Cups to Grams Converter

How the conversion works

Every ingredient in the list has one number behind it: the weight of a US cup of that ingredient. The converter multiplies that number by your amount.

grams = cups x grams per cup

Two cups of all-purpose flour is 2 x 120 = 240 grams. Two cups of honey is 2 x 336 = 672 grams. The measure is the same and the weight is nearly three times higher, which is why a single “cups to grams” figure cannot exist.

Tablespoons and teaspoons go through one extra step. There are 16 tablespoons or 48 teaspoons in a US cup, so 3 tablespoons becomes 3/16 of a cup before it is multiplied. Open “Show the math” under any result to see the steps with your own numbers.

Worked example

A chocolate chip cookie recipe lists these in cups:

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour: 2.25 x 120 = 270 grams
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar: 0.75 x 213 = 160 grams
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar: 0.75 x 198 = 149 grams
• 1 cup butter: 226 grams, or two sticks
• 2 cups chocolate chips: 2 x 170 = 340 grams

Write the gram amounts next to the recipe once and you never have to convert it again. To make half a batch, halve the grams: 135 grams of flour is easier to hit than 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons.

Why a cup of flour is not always 120 grams

Flour compresses. Push a measuring cup into the bag and you pack more in than the recipe writer intended. King Arthur Baking puts numbers on it: a fluffed, spooned and leveled cup of all-purpose flour holds about 120 grams, and a densely packed cup can hold up to 160.

That is a third more flour in every cup. In a recipe with 3 cups of flour, the gap between the two methods can reach 120 grams, a whole extra cup. Dry cookies and heavy cake layers often trace back to this.

If you measure flour by volume, do it the way the 120 gram figure assumes:

1. Stir the flour in its bag or bin to loosen it.
2. Spoon it into the cup until it mounds over the rim.
3. Sweep the top level with the back of a knife. Do not tap or shake the cup.

Ingredients where the form changes the weight

The name on the bag is not always enough. Check which form the recipe means.

• Brown sugar is 213 grams per cup when pressed firmly into the cup. That packed cup is what recipes assume unless they say otherwise.
• Powdered sugar is 113 grams per cup straight from the bag, unsifted. If a recipe asks for a cup of sifted powdered sugar, the cup will hold less.
• Almonds are 142 grams per cup whole and only 86 grams sliced. Slices stack loosely and leave air between them.
• Raisins are 149 grams per cup when loose. Pressed into the cup they weigh more.
• Oil is lighter than water or milk: 198 grams per cup against 227.
• Honey, molasses and corn syrup are the heavy ones, between 312 and 340 grams per cup.

Small amounts

For a spoonful, divide the cup weight by 16 for a tablespoon or by 48 for a teaspoon. Some that come up often:

• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour: 7.5 grams
• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar: about 12 grams
• 1 tablespoon butter: about 14 grams
• 1 tablespoon honey: 21 grams
• 1 tablespoon cocoa powder: about 5 grams

Below about 5 grams, a set of measuring spoons is more reliable than most kitchen scales, which usually read in 1 gram steps. Keep using spoons for baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices.

US cups and metric cups

American recipes use a cup of about 237 milliliters. Australian, New Zealand and many Canadian recipes use a 250 milliliter cup. If your recipe comes from one of those countries, switch the cup size above the result. The difference is about 6 percent: 127 grams of flour per cup instead of 120, and 27 grams more across a 4 cup recipe.

The setting is saved, so you only choose it once. Tablespoons and teaspoons are treated as US spoons in both modes.

Where the numbers come from

The weights are taken from the King Arthur Baking ingredient weight chart. Where that chart lists a smaller measure, such as 1 tablespoon of honey at 21 grams or 1/4 cup of molasses at 85 grams, the figure here is scaled up to a full cup.