I went to bake cookies last winter and found my brown sugar had turned into a brick. I chipped at it with a butter knife, gave up, and drove to the store. The fix for next time was sitting in my bread bag the whole time.

Why brown sugar hardens

Brown sugar dries out when it loses moisture. Once it hardens, it clumps into a solid block that no spoon can break.

The bread slice trick

1. Open your container of brown sugar.
2. Lay a slice of soft bread on top of the sugar.
3. Close the lid tightly and leave it overnight.

The bread gives off moisture, and the sugar soaks it up. By morning it is soft and scoopable again. Swap the bread for a fresh slice once it dries out and turns hard.

How I keep it from happening at all

I now keep a small piece of bread in the container permanently, and I seal the lid like it owes me money. A marshmallow works too if you are out of bread. For a faster fix, put the hard sugar in a bowl with a damp paper towel and microwave it in short bursts.

It felt like a magic trick the first time I woke up to soft sugar. Now I never buy the same bag twice because it went stale.