8 Measuring Mistakes That Ruin Baked Goods

When a cake comes out dense or cookies spread into one giant puddle, the recipe usually is not the problem — the measuring is. Here are the eight mistakes behind most baking disappointments.

1. Scooping flour from the bag

Dipping the cup packs in up to 25% extra flour. Spoon flour into the cup and level it, or weigh it. See our flour measuring guide.

2. Not packing brown sugar

Recipes assume brown sugar is firmly packed. Loose brown sugar can leave you 30% short. Press it into the cup — details in our brown sugar guide.

3. Measuring liquids in dry cups

You cannot read a liquid accurately in a cup made to be leveled. Use a clear liquid measuring cup and read at eye level.

4. Treating all "cups" as equal

A US cup, a metric cup, and a UK cup are three sizes. Following an Australian recipe with US cups quietly shorts every ingredient. See US vs UK vs metric cups.

5. Eyeballing leavening

A heaped versus level teaspoon of baking soda is nearly double. Always level baking powder and soda — small errors here taste soapy or fall flat.

6. Using the wrong egg size

Recipes mean large eggs. Several medium or jumbo eggs throw off the liquid balance. Our egg size guide has the swaps.

7. Losing sticky ingredients in the cup

A tablespoon of honey left clinging to the cup makes your recipe short. Oil the cup, or weigh it — see measuring sticky ingredients.

8. Trusting volume for everything

Volume drifts with packing, humidity, and grind. The single biggest fix is a digital scale. Convert your recipes to grams with our ingredient converters and measuring mistakes mostly disappear.