Quick cups-to-grams chart
| Ingredient | 1 cup | 3/4 cup | 1/2 cup | 1/4 cup |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All-purpose flour | 120 g | 90 g | 60 g | 30 g |
| Bread flour | 120 g | 90 g | 60 g | 30 g |
| Whole wheat flour | 113 g | 84.8 g | 56.5 g | 28.3 g |
| Granulated sugar | 200 g | 150 g | 100 g | 50 g |
| Brown sugar, packed | 213 g | 159.8 g | 106.5 g | 53.3 g |
| Unsweetened cocoa | 84 g | 63 g | 42 g | 21 g |
| Old-fashioned oats | 89 g | 66.8 g | 44.5 g | 22.3 g |
| Butter | 227 g | 170.3 g | 113.5 g | 56.8 g |
| Water | 236 g | 177 g | 118 g | 59 g |
| Milk | 244 g | 183 g | 122 g | 61 g |
| Honey | 340 g | 255 g | 170 g | 85 g |
| Long-grain white rice | 185 g | 138.8 g | 92.5 g | 46.3 g |
Reference values cross-checked against the King Arthur Ingredient Weight Chart and USDA FoodData Central data, then rounded for practical kitchen use.
Why a cup of flour is about 120 grams
Flour is mostly ground grain with air between the particles. Spooning it into a cup leaves more air space than scooping directly from a compacted bag. That is why two people can measure the same volume and end up with different weights. The 120 g reference assumes a spoon-and-level method for all-purpose flour.
Bread flour is often listed around the same weight because its finer, more consistent milling can offset differences in protein content. Whole wheat flour usually weighs less because bran and larger particles do not settle as densely. Use the recipe's weight when one is supplied.
Sugar is denser than flour
A cup of granulated sugar is about 200 g, or roughly 80 g more than the same cup of flour. Brown sugar is packed and can reach about 213 g per cup. If you replace volume with weight using a single universal multiplier, a cake formula can shift materially.
Liquids need volume as well as density
Water is close to 1 g per milliliter, so 236 ml weighs about 236 g. Milk is slightly denser, at roughly 244 g per US cup. Honey is substantially denser at about 340 g per cup. These values are useful when a recipe specifies weight but your measuring tools only show volume.
How to measure flour more consistently
- Fluff the flour in its container instead of pressing it down.
- Spoon flour into the measuring cup.
- Level the top with a straight edge without tapping the cup.
- Use a scale when a recipe supplies grams or when the bake is sensitive.
Why weights are better for baking
Weight removes the air-pocket variable. It also makes scaling straightforward: a 2.5 times batch simply uses 2.5 times the gram amount. Scaled cup measurements require multiplying a volume, then converting that volume to weight using a reliable density.
For a recipe converter, scale the quantity first and keep fractions exact. Then show a gram reference as a secondary weight hint, not as a replacement for the original unit.
The Recipe Converter shows ingredient-specific cup-to-gram hints beside scaled cup amounts.
Scale a recipeRelated recipe tools
- Ingredient Converter for live volume and weight conversion.
- Convert Recipe to Metric for a whole-recipe metric pass.
- Recipe Scaling Calculator for serving multipliers.
- Oven Temperature Converter for Celsius, Fahrenheit, and fan settings.