One stick, four measurements
A US stick of butter is a quarter-pound block, and its wrapper is printed with tablespoon markings — which is why American recipes treat it as a measuring unit in its own right. One stick = 113 g = ½ cup = 8 tablespoons = 4 ounces = ¼ lb. The wrapper lines divide it into 8 tablespoon sections of about 14.2 g each, so even a recipe calling for 3 tablespoons of butter can be cut from a stick without a scale, though a scale stays more accurate.
The stick table, 1 to 8 sticks
| Sticks | Grams (typical) | Cups | Tablespoons | Ounces |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ¼ stick | 28 g | ⅛ cup | 2 tbsp | 1 oz |
| ½ stick | 57 g | ¼ cup | 4 tbsp | 2 oz |
| 1 stick | 113 g | ½ cup | 8 tbsp | 4 oz |
| 1½ sticks | 170 g | ¾ cup | 12 tbsp | 6 oz |
| 2 sticks | 227 g | 1 cup | 16 tbsp | 8 oz |
| 3 sticks | 340 g | 1½ cups | 24 tbsp | 12 oz |
| 4 sticks | 454 g | 2 cups | 32 tbsp | 16 oz |
| 8 sticks | 907 g | 4 cups | 64 tbsp | 32 oz |
The European block problem
The mismatch that catches bakers is the 250 g European block. It looks like a round number but it is not 2 sticks: 2 sticks weigh 227 g, so a 250 g block holds about 2¼ sticks. Cutting a 250 g block in half gives 125 g — 12 g more than a stick — which is enough extra fat to soften a shortcrust or make a buttercream slack. When a US recipe says "2 sticks," weigh 227 g from the block and save the rest; when a European recipe says 250 g, that is the whole block, not 2 sticks.
Measuring butter without a scale, honestly ranked
- Wrapper markings (best without a scale). Cut on the printed tablespoon lines; each section is about 14.2 g. Works only with US sticks.
- Water displacement. Fill a measuring jug to 1 cup, add butter until it reads 1½ cups — you have added ½ cup (1 stick). Messy but accurate for soft butter.
- Tablespoon packing. Press soft butter into a tablespoon measure and level it. Error-prone with cold butter and air pockets — a last resort.
For every other ingredient, the cups to grams cheat sheet has the weights, the butter grams to cups converter converts in either direction, and the butter conversion chart covers cups, millilitres and ounces together.