Store Brown Sugar With a Slice of Bread to Keep It Soft

Brown sugar turns into a rock-hard brick when it loses moisture — and once it does, no amount of chiseling with a fork brings it back easily. The fix is almost laughably simple: put a slice of fresh bread in the container with the sugar. The sugar absorbs moisture from the bread, softening within hours.

Replace the bread slice when it dries out and hardens (usually every couple of weeks). A marshmallow or a small piece of terra cotta soaked in water works too, but bread is the most universally available solution. Store the container tightly sealed between uses to slow moisture loss.