Cups of Honey to Grams

Cups to grams — quick reference

The formula, worked line by line

Cups of honey to grams is one multiplication by 340, the weight of a 240 ml cup. The arithmetic is the same as for every other ingredient in this section; what changes is that honey has the highest density in the set, so the numbers grow quickly and a small volume error costs more grams than it would elsewhere.

Dividing by sixteen gives the tablespoon weight, which is the measurement honey is most often called for in — a spoonful in a dressing, a drizzle in a marinade, a tablespoon to feed a bread dough.

grams = cups × 340
cups = grams ÷ 340
grams per tablespoon = 340 ÷ 16 ≈ 21.25
honey ÷ water by volume = 340 ÷ 240 ≈ 1.42

The comparison in the last formula line is the useful mental model. Honey is about 1.42 times as heavy as the same volume of water, because it is a concentrated sugar solution with very little air and very little water left in it. That is also why it behaves the way it does in the cup: it pours slowly, holds its level, and leaves a film behind on any surface it touches.

How to use the cups of honey to grams

Type the cups and read the grams, or tap Swap to convert grams back into cups. Honey is 340 grams a cup here, and that number is worth sitting with for a second, because it is the largest density in the whole converter.

USDA nutrient data gives a cup of honey as 339 grams and King Arthur Baking lists a tablespoon at 21 grams, which is 336 grams a cup; all three figures describe the same thick, nearly air-free liquid. That is the underlying reason for the weight: honey is a supersaturated sugar solution holding very little water and essentially no trapped air, so a cup of it is not far off a cup of solid sugar.

Honey is also the ingredient where weighing is not just more accurate but considerably less unpleasant. Measuring a sticky liquid by volume means coaxing it into a cup, waiting for it to settle level, then scraping it back out again while a stubborn film stays behind on the sides.

That film is real honey that never reaches the bowl, it varies with the temperature of the kitchen and the shape of the cup, and it is the main reason volume measurement of syrups runs short.

Weighing skips every part of that: put the bowl on the scale, press tare, and pour until the number is right. It is also the only method that stays accurate as a batch grows, because the film left behind scales with how many times you fill the cup rather than with how much honey the recipe actually wants.

What changes when honey replaces sugar?

One thing the weight will not tell you is how honey behaves once it is in the recipe. It is sweeter than sugar by weight, it brings water with it, and it is mildly acidic, so swapping honey into a recipe written for granulated sugar is not a one-for-one exchange; The Kitchn’s widely repeated rules, set out below, are a sensible starting point.

Honey also holds moisture in a finished bake, which is why honey cakes and honey breads stay soft longer than their sugar equivalents and often taste better on the second day than the first. None of that is visible in the gram figure, which measures only how much honey went in. The values here use a 240 ml cup.

Swapping honey for sugar, the starting rules

• Use around three-quarters of a cup of honey per cup of sugar, since honey is sweeter by weight.
• Cut another liquid by about a quarter cup for each cup of honey, to balance the water honey brings with it.
• Add roughly a quarter teaspoon of baking soda per cup of honey to offset the acidity.
• Drop the oven by about 25 °F, because honey browns faster.

Questions people ask