Measuring flour incorrectly is often a big issue in baking, where precision is extremely important. If you’re not measuring flour by weight, you may be packing excess flour into your measuring cup by accident. Excess flour leads to dry baked goods. You can ensure you’re not doing this by following three simple instructions:
- Stir the flour around a bit to fluff it up.
- Spoon the flour into a dry measuring cup.
- Use the back of a knife to scrape off excess flour.
Why you should measure flour this way
Dessert recipes must be followed very precisely. Small errors can lead to big changes in the final result. This is especially true when it comes to measuring flour and other flour-like substances, like cocoa powder.
Tools needed
Spoon: You’ll use a large spoon to stir around the flour in its packaging, fluffing it up. Then, you’ll spoon it into your dry measuring cup, overfilling the cup without packing it in.
Dry measuring cups You’ll need dry measuring cups to spoon your flour into. These are constructed to be the perfect size for different measurements, as opposed to liquid measuring cups, which are constructed for liquid that’s poured in.
Knife: Use the back of a knife to scrape off the excess flour.
Another way to measure flour
Another way to measure flour is to use a food scale and measure it by weight. If the recipe you’re following doesn’t give measurements by weight, follow these conversions:
- 1/4 cup flour: 31 grams
- 1/3 cup flour: 42 grams
- 1/2 cup flour: 63 grams
- 1 cup flour: 125 grams
Spoon-and-Level Method for Measuring Flour
Equipment
- Large spoon
- Dry measuring cup
- Knife
Ingredients
- Flour (or other flour-like substance, like cocoa powder)
Instructions
- Stir the flour around a bit to fluff it up.
- Spoon the flour into a dry measuring cup.
- Use the back of a knife to scrape off excess flour.
