Baking Tips

This is the gold standard for measuring dry ingredients, and it's the technique our density values are based on.

First, loosen the flour by stirring it in the bag or container. Then spoon it into the measuring cup until it's overflowing. Finally, use the flat edge of a knife to sweep across the top, levelling it off cleanly.

Do not press down, shake, or tap the cup — any of these can compact the flour and increase the amount by up to 20%. This method works for flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cocoa powder, and other dry ingredients.

The "scoop and pack" method — dipping your measuring cup straight into the flour bag — compresses the flour as the cup pushes through it. This can give you 140-150g per cup instead of the standard 120g.

If your baked goods consistently come out dense, heavy, or dry, this is the most likely culprit. Simply switching to spoon-and-level can fix the problem without changing anything else in your recipe.

Sifting incorporates air, which changes the weight. One cup of sifted all-purpose flour weighs about 112g, while one cup of unsifted flour weighs about 120g. That's a meaningful difference in a recipe that calls for several cups.

Watch the word order: "1 cup sifted flour" means sift first, then measure. "1 cup flour, sifted" means measure first, then sift. They give different amounts. Our converter handles both cases when the instruction is included in the input.

Powdered sugar clumps easily, so the sifted/unsifted distinction matters even more here. "1 cup sifted confectioners' sugar" (sift, then measure) gives you noticeably less sugar than "1 cup confectioners' sugar, sifted" (measure, then sift).

When converting recipes with confectioners' sugar, note which form is specified. If the recipe doesn't say, assume unsifted — it's the more common convention.

A "cup" isn't universal. The US customary cup is 236.6 ml, the Australian and metric cup is 250 ml, and the old UK imperial cup is 284 ml. Our converter uses the American customary cup as the default.

If you're following a recipe from another country, knowing which cup standard it uses is essential. A recipe from an Australian food blog calling for "2 cups flour" means 500 ml worth, not the 473 ml a US baker would measure.

Not all measuring cups are manufactured to the same standard. Tests have shown that a cup of flour in one set of metal cups can weigh 120g, while the same flour in a ceramic cup set can weigh 145g. That's a 20% difference from the tool alone.

For best results, use a single consistent set of measuring cups. Better yet, use a digital kitchen scale.

All standard baking measurements assume level cups and level spoons unless explicitly stated otherwise. A "heaped" or "heaping" tablespoon holds roughly 1.5 times the amount of a level one.

Our converter assumes level measurements. If your recipe calls for heaped spoons, include that in the input and the AI will adjust the calculation.

A cup of flour can vary by 20-30% depending on the technique, the cup, the humidity, and whether the flour has settled. But 120 grams is always 120 grams.

Professional pastry chefs almost universally recommend weighing ingredients for consistency. A basic digital kitchen scale costs less than a bag of premium flour and will improve your baking immediately. If a recipe gives weights, use them.

Unlike dry ingredients, liquids have a consistent density — 1 ml of water weighs 1 gram, and most common baking liquids (milk, cream, juice) are close enough that the difference is negligible.

The main complication is that US and UK fluid ounces are different sizes: 1 US fl oz = 29.6 ml, while 1 UK fl oz = 28.4 ml. And a US pint (16 fl oz, 473 ml) is much smaller than a UK pint (20 fl oz, 568 ml). Our converter detects which system your recipe uses.

Liquid measuring cups (the transparent jugs with a spout) and dry measuring cups (the flat-topped scoops) hold the same volume, but they give different practical results.

With a dry measuring cup, you can't fill liquid right to the brim without spilling. With a liquid cup, you can't level off dry ingredients accurately. Using the right tool for the job eliminates a common source of error.

In the US, butter is sold in packs of four individually wrapped sticks, each weighing 113g (4 oz / ¼ pound). The wrapper is typically marked with tablespoon lines, making it easy to cut precise amounts.

1 stick = 113g = ½ cup = 8 tablespoons. 2 sticks = 227g = 1 cup. 4 sticks = 454g = 1 pound.

If you're outside the US and a recipe calls for "sticks" of butter, our converter will translate to grams or your preferred unit.

One cup of solid butter (measured by packing it into the cup) is not the same volume as one cup of melted butter poured into a liquid measuring cup. Solid butter has air pockets; melted butter fills every gap.

When a recipe says "½ cup butter, melted" it usually means measure the solid butter first, then melt it. "½ cup melted butter" can be ambiguous. When in doubt, go by weight — 113g is 113g regardless of state.

Structural ingredients like flour, sugar, butter, eggs, and leavening agents (baking powder, baking soda) directly affect the chemistry of baking and need to be measured carefully.

Mix-in ingredients like chocolate chips, nuts, dried fruit, and sprinkles are much more forgiving. If a recipe calls for "1 cup chocolate chips" and you're a bit over or under, it won't affect the structure — just the chocolate-to-cookie ratio (which is a matter of taste, not science).

The most important thing isn't whether you measure 120g or 125g of flour — it's that you measure it the same way every time. If your recipe works with your technique, keep using that technique.

Conversions are most useful when you're trying a recipe written for a different measurement system. Convert once, test the recipe, and then adjust to taste for future batches.

If you're baking above about 3,500 feet (1,070 m), lower air pressure changes how baked goods rise. You may need to reduce sugar and leavening, increase liquids, and raise oven temperature slightly.

This isn't a conversion issue — our tools give you the right amounts regardless of altitude — but it's worth knowing if your perfectly converted recipe still isn't working as expected at high elevation.

Many recipes call for "room temperature" butter or eggs. This isn't just a suggestion — cold butter won't cream properly with sugar, and cold eggs can cause batter to curdle.

Room temperature for baking means about 20-22°C (68-72°F). Take butter out 30-45 minutes before baking. For eggs, place them in warm (not hot) water for 10 minutes.