Tortillas Are The Key To Extending The Shelf Life Of Brown Sugar

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News flash: Tortillas are good for more than just quesadillas. From frying them up into homemade tortilla chips to rolling them into enchiladas, the possibilities are endless. If you don't have enough to make an actual meal, though, don't just throw that single leftover tortilla away. Instead, place a flour tortilla into your bag of brown sugar. It may seem strange, but this hack will help everyone's favorite baking ingredient stay fresh for much longer.

Gone are the days of rock-solid brown sugar. With this hack, it's guaranteed to stay fresh for more than just a few weeks (or days). Tortillas are considered a type of bread, and bread contains a significant amount of moisture. Brown sugar solidifies over time as its moisture begins to evaporate, so the presence of bread can help slow that process down and keep the brown sugar's moisture within its container, keeping it nice and fluffy. All you have to do is place a tortilla inside your brown sugar bag or box; if it doesn't fit all the way, simply fold it up. Eventually, you'll notice that your brown sugar remains fresh for way longer than it used to, all thanks to this humble pantry staple that might otherwise be thrown out.

Nobody wants to bite into a stale cookie after expecting a soft, homemade one, so beyond keeping brown sugar fresh, tortillas are also the perfect addition to your cookie boxes or storage containers. This works especially great around the holidays if you're unsure of how to keep your Christmas cookies fresh before gifting them. 

If you're gifting cookies in a cookie tin, add a small flour tortilla in between two sheets of parchment paper, and then add your cookies. Continue with this pattern until you've reached the top of the box, and you'll never need to worry about whether your cookies will last until Christmas morning again. If you're keeping your cookies all to yourself, simply throw a few small tortillas into your Tupperware and call it a day. Alternatively, if you're out of tortillas, sliced bread works just the same — or really any type of bread you've got on hand, including those last few pieces of a fancy bakery sourdough boule you aren't sure what to do with. The point is that you're not allowing it to dry out. 

If you prefer leaving tortillas and sliced loaves in your bread box, you can always grab a high-quality one like this one from Rubbermaid. After all, an airtight food storage container is bound to keep your brown sugar fresher for longer (with or without bread) than if you just let it sit in its weak plastic packaging.