Brown Sugar and Oatmeal Soap | Chickens in the Road

Feb
15

Now THAT is a lot of soap!

Twelve pounds, to be exact, cut into 72 bars.

The sales conference for fall books is coming up, and my publisher asked if I would send “swag” for the marketing team to hand out to promote my book. I’m excited that they’re excited about my book, so I agreed to send along a box of homemade soap. They wanted something homemade that would represent something I did in the book. The sales reps at the conference would probably rather get pies, but that won’t ship well, so soap it is.

The recipe I chose is a simple one, and likely to appeal to most people. This soap smells delicious–and is so pretty with swirls of brown sugar.

If you’ve never made soap, you can! Check out my Hot Process Soap in a Crock Pot tutorial. You can do it!

Here’s the recipe.

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Crisco — 9.6 ounces or 272.155 grams
olive oil — 9.6 ounces or 272.155 grams
lard — 6.4 ounces or 181.437 grams
coconut oil (76-degree melt point) — 6.4 ounces or 181.437 grams
distilled water — 12.16 ounces or 344.73 grams
lye — 4.463 ounces or 126.524 grams
1/3 cup ground oatmeal
1 ounce fragrance oil
1/2 cup brown sugar

This yields a 2 pound batch of soap. I usually add the fragrance oil as the very last thing, but because the brown sugar won’t be completely incorporated–just gently turned through the mixture to leave swirls, add the brown sugar last.

Pretty! I hope they like it!

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15 Responses
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2-15
8:11
am

How can they not love this soap?

GA_in_GA

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2-15
9:19
am

This looks so good. I think I see my weekend project. I have made the soap from the November workshop several times and I love it but it is time to branch out.

Love the new babies Suzanne. I wish I could be there to see them in person. So sorry about your losses. You are such an inspiration to us all.

Can’t wait for the book.

Louise

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2-15
9:23
am

What essential oil would work best with this recipe?

Cindy H

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2-15
9:28
am

Cindy, I used a spice scent, but anything you like would work!

Suzanne McMinn

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2-15
11:15
am

The soap looks wonderful. I’ve been going back in your archives and reading about the hot process method you use. I am planning on trying some with this recipe this weekend. Can’t wait.
The reps should love the gift. More and more people are valuing the handmade soaps.

Rhonda

Luv2Quilt

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2-15
11:24
am

Sorry…forgot to ask. How do you cut your soap?? They look so even. Will you put labels on them with cute Sassafras Farm logos on them??

Rhonda

Luv2Quilt

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2-15
12:32
pm

Oh! Suzanne, you clever marketer, you! Sales reps peruse the floor looking for good swag. With luck, yo9ur pub’s sales reps will see the advantage of having these at the booth at Book Expo (end of May). Even if your pub’s booth is crowded, reps still stop because the scent of the few unwrapped bars will lure them in closer…and closer…and closer still.
Of course you’ll have not only your ‘regular’ label but a tag line …’from the author of {insert title here]. If you’re lucky, or have an author friend in the crowd, someone may even post a tweet about you, your soap, and your book. You know, like the current rage of tweeting pix of dinner.

bonita

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2-15
3:18
pm

There is nothing nicer than pampering yourself with handmade soap. I can just smell that soap…my sister is a soapmaker and her house smells wonderful!

Marigene

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2-15
4:54
pm

They will love it!!

MissyinWV

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2-16
2:44
pm

suzanne what type of scale do you use to measure your ingredients?

ticka1

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2-17
8:24
pm

Suzanne…I try to make only goatsmilk soap. Do you think this beautiful soap could be modified to use milk, or would it be too dark for the gorgeous brown sugar swirls to show up? As always, thank you for all you share with us.

Llama Gramma

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2-18
10:30
am

Llama Gramma, make your milk really cold so you keep the brown color to a tan and the swirls will still show up.

Suzanne McMinn

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2-19
7:00
am

I made soap for the first time, thanks to your directions!!! Couldn’t have been more pleased, it turned out perfectly. Was afraid that I would somehow miss seeing the trace, now I understand better. The lye was a bit scary, but I know to be careful. This was one of those “even though I did it, it still came out like it was supposed to” moments!!!
Now I want to make more! I need laundry soap, and spa soap and, well you get the idea. This may be some kind of addiction! LOL!!

Butterbean

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2-19
9:40
am

I made this soap this past weekend and it turned out great. I love it. Thank you Suzanne for all of the inspiration. Wish I was there to hold a goat baby.

Louise

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3-11
12:24
am

Thank you for the amount of fragrance per batch. Ive been looking at fragrances and recipes but none have stated the amount.

togochick

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