How to Soften Brown Sugar in a Pinch

We’ve featured some tips before on keeping brown sugar softer for longer, but that won’t help you if you begin baking something and realize too late that your brown sugar is hard as a rock. This exact thing happened to me yesterday when I was making banana bread with some bananas that were turning brown. The brown sugar I had was so hard that I couldn’t even break it apart.

I’d heard somewhere to try putting the hardened sugar in the microwave with a bit of water to loosen it up, so I gave that a try. All I did was put the chunk of brown sugar in one microwave-safe bowl and a cup of water in another microwave-safe both. I put them both in the microwave for about 2 minutes (the appropriate time will vary depending on your microwave, so I’d check it after a minute or so, then give it more time if necessary). Then voila! The sugar had softened and I could easily break it apart with my hands!

Do you have another miracle method for softening brown sugar quickly?