Today I’m sharing a short and simple (but very important) kitchen tip: How to measure flour the right way. One of the easiest ways to ruin your baked goods is to improperly measure your flour, and it’s shockingly easy to do! I’m going to briefly walk you through the right (and wrong) way to measure flour in this post (and I’ve included a super quick video below, too!).
Baking is a chemistry, and it probably comes as no shock to you that the way you measure your ingredients is critical to the success or failure of your recipe. Just about every recipe on my site uses more flour than just about any other ingredient (except maybe sugar) and knowing how to measure flour properly is critical.
If your homemade brownies have ever turned out too cakey, your chocolate chip cookies too flat, your birthday cake too dry or your sugar cookie dough too crumbly, you might have mis-measured your flour. I’ve been there and it’s not fun.
Today I want to make sure that never happens to you again!
So How Do I Measure My Flour?
DO:
Stir your flour in case it is packed tightly into its container. Then, use a spoon and lightly spoon the flour into your measuring cup. Use a flat straight edge (like the straight back of a knife) to level off the top of the flour. Repeat until you have a smooth (not pock-marked) flour surface.
Voila. That’s how it’s done. If you weigh the flour, it should weigh 125 grams or 4.4 oz (or at least very close to it), as pictured above.
DO NOT:
Never scoop the flour directly into your measuring cup. This packs the flour into your measuring cup and you can end up with significantly more flour than your recipe actually calls for.
In the photo below I did not stir my flour and I just dipped the measuring cup into the container and then leveled it off. You can see I ended up with much more flour (21 grams more!) than when measured appropriately. If I were to measure my flour like this for a recipe that called for 3 cups of flour I would inadvertently end up using a full ½ cup more flour than the recipe calls for!
This leaves you with dry, crumbly cookie doughs and cookies, dense & dry cakes, and probably some confusion as to why your recipe didn’t turn out like it was supposed to!
Over-measuring the flour is the most common problem that it seems people run into, but under-measuring is also very possible! Most likely this would happen if your flour is fluffed up and you dip your measuring cup into the flour and end up with air pockets in the measuring cup. A less common problem than over-measuring, but still a problem!
My Number One Tip: Get a Scale & Use Weights!
If I can leave you with one piece of baking advice that has changed my own life for the better, it would be to move away from cups and get a scale. I’ve standardized my cup measurements after years of baking, and on my blog 1 cup of flour = 125g (or 4.4 oz).
However, my cup measurement doesn’t necessarily weigh as much as the next baker’s. If you go by weight measurements rather than cup measurements you know you’re using the exact amount that the recipe calls for.
I now always weigh my ingredients and it’s actually made baking so much easier. Bonus: I no longer have to wash half a dozen measuring cups when I’m finished baking.
This is the scale that I use (affiliate link). I bought it off of Amazon several years ago and have since bought a second one. It’s small and lightweight, inexpensive (around $12) and, most importantly, it’s accurate. Possibly one of my favorite and most important kitchen tools that I own.
How to Measure Using a Scale:
A few people wrote asking me exactly how to measure with a scale, so I wanted to clarify here. If you are using a scale, there is no need for measuring cups at all. To use a scale, I place the bowl that I will be combining all of my dry ingredients in on the scale. “Tare” or “zero” the scale (after you have placed the bowl on top) so it is not weighing the bowl. Then, add the amount of flour that you need.
Instead of weighing directly into the mixing bowl you can instead weigh into a separate small or medium-sized bowl the same way. I do this if I’m weighing an ingredient that isn’t the first ingredient in the bowl (for example if I’m adding sugar to an egg mixture), that way if I accidentally over-measure I don’t have to worry about scooping out just the ingredient I over-measured and not the other ingredients in the bowl.
More Kitchen Tips:
- Salted vs. Unsalted Butter — what’s the difference?
- How to Make an Easy Buttermilk Substitute
- How to Make a Perfect Easy Pie Crust
- How to Make a Graham Cracker Crust
IN SUMMARY: How to Measure Flour
It’s easy:
- Stir your flour in its container (in case it’s been packed tightly into the container or settled).
- Use a spoon to spoon the flour into your measuring cup.
- Level off the flour with a straightedge (I like to use the back of a knife, but make sure the back off the knife is actually flat and not curved). Repeat until the surface of the flour is smooth.
I never recommend sifting your flour unless the recipe you are using specifically indicates that you do so. Sifting before measuring will give you much less flour than you likely need.
OR
- Use a kitchen scale! On my blog 1 cup of flour equals 125 grams or 4.4 oz. This is the scale that I use and love.
To use a scale, simply place your mixing bowl on the scale, zero or “tare” the scale (so that it is no longer accounting for the weight of the bowl) and spoon the flour directly into the mixing bowl until you have the desired amount. No measuring cups required!
VIDEO
Sandra
Sam, thank you for another good recipe, followed exact and turned out super good, we love them. lol, I added green food coloring and then when done put a little heart on them for grinchy-doodles, turned out so cute with the cinnamon sugar on them gave them a dirty look like the grinch….tomorrow going to attempt the apple pie cookies.
PJ Tomlian
Dear Sam: I have ordered a kitchen scale and have been searching for measurements in grams for the most common products and see a difference in each. Can you please provide us with measurements in grams for a cup of these standard products?
AP Flour, Cake flour, gran. sugar, powdered sugar, cocoa powder, quick oats? Is it necessary to weigh butter, or can you trust the measurements on the sticks?
