Of all the sweeteners that I use, brown sugar has got to be one of my favorite! I love to savor that extra bit of rich flavor it brings. I use it in baking, making syrups, and to top my oatmeal in the morning!

The one thing that I don’t like about it- hard brown sugar. Most of the time, I have no issue keeping it soft (it usually doesn’t last long enough to get hard!), but sometimes it does go a little hard. Here’s how to keep your brown sugar nice and soft, and oh so sweet!

First of all, keep it in an airtight container! Not kind of airtight, but super airtight. That is the biggest step. I have a great Rubbermaid container with a red lid that I love to keep my sugar in.

Add something to keep it soft. You can get terra cotta discs in many cooking stores to help keep brown sugar soft. You soak it in water before adding it to the brown sugar and it slowly releases the moisture as needed. You can also place a slice of bread or a couple slices of apple to do a similar job! While they dry up a little, they shouldn’t mold or get nasty.

If you do have hard brown sugar, you can rescue it! Place it in a microwavable dish, place a moist paper towel over the dish, and zap it in 30-second doses until soft, usually about 1-2 minutes.

Enjoy your soft, luscious brown sugar! See my other article for a chocolate chip cookie bar recipe that uses it!