This brown sugar glaze recipe comes together in minutes and does not require cooking over a stovetop or even heating in the microwave. It’s an easy and indulgent decorating solution for so many of your favorite baked goods.
I knew I was onto something with this brown sugar glaze experiment when I used it on a batch of muffins recently. I asked Jack if he’d be willing to try one of the muffins out of the batch and when he said “Oh! I can really smell the brown sugar!” right before he took a bite, I knew this glaze recipe was going to come in very handy to boost the flavor of basic baking recipes for years to come. And, of course, I knew I had to share it with you as soon as possible. What makes this topping recipe so special is that, unlike other glaze recipes that involve brown sugar, this one requires no boiling or simmering of any kind, thanks to a clever time-saving trick. So here’s how to make your new favorite brown sugar drizzle.
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Ingredients Needed for the No-Cook Brown Sugar Glaze
You’ll need:
- Brown sugar (light brown sugar or dark brown sugar will both work)
- Vanilla extract
- Milk or a non-dairy alternative such as almond or oat
This is a simple bakery-worthy topper for cookies and cakes that you can throw together in just a few minutes. I love a simple glaze recipe that wows without a lot of extra effort.
An easy-to-make recipe you’ll love: Cake Mix Brownies
Method for Preparing the Glaze
The magic really is in the method when it comes to this recipe. If you’ve ever made another basic glaze like my almond glaze with confectioner’s sugar, then you know how easy it is to blend icing sugar together with a liquid to make something really special.
When it comes to brown sugar glazes, most of them require heating to help with dissolving the sugar into a liquid because brown sugar is much more granular than confectioner’s sugar. But if you turn then brown sugar into a powdered sugar, then you’re able to work with it in much the same way as with regular white icing sugar. So the secret to this recipe is to make your brown sugar into brown icing sugar before you move on to the next steps.
To make your brown sugar into powdered brown sugar, measure out the amount you’ll need for your recipe first, then add it to a high-powered blender or food processor. A smaller coffee grinder or spice grinder will work in a pinch as well, but you may need to work in several smaller batches to get all of the sugar turned into icing sugar instead of doing it all at once.
Pulse the brown sugar a few times until the sugar granules start to become finer. Remove the lid from your blender or food processor and mix the sugar up a bit with a tablespoon or spatula to redistribute, or just shake it up a bit if you’re using a small blender. Pulse again, then repeat the process until your sugar is quite fine, almost a powder. This whole process should take about 2 minutes in total.
When you’re done, empty the brown confectioner’s sugar into a small mixing bowl and add the vanilla and about 2 tbsp of milk. Whisk these ingredients together and keep stirring until you have a smooth mixture. If you find that the glaze needs to be thinned out a bit to make it pourable, add a bit more milk, about 1/2 a teaspoon at a time, until the desired consistency is reached.
Allow your baking to cool completely to room-temperature on a cooling rack before drizzling with this delicious topping.
Another must-try recipe: Easy Microwave Chocolate Glaze With Cocoa Powder
Dessert Ideas Using Brown Sugar Glaze
It’s amazing the number of pastry creations you can bake up simply by combining all-purpose flour, melted butter, various sugars, and baking soda, and I’m always so excited to discover how even the most basic pound-cake recipes can be instantly elevated with a topping of some kind. Even a simple bundt cake, coffee cake, or a three-ingredient banana bread becomes something really special when you add a drizzle or an easy streusel topping.
This brown sugar drizzles as an indulgent, caramelized flavor to so many of your favorite recipes, especially anything apple-cider flavored or with the spicy flavoring of cinnamon or grated nutmeg. This glaze would be absolutely decadent on a carrot cake with pecan pieces or walnuts and a delightful gourmet touch when used to decorate dense, buttery gingerbread.
Here’s the full printable recipe.
This brown sugar glaze recipe comes together in minutes and does not require cooking over a stovetop or even heating in the microwave. It's an easy and indulgent decorating solution for so many of your favorite baked goods.
- 1 cup Brown sugar
- 1 tsp Vanilla extract
- 2-4 tbsp Milk or a plant-based alternative
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Start out by turning your brown sugar into a brown confectioner's sugar by grinding it to a finer powder. Dump the brown sugar into a food processor or a blender and pulse it a few times to begin grinding the sugar.
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Stop pulsing, remove the lid, and stir the sugar a bit to redistribute and break up any clumps. Alternatively, just give it a little shake if you're using a smaller blender. Resume pulsing. Repeat these steps for a few minutes until the brown sugar is a fine powder.
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Transfer the brown sugar to a small mixing bowl and add the vanilla, along with two tablespoons of milk. Mix everything together until you have a smooth, consistently even mixture. Add more milk as necessary, one teaspoon at a time, mixing after each addition until a good consistency for drizzling has been reached.
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Use your glaze immediately to drizzle over cooled baked goods. Allow it to set for about 30 minutes before serving or storing your baking for later.
Courtenay Hartford is the author of creeklinehouse.com, a blog based on her adventures renovating a 120-year-old farmhouse in rural Ontario, Canada. On her blog, Courtenay shares interior design tips based on her own farmhouse and her work as founder and stylist of the interior photography firm Art & Spaces. She also writes about her farmhouse garden, plant-based recipes, family travel, and homekeeping best practices. Courtenay is the author of the book The Cleaning Ninja and has been featured in numerous magazines including Country Sampler Farmhouse Style, Better Homes and Gardens, Parents Magazine, Real Simple, and Our Homes.