How to Measure Ingredients for Baking

Did you know that HOW you measure your ingredients can make or break a recipe? Learning to measure accurately will help you get the best results when baking! In this video I’m sharing my top tips for how you can be successful in the kitchen!

A Brief Summary…

• Use dry measuring cups for things like flour, sugar and solids like shortening or nut butters.
• Use wet measuring cups for liquids like milk, water or honey.
• When measuring liquids, always get eye level with your measuring cup to get the most accurate reading.
• To measure flour by volume (in a measuring cup), fluff the flour with a spoon and spoon it into your dry measuring cup. Level it off with a knife – DON’T scoop and dump!
• To measure flour by weight, (with a scale), place bowl on food scale and zero out the scale. Some flours are lighter or heavier, but in general, one cup of all purpose flour or bread flour should weigh 120 grams or 4 1/4 ounces. Other flours like cake flour are lighter, so be sure to check a weight table like this one from King Arthur to see how much a cup of your chosen flour should weigh. Measuring flour by weight is ALWAYS the most accurate way to measure! A cup isn’t always a cup, but a gram is always a gram!
• Crack eggs into a clear bowl before adding to a recipe. This will allow you to remove any egg shells before it gets mixed into your other ingredients.
• When using Instant Yeast, add yeast directly to your flour and mix as directed.
• When using Active Dry Yeast, “activate” your yeast in a bowl of warm water (110°f) and 1 teaspoon of sugar. Combine and let sit until it starts to foam or bubble. This could take up to 15 minutes. If it doesn’t foam or bubble, the yeast is dormant and should be thrown out. When your yeast DOES activate, add the entire yeast/water/sugar mixture to your recipe and decrease the total liquid amount called for by 1/4 cup. See also my post about Active Dry Yeast vs. Instant Yeast for more information about working with yeast.

Learning to measure and use these few ingredients accurately will really give you better results as you try new recipes!

Links for my favorite measuring tools:

• Food Scale – most accurate measuring technique!
• All in One Measuring Cup (my favorite for measuring shortening!)
• Pyrex Liquid Measuring Cups – I use these ALL the time for cracking eggs (clear to check for shells), measuring liquids and melting butter. They are microwave safe!
• OXO Dry Measuring Cups – My favorite, quality brand for kitchen tools!

(Affiliate links may be found in this post)