How Many Grams In Half Cup Butter? | Weigh It Right

Half a cup of butter weighs 113 grams, or 4 ounces, when measured as a standard US stick.

Butter is one of the few baking ingredients where the cup-to-gram swap is nice and clean. In US recipes, half a cup equals one stick, 8 tablespoons, 4 ounces, or 113 grams. If your scale shows one decimal place, you may see 113.4 grams.

That small decimal won’t make or break most home baking. Rounding to 113 grams keeps the math neat and works for cookies, cakes, frosting, pie dough, biscuits, brownies, and pan sauces.

Why Half A Cup Of Butter Has A Reliable Gram Weight

A cup measures volume. Grams measure weight. With many ingredients, that gap causes trouble: one cup of flour can change by the scoop, the bag, and the cook. Butter behaves better because a wrapped stick is packed into a fixed shape and weight.

In the US, a regular stick of butter is sold as 1/4 pound. Since 1 pound is 453.6 grams, one quarter pound lands at 113.4 grams. Recipe writers round that to 113 grams, and some kitchen charts round to 115 grams. Use 113 grams when you want the cleanest match for a US stick.

• 1/2 cup butter = 8 tablespoons
• 1/2 cup butter = 24 teaspoons
• 1/2 cup butter = 4 ounces by weight
• 1/2 cup butter = 113 grams
• 1/2 cup butter = 1 US stick

Half Cup Butter In Grams For Baking Accuracy

If you bake by weight, use 113 grams for half cup butter. The recipe will be easier to repeat because the amount doesn’t change when the butter is cold, soft, cubed, or melted. That matters in doughs where fat controls spread, tenderness, and flake.

A scale also saves cleanup. Place the mixing bowl on the scale, press tare, add 113 grams of butter, then move on. No greasy measuring cup, no scraping corners, no guessing from a partly used wrapper.

When 113 Grams Beats The Wrapper Marks

Wrapper lines are handy, but they can be off if the butter was cut unevenly, softened in a warm kitchen, or rewrapped after use. A digital scale fixes that. Even a low-cost scale that reads in whole grams is good enough for butter.

For unit checks beyond butter, the NIST cooking measurement equivalencies page gives home cooking conversions for common volume and weight units.

The Simple Conversion Math

Here is the math behind the number. A pound has 16 ounces. A common box of butter has four sticks in one pound, so each stick is 4 ounces. Four ounces multiplied by 28.35 grams per ounce gives 113.4 grams.

Most recipes do not need the .4 gram. If your scale reads decimals, 113.4 is fine. If it reads whole grams, 113 is the clean target. For doubled recipes, use 227 grams for 1 cup because that is two sticks.

This is why butter charts line up neatly. The cup, tablespoon, stick, ounce, and gram amounts are all pointing to the same physical piece of butter, not a loose scoop.

If a recipe gives 110 grams or 115 grams, don’t panic. Butter brands round labels and recipe writers round charts. Stay within that small range and the recipe will act the same. The bigger errors come from whipped butter, a spread, or a loosely packed cup.

Butter Amount	Gram Weight	Kitchen Match
1 teaspoon	5 g	1/3 tablespoon
1 tablespoon	14 g	1/8 stick
2 tablespoons	28 g	1/4 stick
1/4 cup	57 g	1/2 stick
1/3 cup	76 g	5 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon
1/2 cup	113 g	1 stick
2/3 cup	151 g	10 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons
3/4 cup	170 g	1 1/2 sticks
1 cup	227 g	2 sticks

Salted And Unsalted Butter Weigh The Same In This Amount

For measuring, salted and unsalted butter use the same gram conversion. Half a cup is still 113 grams. The salt changes flavor and sodium, not the kitchen weight you need for a recipe.

US butter is also not the same as a tub spread. The USDA says butter is made from milk or cream and contains at least 80% milkfat by weight on its butter grading information page. Spreads with added oils or water can weigh and bake differently, so don’t swap them cup for cup unless the recipe says they work.

Nutrition labels vary by brand, but plain butter sits in a narrow range because of that milkfat rule. The USDA FoodData Central butter search lets you check entries for salted butter, unsalted butter, and related dairy items when you need nutrient data for a recipe card.

What To Do With European-Style Butter

European-style butter often has more fat and less water than common US butter. The half-cup weight is still close enough for most recipes if the package is marked as a stick or block portion. The texture may be richer, and cookies may spread a bit less.

For pastry, that higher fat can help layers feel tender. For a recipe that was tested with US grocery-store butter, weigh the butter and avoid extra swaps on the first bake. Once the result works, you can test richer butter for flavor.

Recipe Calls For	Use This Much Butter	Helpful Note
Half batch	57 g	Use 1/4 cup or 1/2 stick
Original batch	113 g	Use 1/2 cup or 1 stick
Double batch	227 g	Use 1 cup or 2 sticks
Triple batch	340 g	Use 1 1/2 cups or 3 sticks
Four batches	454 g	Use 2 cups or 1 pound

How To Measure Half Cup Butter Without A Scale

A scale is best, but you can still get a sound measurement with the wrapper or a measuring cup. The wrapper method is cleaner when the butter is still firm. Cut at the 1/2 cup line, or use the full stick if the recipe calls for half a cup.

If the wrapper is gone, use tablespoons. Count 8 level tablespoons for half a cup. Press each tablespoon into the measure with no air pockets, then scrape it level with the back of a knife.

Measuring Melted Butter

Melted butter has the same weight as solid butter, but some water can steam off if it cooks too long. Melt it gently, take it off the heat once the pieces vanish, then weigh or pour. If a recipe says “1/2 cup melted butter,” measure after melting. If it says “1/2 cup butter, melted,” measure the solid butter first, then melt it.

Measuring Cold Butter For Pastry

For pie crust, biscuits, scones, and laminated dough, keep butter cold. Cut 113 grams into small cubes before mixing. Small pieces coat flour more evenly, and cold fat creates steam pockets as the dough bakes.

Where Butter Conversions Can Go Wrong

The number is simple, but a few kitchen habits can throw off the result. Watch for these:

• Packed butter in a cup: Soft butter can trap air or leave gaps, so the gram weight may drift.
• Whipped butter: Air makes it lighter per cup. Use the package weight, not the cup measure.
• Spreadable butter blends: Added oil can change texture and baking behavior.
• Brown butter: Water cooks off, so start with more butter if the recipe gives both a starting weight and a final browned weight.
• Non-US recipes: A “cup” may mean a different volume, so grams are safer than volume marks.

Best Number To Use In Your Recipe

Use 113 grams for half a cup of butter in US recipes. Use 114 grams if your chart rounds 4 ounces to the nearest whole gram from 28.35 grams per ounce. Both numbers are close enough for nearly all home recipes, but pick one and stay steady across the full recipe.

For repeat baking, write the gram amount beside the cup amount on your printed recipe or recipe card. The next time you bake, you’ll know exactly what worked, and your cookies, cakes, and doughs will be easier to repeat.