Spicy Habanero Sugar (Homemade Recipe)

When spicy and sweet come together, something really special happens. There is a reason people put hot sauce on ice cream, make spicy gummy bears and cowboy candy, or eat chocolate-dipped jalapeño peppers.

This recipe for spicy habanero infused sugar is very simple to make. It’s a unique way to use a few of the habanero peppers from your garden. After making this recipe, you’ll want to experiment with all sorts of different infused sugars!

All you need for this recipe is some large-grain sugar and a few habanero peppers. We love the floral flavor of habaneros, and find they’re the best hot pepper for sugar. Though, we’ve never tried ghost peppers, so if you’re brave enough to do that, be sure to let us know how it comes out!

How you can use this spicy sugar

A bit about the process of infusing flavor with sugar

There are several ways of going about imbibing your favorite familiar flavors like vanilla, lavender, citrus, and coffee to create a flavored sugar. The two most common methods are: infusion and addition.

• Infusion – This habanero infused sugar recipe calls for adding, then removing the source of the flavor to prevent it from being consumed. The oils and fragrance become infused on the sugar and it will stay fresh for about 3 months.
• Addition – Simply combine sugar with the flavor source to be consumed all at once. Think of how you would combine cinnamon and sugar. Give it a try. One of our reader favorite habanero recipes is making your own dehydrated habaneros. Turn them into a powder using a spice grinder or food processor.
  *Be sure to discard the seeds here too. Once you have your habanero powder it’s just a matter of adding it to your sugar to taste.

How to make spicy habanero infused sugar

1. Remove stems and cut each habanero pepper lengthwise. Discard the seeds and ribs.
2. Place two halves of a pepper with the inside facing up at the bottom of a glass mason jar or similar container.
3. Pour sugar directly on top of peppers. Then, top the mound of sugar with the remaining peppers making sure to face them with the inside down to making direct contact with the sugar.
4. Close the lid firmly and shake gently for about 30 seconds. This is to distribute the flavor of the habaneros throughout the container. Careful not to shake too aggressively because you don’t want the peppers to fall apart and leave bits in your sugar.

5. Let sugar sit in its sealed container for 30 minutes in a cool, dry place. When the 30 minutes are up repeat step 4 and let the sugar infuse for a additional 30 minutes
6. Open your container and pour sugar onto a lined baking sheet in a way that covers the entire surface. Make sure to leave lots of room for the sugar granules to separate and dry. Set a timer for 60 minutes.
7. Return sugar to the container. One of the easiest ways is to pinch opposite ends of your parchment paper to gather the sugar in the center, then use that as a funnel to pour the sugar back in your jar.

Recipe FAQs

Can you use white table sugar or light brown sugar for this recipe?

The texture of those sugars is very fine by comparison; and that might lead to clumping, especially when using the infusion method. However when using the addition method, they should work just fine.

I want to make these ahead of time to use as gifts, how long will it last?

Unflavored granulated sugar can last up to two years in the pantry, however as we have added oils from the infusion method it would be wise to store this sugar in an airtight container for no longer than three months.

I’m unfamiliar with this type of sugar, where can I find it?

Most major grocery chains sell products like Sugar in the Raw or Demerara Sugar.

Can you use other types of peppers?

We love the flavor of habanero peppers, so we chose them for this recipe. You could experiment with other varieties and follow the same instructions. Let us know which peppers you use, as we would love to hear how your version tastes!