Why You Should Store Brown Sugar With A Piece Of Bread

If you have ever opened a bag of brown sugar only to find it hardened into unbreakable clumps, you are not alone. Brown sugar tends to dry out over time, making it frustrating to work with when you need it for baking or cooking. But, a simple trick can save you the hassle: store your brown sugar with a piece of bread.

It's all about the moisture that comes from the bread. When you place a slice of bread in the container with your brown sugar, the bread slowly releases moisture as it dries out. The sugar absorbs this moisture, preventing it from hardening, drying, and clumping.

Use any slice from the loaf, even the end pieces. Simply place the bread into the container with the brown sugar, seal it tightly, and let the bread do its thing. Every time you finish a loaf of bread, simply swap out the slice for a new one. If you don't use bread much, be sure to change up your bread slice weekly. This ensures your brown sugar stays soft and ready to use for your favorite recipes.

For brown sugar that's already gone hard, there are some ways to revive it. These include gently heating it in the oven, pulsing the hardened brown sugar in a food processor, and carefully grating it (though these methods can take extra time, care, and cleaning). You may even be able to combine a small amount of water with the sugar in a bag and knead it back to a workable consistency, perhaps with a short round in the microwave to help.

A few teaspoons of brown sugar will sweeten your oatmeal as it melts in deliciously and brings more complex flavor than white sugar. Mix up your sweet potatoes by sprinkling brown sugar over each half, and enjoy a caramelized crust when they emerge from the oven. Sprinkle brown sugar over the 2-ingredient Pennsylvania snack of apple butter and cottage cheese to make it sweeter. Turn Hawaiian sweet rolls into French toast, using brown sugar in the recipe. If you're a fruit lover, you can heat the fruit with brown sugar in a saucepot — perhaps looking for some of the best fruit to buy frozen. You can even use brown sugar to sweeten your coffee or tea. Thanks to your handy slice of bread, the brown sugar will always taste fresh.