how to keep brown sugar soft

Did you know you need to add something to your brown sugar to keep it from hardening? I didn't. Every time I went to use my brown sugar it was solid as a rock and I was left frantically scraping off tiny crystals for my recipes. I was pulling my hair out, proclaiming, "There has to be a better way!" 


And there is. 


Start by putting your brown sugar in an air tight container. But a container alone isn't enough. You probably already know that your brown sugar will still get hard in a container, you need to add something to absorb the moisture. Here are your options:


Terra Cotta Disk

Some are specially made to keep brown sugar soft- like this Brown Sugar Bear from Bed, Bath & Beyond, just $3. This is what I use. 


Bread

Toss a slice of bread into your jar of brown sugar to keep it from hardening. The crazy part is, it will never get moldy. Don't try to eat it, but it won't get moldy. 


Marshmallows

Toss a few marshmallows in your container to absorb moisture. 


Microwave
Maybe you didn't know about the above 3 and you need a quick fix to soften your brown sugar STAT. Toss the jar in the microwave at 30 - 60 second intervals to soften your brown sugar. You would think it would get sticky, but it doesn't. It softens and becomes useable again! Just keep nuking it and stirring...