“Brown sugar was apparently a brick in a previous life, and it keeps trying to revert back to that state,” says small h. But what do you do about petrified brown sugar?
For a quick fix, 20 to 30 seconds in the microwave will do the trick, says Emme. This is just a temporary fix, though—the sugar must be used immediately after heating, or it will revert back to its rock-hard state.
For a more permanent answer, moisture must be added back into the hardened sugar. Seal hard sugar with something moist, like a slice of apple, a piece of bread, or even a damp paper towel. The sugar will suck all the moisture out of the wet item, and be good as new in a day or two, says mcsheridan.
kchurchill5 offers a low-tech solution: “I usually just whack it with my meat mallet and it is fine.”
Board Link: Brown Sugar
i’ve seen people put a piece of terracotta (they make disks specially for this) in their brown sugar to keep it soft.
The apple slice works fine for me. Just don’t leave it in there too long. The brown sugar I buy from the farmer’s market seems to stay soft longer on its own than the commercial, grocery store brands.
Just seal the bag of commercial brown sugar and keep it in the humid part of your frig. You will never have a problem. I promise.