In plain English
How to cut a recipe in half or double it
The Simple Answer
Double or halve every ingredient, then match the pan to the new amount. The only tricky part is awkward fractions: half of 1/3 cup is 2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons.
Doubling is easy. Halving is where people stall, because half of a third of a cup is not a marking on any measuring cup. The fix is to work in smaller spoons.
The tool kit
- 3 teaspoons make 1 tablespoon.
- 16 tablespoons make 1 cup.
- 1 tablespoon is half a fluid ounce, and 1 cup is 8 fluid ounces.
With those three facts you can break any cup amount into tablespoons and teaspoons and halve it from there.
| Amount | Half | Double |
|---|---|---|
| 1/4 cup | 2 tablespoons | 1/2 cup |
| 1/3 cup | 2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons | 2/3 cup |
| 1/2 cup | 1/4 cup | 1 cup |
| 2/3 cup | 1/3 cup | 1 1/3 cups |
| 3/4 cup | 6 tablespoons (1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons) | 1 1/2 cups |
| 1 tablespoon | 1 1/2 teaspoons | 2 tablespoons |
| 1 teaspoon | 1/2 teaspoon | 2 teaspoons |
| 1/2 teaspoon | 1/4 teaspoon | 1 teaspoon |
Half of 1/3 cup
1/3 cup is 5 tablespoons and 1 teaspoon (16 ÷ 3 = 5 and a third tablespoons).
Half of that is 2 tablespoons and 2 teaspoons.
The pan matters as much as the measuring
If you double a recipe but keep the same pan, the batter gets deeper and the middle may not cook through. Keep the depth about the same by matching the pan's area to the amount.
| Pan | Area |
|---|---|
| 8 × 8 inches | 64 square inches |
| 9 × 9 inches | 81 square inches |
| 9 × 13 inches | 117 square inches |
A 9 × 13 pan has about 1.8 times the area of an 8 × 8 pan, so it takes a doubled 8 × 8 recipe with the batter only slightly shallower. Going the other way, half of a 9 × 13 recipe fits an 8 × 8 pan, again a little shallower than before.
Things people often miss
- An odd number of eggs. Beat one egg and use about half of it.
- Time. A smaller or shallower batch usually cooks faster and a bigger one slower, so start checking early and go by how it looks and feels, not just the clock.
- Seasoning. Add a little less than the full change, then taste at the end.
Recipe Scaling Calculator: Enter a recipe and the number of servings you want and every amount is recalculated.
Baking Pan Size Converter: Find a pan that holds the same amount as the one in the recipe.