Flour: Cups to Grams
The short answer, the full chart for every common flour, and how the way you fill the cup changes the result.
All-purpose flour conversion table
| Cups | Grams | Ounces |
|---|
How much does a cup of each flour weigh?
Not every flour weighs 120 g. Whole-grain and alternative flours pack differently, so the King Arthur Baking Ingredient Weight Chart lists each one separately (grams per US cup, spooned and levelled):
| Flour | Grams per US cup |
|---|---|
| All-purpose flour | 120 g |
| Bread flour | 120 g |
| Cake flour | 120 g |
| Whole wheat flour | 113 g |
| Self-rising flour | 113 g |
| Pastry flour | 106 g |
| Rye flour (medium) | 106 g |
| Buckwheat flour | 120 g |
| Almond flour | 96 g |
| Coconut flour | 128 g |
| Oat flour | 92 g |
Source: King Arthur Baking Ingredient Weight Chart. The converter above includes every flour in the chart — 19 in total.
Two honest answers: 120 g or 125 g?
This is the most argued-about number in baking, so here are both published figures rather than a quietly picked one:
| Source | 1 cup all-purpose flour |
|---|---|
| King Arthur Baking Ingredient Weight Chart | 120 g |
| USDA FoodData Central | 125 g |
The converter on this page uses 120 g, because the whole chart here is built on King Arthur's weights end-to-end, and consistency with one chart matters more than the 5 g gap. If a recipe comes from a source that uses USDA weights, add roughly 5 g per cup — or better, weigh the flour and follow the recipe author's own chart.
How you fill the cup changes the weight
Spoon and level (the method behind the numbers above). Stir the flour in its container to loosen it, spoon it into the measuring cup until it mounds above the rim, then sweep the back of a knife across the top. Measured this way, a cup of all-purpose flour is the chart's 120 g.
Scooping. Dragging the cup through the bag compresses the flour against the side of the bag and packs extra into the cup. There is no single "scooped" weight — it depends on the flour and how hard you pack — which is exactly why published charts don't use it, and why scooped flour is the most common cause of dry, dense bakes.
Sifted flour. Sifting aerates flour, so a cup of sifted flour weighs less than a cup of unsifted flour. The chart values on this page are for unsifted flour, spooned and levelled. When a recipe says "1 cup sifted flour", sift first and then measure by spooning the sifted flour into the cup; when it says "1 cup flour, sifted", measure first and sift afterwards.
Frequently asked questions
How many grams is 1 cup of flour?
One US cup of all-purpose flour weighs 120 grams on the King Arthur Baking chart (spooned and levelled). The USDA lists 125 g per cup. Both figures are published on this page; the converter uses the King Arthur figure for consistency with the rest of the chart.
Why do King Arthur and the USDA give different weights for flour?
They are different test kitchens measuring the same thing slightly differently. King Arthur standardised on 120 g for a spooned-and-levelled cup of all-purpose flour across all their recipes; the USDA's published cup weight is 125 g. A 5 g difference per cup is small, but it grows with big batches, which is why bakers pick one chart and stick to it.
Does bread flour weigh the same as all-purpose flour?
On the King Arthur chart, yes: both all-purpose and bread flour (and cake flour) are listed at 120 g per cup. Other flours differ — whole wheat is 113 g, pastry flour 106 g and almond flour 96 g per cup.
What happens if I scoop flour instead of spooning it?
Scooping the cup through the flour bag packs the flour down, so the cup holds more flour than the spoon-and-level method the published weights are based on. The result is too much flour in the recipe, which makes breads, cakes and cookies dense and dry. Fluff, spoon, and level instead.
How many grams is 1 cup of whole wheat flour?
113 grams per US cup on the King Arthur Baking chart — a little lighter than all-purpose flour's 120 g, because bran in whole wheat flour keeps the particles from packing as tightly.
Data sources: King Arthur Baking Ingredient Weight Chart and USDA FoodData Central. Weights are per US customary cup (236.588 mL), spooned and levelled; other cup sizes are scaled by volume ratio.