Handy Baking Measurement Conversions

Baking is a science, and with that comes math. See, all your math teachers were correct when they said, “You will use this in the real world.” Go thank them. It’ll make their day. And maybe bake them something delicious too. Maybe a pie. Get it? Pi! Or one of the great recipes right here at Geeky Bakehouse!

How many tablespoons are in a cup? How many cups of sugar is 350 grams? How many grams are in a stick of butter? Why does the United States insist on not using the metric system? Math will give us the answers to all those questions - except for the last one, which will forever remain a frustrating mystery.

I include both imperial (United States) and metric measurements in my recipes. There are very practical reasons why it’s better to measure ingredients in grams (metric) instead of cups or tablespoons (imperial), but I’ll save that for another time. You will probably come across recipes that don’t have both imperial and metric conversions, or you may want to create your own recipes with them, so I wanted to write a short piece that will give you a handy guide to the most common baking measurement conversions.

• 1 cup of dry ingredients = 16 tablespoons or 48 teaspoons

• 1 tablespoon = 3 teaspoons

• 1 cup of all-purpose flour = 128 grams

  • 1 tablespoon of all-purpose flour = 8 grams

• 1 large egg out of the shell = 50 grams

  • Large egg white = 30 grams

  • Large egg yolk = 20 grams

• 1 stick of butter = 113 grams, 8 tablespoons, or 1/2 cup

  • 1 tablespoon of butter = 14 grams

• 1 cup of white granulated sugar = 200 grams

  • 1 tablespoon of white granulated sugar = 12.5 grams

    • 1 teaspoon of white granulated sugar = 4.17 grams

• 1 packed cup of brown sugar = 208 grams

  • 1 tablespoon of brown sugar = 13 grams

• 1 cup of confectioners’/powdered sugar = 120 grams

  • 1 tablespoon of confectioners’/powdered sugar = 7.5 grams

• 1 cup of cocoa powder = 96 grams

  • 1 tablespoon of cocoa powder = 6 grams

• 1 cup of regular-sized chocolate chips (white, milk, semi-sweet, or dark) = 170 grams

  • 1 tablespoon of regular-sized chocolate chips (white, milk, semi-sweet, or dark) = 10.5 grams

• 1 cup of old-fashioned/rolled oats = 80 grams

• 1 cup of raisins = 142 grams

• 1 cup of pecans = 100 grams

• 1 cup of sweetened shredded coconut flakes = 120 grams

• 1 cup of full-fat sour cream = 224 grams

  • 1 tablespoon of full-fat sour cream = 14 grams

• 1 cup of dried cherries = 160 grams

• #40 (medium) cookie scoop = 1 1/2 tablespoons

• #30 cookie scoop = 2 tablespoons

• #24 cookie scoop = 2 1/2 tablespoons

I will keep updating this list with more measurements and conversions as I come across them, so check back often!