How to Convert Any Recipe from Cups to Grams: A Complete Step-by-Step Guide
You found a perfect recipe online, but it lists everything in cups and tablespoons. This guide will show you exactly how to convert any recipe to grams quickly and accurately.
Step 1: Identify Every Measurable Ingredient
Go through your recipe and list all ingredients given as cups, tablespoons, or teaspoons. For a typical cookie recipe: 2.25 cups flour, 1 cup sugar, half cup butter, 2 tbsp cocoa powder.
Step 2: Find the Grams-Per-Cup Value
Every ingredient has a different density. Use our ingredient guides:
- All-purpose flour - 120g per cup
- Granulated sugar - 200g per cup
- Butter - 227g per cup
- Cocoa powder - 85g per cup
Step 3: Multiply to Get Your Gram Values
Grams = cups x grams-per-cup
- 2.25 x 120g = 270g flour
- 1 x 200g = 200g sugar
- 0.5 x 227g = 113g butter
- 2 tbsp cocoa = (85 / 16) x 2 = 10.6g cocoa
Converting Tablespoons and Teaspoons
1 cup = 16 tablespoons = 48 teaspoons. If 1 cup = 200g, then 1 tablespoon = 12.5g and 1 teaspoon = 4.2g.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Using one value for all flour types: Bread flour is 130g/cup, cake flour is 100g/cup. Always specify the flour type.
Rounding too aggressively: Rounding 113g to 100g is a 12% error. Round to the nearest 5g maximum for baked goods.
Quick Reference
- 1 cup flour = 120g - 100g converter
- 1 cup sugar = 200g - 200g converter
- 1 cup milk = 240g - 250g converter
For more background, read Why Professional Bakers Weigh in Grams or browse our full baking ingredient conversions.