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How to measure flour
Flour gets mis-measured more than any other ingredient, and too much flour is the most common reason cakes turn out dry and cookies come out cakey.
Three ways to fill a cup
- Spoon and level. Fluff the flour, spoon it loosely into the cup and sweep the top flat with a knife. This gives the lightest, most repeatable result.
- Dip and sweep. Dip the cup into the bag and level it off. This packs the flour and gives a heavier cup.
- Sifted. Sift the flour first, then spoon it into the cup. This gives the lightest cup of all. Only do it when the recipe says "1 cup sifted flour".
Reference weights for flour (USDA)
| Flour | Grams per US cup |
|---|---|
| All-purpose flour | 125 g |
| Bread flour | 137 g |
| Whole wheat flour | 120 g |
| Cake flour | 137 g |
| Rye flour (medium) | 102 g |
| Dark rye flour | 128 g |
| White rice flour | 158 g |
| Brown rice flour | 158 g |
| Buckwheat flour | 120 g |
| Corn flour (whole-grain) | 117 g |
| Cornmeal (yellow) | 122 g |
| Cornstarch | 128 g |
| Semolina | 167 g |
| Potato flour | 160 g |
| Arrowroot flour | 128 g |
| Soy flour | 84 g |
Flour weights differ between sources because each one assumes a different way of filling the cup. Some baking companies use a lighter spoon-and-level figure of about 120 g for all-purpose flour, while the USDA lists 125 g. If a recipe gives its own gram weight, trust that over any chart, since the author measured it their way.
The simplest fix: a digital kitchen scale costs less than a bag of good chocolate and makes every recipe repeatable.