Sam
Hi PJ! There isn’t a single standard, but for my recipes and in my kitchen I use 125g – ap flour, 113-115g cake flour, 200g granulated sugar, 125g powdered sugar, 100g cocoa powder, and I don’t know the quick oats off the top of my head. With butter I’m personally comfortable using the measurements on the stick. I hope that helps! 🙂
Ed Stone
I’m a novice home bread maker and I find a digital scale absolutely invaluable. Probably my most used piece of kitchen equipment.
Sam
It is SO helpful! 🙂
Bonnie Anderson
thank you for the tips: will look forward to making a recipe from this site.
Carol Covington
Would you recommend sifting the flour AFTER weighing it? (I’ve been weighing and then dumping container contents directly into the sifter over the bowl.) Also, do you have any suggestions for baking at 5,000 feet? I live in the NC mountains, and I can never get a cake to come out just right.
Sam
Hi Carol! If you want/need to sift your ingredients it’s probably best to do it after weighing them to make sure they don’t get packed while weighing. I’m not very familiar with high altitude baking so I can’t say for sure what is going on with your cakes. 🙁
Debbie
When I moved to the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee I found my recipes flopping that turned out beautiful while previously living in New Hampshire. I found that adding 2-3 tablespoons of flour to the recipe usually helped. Even if the recipe already called for flour, adding a little more helped. The other thing I started doing was baking everything in a glass dish. I also started using parchment paper on cookie sheets.
I can’t say these ideas will help you. I’m just sharing what helped me. Keep in mind, I had to try different ideas before I figured it out so hang in there. Good luck to you.
margaret Richmond
Great tip on measuring flour. I will be doing this from now on.
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so happy it was helpful, Margaret! ❤️
Stacey
Thank you for the tips on measuring flour. I am going to look into getting a scale. In the mean time I will stir & scoop my flour into my cup to measure more accurately.
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so happy the tips were helpful, Stacey! The kitchen scale will be a game changer for you 😊
Ronald Peck Aragón
I’m pleased to see we use the same weight scale. I’m 74 I’ve baking since I was 16. I have always used the methods described in this post for all of my dry measurements. I retired to Mexico 13 years ago, and I converted everything I bake to a gram scale the measurements are more precise and it minimizes having to much of anything. Thanks for sharing. Banana nut breads are calling my annual Christmas gifts.
Bev
Hi- huge fan of your recipes. One of my favorite cookies are the chocolate crinkle cookie but when I make them they always flatten out. I refrigerate them like the recipe states but still flattens. I am going to try your recipe but if you have any tips on getting a nice high cake like cookie please let me know. thanks and love your website.
Sam
Hi Bev! As long as you have enough flour (following the tips in this post) and the cookies chill long enough these shouldn’t come out flat. 🙂
Nicole
I’ve noticed different brands have different weights, depending on their flour mixture. Even within a brand, I noticed that different blend weigh different amounts (Bob’s Red Mill in particular – I also suggest their 1 to 1 over the all purpose, which has a bean flavor to it). I’d suggest scooping out a cup the way she described and weighing it. Do that like ten times and average out the weight to know what the cup weight would be for your particular brand. Alternatively, the bag should have nutritional data on the side – multiply out the grams they listed so that it equals a cup (nutrition should list both portion of a cup and gram measurements).
Debi Falenski
Hi Sam!
Can you substitute gluten free flour? Would the measurements be the same?
Thanks! Debi
Sam
Hi Debi! You will want to use the same technique to measure gluten free flour. 🙂
sarah
hey sam
i’m from europe and i never understood how americans can bake with only using cups. it’s just so vague. 🙈
i’m really glad you always tell us the exact amount so that i can scale all my ingredients.
thank you! 😊👍
Stephanie
Thanks to you, I started measuring ingredients just over a year ago and it is a total game changer (saves me so much time). I really appreciate that you include all of the weights in your recipes. However, I recently read an article that different brands of flour can weigh different amounts. For example, one brand is 120 grams for 1 cup and another is 130 grams for 1 cup. Do you recommend going by what is on the bag of flour (for example – White Lily says 30 grams for 1/4 cup of flour) or just generally stay with 125 grams per cup of flour?
Sam
Hi Stephanie! I have standardized all of my recipes, so if you are making one of my recipes I know it works with the weight listed since that’s how I did it. How this translates to other recipes I can’t say for sure. There’s going to be some slight variations in weights recorded by different companies simply due to how they measure it. It’s best to just follow amounts listed on recipes rather than try to adjust depending on the brand of flour you have. I hope this helps. 🙂
Dolly
I just purchased the scale as well and it seems so easy I think watching the video will be very helpful too
Cindy
I love this advice. I will be weighing my flour from now on! Thank you for this information!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
It makes a huge difference! Thanks so much for commenting, Cindy 😊
Sandy
Great information. I am using your giant chocolate chip recipe, the snickerdoodle one and the oatmeal scotchie but making them all giant cookies. My first batch of them were too thick, dry and a little cake like – mostly the snickerdoodle and oatmeal ones. Now I know it is because I did not measure the flour properly. Lesson learned. BUT, I will start measuring using the weight method. If I use the measuring cup to weigh the flour to I hit the tare before adding the flour to the cup? So should the 125 grams be all flour measurement and not include the measuring cup?
Sam
Hi Sandy! You will want to place the cup of the scale and then tare it so you get just a true weight of 125g for flour. 🙂