooped into a measuring cup. If you do not pack brown sugar correctly, the brown sugar will contain twenty percent less of the sweetener than what is required by the recipe. To correctly pack brown sugar into a measuring cup, the sugar should be spooned into the cup until it reaches the top of the cup.
The cook should then level off the top of the cup with a spatula. When the cup of packed brown sugar is turned over, it should release in one solid piece. If the brown sugar crumbles when the cup is turned over, it was not packed correctly.
You can easily make brown sugar at home by combining white granulated sugar and molasses. In order to make light brown sugar, stir one tablespoon of unsulfured molasses into one cup of white granulated sugar. To make dark brown sugar, stir two tablespoons of unsulfured molasses into one cup of white granulated sugar.
Stir the molasses and sugar together with a fork until the color is evenly distributed throughout the sugar. Store the homemade brown sugar in an airtight container. Although the sugar that is made at home will behave similar to commercially-bought brown sugar, homemade brown sugar may dry out faster when left in the air in an airtight container.
Since the liquid sweeteners contain more water than brown sugar, care must be taken when substituting one for the other. For instance, honey contains approximately seventeen percent water by weight. Therefore, if one cup of honey is used in a recipe, there will be an additional 2/3 cup of liquid that must be accounted for in the recipe.
The same is true for maple syrup and agave. To compensate for the amount of liquid contained in these substitutes for brown sugar, you should reduce the other liquids in the recipe by one-quarter of a cup for every cup of these sweeteners that are added to the recipe. Additionally, you should also reduce the baking temperature by twenty-five degrees as well since higher temperatures will cause the sugars in the recipe to brown too quick on the edges of the baked good while the center may be undercooked.
Another problem that can occur with brown sugar is when it becomes hardened. Hardened brown sugar occurs when the molasses in the sugar loses its moisture. In order to fix hardened brown sugar, place the sugar in a microwave-safe bowl and cover the sugar with a damp paper towel.
Microwave the brown sugar in twenty-second bursts until the sugar becomes soft to the touch. Another alternative method to soften hardened brown sugar is to leave a slice of apple or a piece of bread in a sealed container along with the hardened brown sugar for at least eight hour. This method works due to the moisture that is contained in the apple or bread.
In order to avoid hardened brown sugar, store the sugar in an airtight container in a cool part of the cupboard in the kitchen. Some of the mistake that people can make when dealing with sweeteners are using one sweetener for all recipes. Using honey or maple syrup in place of brown sugar without reducing the amount of liquids in the recipe will create an overly moist product that may be dense and gummy.
Using honey in place of brown sugar without also using baking soda will lead to baked goods that have a collapsed center. Additionally, another mistake that people can make is to measure brown sugar without packing it. If brown sugar is measured without packing it, there will not be enough sugar to perform the tasks that are required of it in the recipe.
Coconut sugar can be used as an alternative to brown sugar because the two sweeteners have similar texture and behaviors when baking with them. Coconut sugar also has a mild caramel flavor that is gentle on the taste buds and can easily be added to most recipes. Raw turbinado sugar can also be used as an alternative to brown sugar.
However, raw turbinado sugar contains larger crystal in the sugar and provides less moisture to baked goods. An understanding of the behavior of brown sugar will allow you to make alterations to recipes with ease. Should you have an understanding of how each alternative to brown sugar will change the sweetness, the moisture, and the browning of the recipe, you will be able to make any substitution successfully.