Cups to Grams Converter

A cup measures volume, not weight, so the same cup holds a different mass depending on the ingredient. A US cup of all-purpose flour weighs about 120 g, while a US cup of honey weighs about 340 g — nearly three times as much — because honey is denser and flour has air pockets between particles.

Cup size also matters: a metric 250 mL cup holds about 6% more than a US 236.6 mL cup, so gram weights scale with the standard you select. For baking accuracy, weighing on a kitchen scale removes scoop-and-pack variability (especially for flour). These figures are common baking references, not laboratory measurements.

Example (US cup): 2½ cups of granulated sugar ≈ 500 g (2.5 × 200 g). The same 2½ US cups of flour ≈ 300 g (2.5 × 120 g) — proof that cup-to-gram conversion must be ingredient-specific.

Scoop-and-sweep vs spoon-and-level flour methods swing cup weight by 10–20 g — weighing is more repeatable.

Brown sugar is often packed in cups; powdered sugar is sifted or loose depending on recipe author.

Worked example: 2 US cups granulated sugar ≈ 400 g; 2 US cups flour ≈ 240 g.

High-altitude baking changes hydration needs more than cup weights — but starting from accurate grams prevents the first failure. All-purpose flour at 120 g per US cup means 3 cups ≈ 360 g; at 4200 ft elevation you may add water after weighing, not after guessing cups. At 4200 ft elevation, weigh flour first then adjust hydration — altitude changes baking more than a six-percent cup standard mismatch alone.

Nut butters and honey stick to measuring cups, adding 10–15 g error per cup compared to weighing the jar delta on a scale. For 2 US cups of peanut butter, expect ~520 g versus ~480 g if the cup was lightly greased and scraped. Sticky peanut butter cups can err ±15 g — two US cups target ~520 g when scraped cleanly versus ~480 g with a greased cup.

Cocoa powder and powdered sugar are aerated — sifted versus packed cups diverge more than granulated sugar. Two US cups of sifted cocoa often weigh less than two packed cups by 20 g or more; pick the ingredient preset that matches how your recipe author measured. Sifted cocoa weighs less per cup than packed cocoa — pick the ingredient preset matching how the recipe author measured aerated powders.