Volume measures a shape; weight measures the ingredient. For liquids that distinction barely matters, but a cup of flour can weigh anywhere from 110 g (gently spooned) to 150 g (scooped and packed) depending on hands, humidity and how recently the bag was shaken. That 35% spread is bigger than most cake recipes can forgive — which is why serious baking recipes list grams, and why this chart states its technique before its numbers.
The house standard behind every number
- Cup size: the US legal cup, 240 ml — the size molded into US measuring cups sold today.
- Flour and powders: spoon-and-level — fluff the flour, spoon it into the cup without tapping, sweep flat with a knife. Never scoop with the cup itself.
- Brown sugar: packed, because that is how every US recipe means it.
- Rounding: to the nearest 5 g, because pretending “119.3 g” is meaningful would oversell what a volume measure can do.
Dry staples
| Ingredient (1 US cup) | Grams |
|---|---|
| All-purpose flour | 120 g |
| Bread flour | 120 g |
| Whole-wheat flour | 115 g |
| Cake flour | 110 g |
| Granulated sugar | 200 g |
| Brown sugar, packed | 215 g |
| Powdered sugar, unsifted | 120 g |
| Unsweetened cocoa | 85 g |
| Cornstarch | 125 g |
| Rolled oats | 90 g |
| Long-grain white rice, raw | 185 g |
| Panko breadcrumbs | 55 g |
| Dry breadcrumbs | 110 g |
| Chocolate chips | 170 g |
| Chopped walnuts or pecans | 120 g |
| Sliced almonds | 95 g |
| Shredded cheese | 115 g |
| Raisins | 150 g |
| Shredded coconut | 85 g |
Wet and heavy staples
| Ingredient (1 US cup) | Grams |
|---|---|
| Water | 240 g |
| Milk | 240 g |
| Buttermilk | 245 g |
| Heavy cream | 240 g |
| Butter (2 sticks) | 227 g |
| Vegetable oil | 220 g |
| Olive oil | 215 g |
| Honey | 340 g |
| Maple syrup | 320 g |
| Greek yogurt | 245 g |
| Sour cream | 230 g |
| Peanut butter | 255 g |
Why every chart you find disagrees
Compare five reputable charts and you'll find all-purpose flour listed anywhere from 120 to 130 g per cup. None of them are wrong — they measured with different technique (spooned vs. dipped), different cup definitions (236.6 vs 240 ml), and different rounding. The spread between charts is smaller than the spread between two people scooping from the same bag. The practical rules: pick one chart and stay with it inside a recipe, and when a recipe gives its own gram figure, that figure wins — its author baked with it.
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