🥣 Baking
Cups to Grams by Ingredient
Pick the ingredient and the number of cups, then press Calculate. A cup of flour is 125 g while a cup of sugar is 200 g.
About the Cups to Grams by Ingredient
A cup measures volume and a gram measures mass, so there is no single conversion: the answer depends entirely on how dense the ingredient is. A US cup is 236.6 mL, and multiplying that volume by the ingredient's density gives the weight.
Flour is the awkward one because it compacts. A cup scooped straight from the bag can weigh 150 g, while the same cup spooned and levelled weighs 125 g. That 25 g difference is 20% of the flour in a simple sponge, which is enough to change the crumb.
How the calculation works
- Grams = cups × grams per cup
- 1 US cup = 236.6 mL
- Flour 125 g · sugar 200 g · butter 227 g per cup
Reference values
| Ingredient | 1 cup | 1/2 cup |
|---|---|---|
| Plain flour | 125 g | 62.5 g |
| Granulated sugar | 200 g | 100 g |
| Brown sugar (packed) | 220 g | 110 g |
| Butter | 227 g | 113.5 g |
| Water | 237 g | 118.5 g |
| Milk | 244 g | 122 g |
| Honey | 340 g | 170 g |
| Cocoa powder | 85 g | 42.5 g |
| Rolled oats | 90 g | 45 g |
| Uncooked rice | 185 g | 92.5 g |
Worked examples
- 1.5 cups of plain flour is 187.5 g; the same volume of granulated sugar is 300 g.
- 0.75 cup of butter is 170.3 g, or 1.5 US sticks.
- 2 cups of rolled oats is 180 g, while 2 cups of rice is 370 g.
Why scooping changes the answer
A cup of flour scooped from the bag can weigh 150 g; spooned and levelled it weighs 125 g. That 25 g is a fifth of the flour in a simple sponge, which is the difference between a tender crumb and a dry one. Spoon into the cup, then level with a straight edge, or weigh everything and skip the cup entirely.
Common mistakes
- Using a coffee mug as a cup. Mugs hold 300-400 mL, not 236.6 mL.
- Packing brown sugar for a recipe that expects it loose, or the reverse — the weight changes by 10%.
- Converting a liquid cup with a dry-ingredient density, such as treating milk as water.
A last check on the Ingredient table: Plain flour 125 g sits at the base of the chart, and the rows above it step in the same proportion, so you can scale from that first row instead of reading every line. If a figure you were quoted falls between two rows, it is the 1 cup side that has been rounded, not the conversion itself.