How to Measure Honey, Syrup and Peanut Butter Without the Mess
Sticky ingredients cling to measuring cups, so you end up using less than the recipe says. Here are four ways to measure them accurately and cleanly.
Honey, maple syrup, molasses and peanut butter are some of the most annoying ingredients to measure by the cup. A good amount clings to the cup, so the recipe gets less than it asked for, and then the cup needs scrubbing.
Method 1: Weigh it straight into the bowl
The cleanest method by far. Put your mixing bowl on a scale, press tare, and pour or spoon the ingredient in until you reach the weight. Nothing is lost on a measuring cup, and there is nothing extra to wash. Typical weights:
| Ingredient | 1 cup | 1 tablespoon |
|---|---|---|
| Honey | 340 g | about 21 g |
| Maple syrup | 315 g | about 20 g |
| Peanut butter | 258 g | about 16 g |
Honey is much heavier than water: a cup of honey weighs about 340 g compared with about 237 g for a cup of water. That is why a "cup" of honey surprises people on a scale.
Method 2: Grease the cup or spoon
Wipe the inside of the measuring cup or spoon with a little oil, or spray it lightly with cooking spray, before you measure. Honey and syrup slide right out. If the recipe also uses oil, measure the oil first in the same cup and the coating is already there.
Method 3: Rinse with hot water
Run the measuring spoon under hot water and shake it off before dipping it into honey. The warm, wet surface helps the honey release. This works best for spoons.
Method 4: Displacement for peanut butter
For thick spreads like peanut butter, use the water displacement method. To measure 1/2 cup, fill a liquid measuring jug with 1 cup of cold water, then add peanut butter until the water reaches 1 1/2 cups. Pour off the water. The same method works for butter; see our butter guide.
Thick dairy
Greek yogurt and sour cream are not sticky in the same way, but they trap air pockets in a measuring cup. Spoon them in, pressing to remove gaps, and level the top, or weigh them. A cup of either weighs about 240–245 g.
Warm crystallized honey gently
Honey that has crystallized is hard to measure and does not mix well. Stand the jar in a bowl of warm (not boiling) water until it becomes runny again, then measure as normal.
Scraping counts
If you do measure in a cup, use a flexible spatula to scrape it out completely. For a recipe that uses 1/2 cup of honey, the film left in an unscraped cup can be a tablespoon or more.