A couple of years ago it came to my attention that specialty brown sugars we buy for baking can be easily and cheaply made at home and save you a bunch of money. Considering the cost of ingredients these days I am determined to learn how to make as many of the ingredients I tend to buy to both save money and know what is in our food.

Right now as I write this the cheapest granulated sugar you can purchase here in the UK is 89p and you can get that at B&M (I am not sponsored or affiliated to them). My son works there as well so I pop in while he is at work and he runs my shopping through with his staff discount card giving me 10% off cos he is awesome. which means the sugar i get from there is 80p a kilo instead.

Now when it comes to molasses there is a bit of a swizzle going on. We can purchase molasses in a 350g jar for between £2.39 – £12.00 from supermarkets and specialty health and organic shops or we can purchase 5Litres of it for around £10 – £15. When I bought mine it was £9.

But Bloo why is the price so different?

Well the big 5Litre jugs of it are sold as a horse suppliment.

Doesn’t that mean it’s not suitable for humans?

Actually no… it’s exactly the same stuff as we buy off the shelf. Also in the country all pet food has to be fit for human consumption. The only real difference is that Black Strap molasses has been cooked one less time than “normal” molasses or the one sold as a horse suppliment. Also Black Treacle is basically molasses that has been cooked for longer. Which makes it interchangeable as an ingredient.

The cost for Black Treacle right now is £1.75 for 454g

Molasses is also an ingredient that has a forever shelf life as long as you keep it in the dark in its container with the lid on and make sure it never gets contaminated. I bought mine 2 years ago and I have used less than a 5th of the whole container and it is still as good as the day I bought it.

To purchase Soft Light Brown Sugar right now is £1.80 per 500g it would’ve cost me £7.20 to buy 2Kgs.

To purchase Soft Dark Brown Sugar right now is £1.80 per 500g it would’ve cost me £7.20 to buy 2Kgs.

To purchase Molasses Sugar right now is £2.20 per 500g it would’ve cost me £8.80 to buy 2Kgs.

Total cost to purchase would’ve been £23.20

It cost me£6.84 to make 2 Kg’s of each in total.

I saved £16.36 making this for myself.

Here’s the recipe …

SPECIALITY SUGAR

6 Kg’s Granulated Sugar

1.5 Cups Molasses

METHOD

For Soft Light Brown Sugar

Add 2 Kg’s sugar in a mixer

Add 2 Tablespoon of Molasses

Mix until fully combined and colour has changed to the colour of sand.

For Soft Dark Brown Sugar

Add 2 Kg’s sugar in the mixer

Add 4 Tablespoons of Molasses

Mix until fully combined and colour has turned a little darker.

For Molasses Sugar

Add 2 Kg’s sugar in the mixer

Add 1 Cup of Molasses

Mix until fully combined and colour is a deep brown colour and you can smell the rich smell of molasses.