270 g of peanut butter is 1 cup. Peanut butter is one of the heaviest ingredients per cup because it is dense, sticky and almost free of air. It is also one of the hardest to measure by volume: it clings to the cup, traps air pockets, and a loosely filled cup can be 30 g light. For peanut butter, weighing is not a nicety, it is the only reliable method.
All figures on this page are approximate, and they come from King Arthur Baking, measured scooped. When a recipe has to work the first time, verify with a kitchen scale.
Conversion table
| Cups | Grams of peanut butter |
|---|---|
| 1/4 cup | 67.5 g |
| 1/3 cup | 90 g |
| 1/2 cup | 135 g |
| 2/3 cup | 180 g |
| 3/4 cup | 202.5 g |
| 1 cup | 270 g |
| 1 1/2 cups | 405 g |
| 2 cups | 540 g |
| 3 cups | 810 g |
| 4 cups | 1080 g |
Quick reference: 100 g of peanut butter is about 0.37 cups, and 50 g is about 0.19 cups. All figures are approximate; verify with a kitchen scale when it matters.
How the measurement works
The figure on this page comes from King Arthur Baking, measured scooped. Ground peanuts, usually with salt and a little oil. Sandwiches, cookies, sauces and satay.
All results on this page are approximate. Ingredient weights vary with brand, humidity, temperature and how firmly you pack the cup, so when a recipe has to work the first time, weigh the ingredient on a kitchen scale and use the numbers here as a guide.
Worked examples
Peanut butter cookies for a bake sale
A cookie recipe uses 270 g of peanut butter, exactly 1 cup, creamed with butter and sugar. The cookies rely on the peanut butter for both flavour and structure, so the amount matters. Weigh it straight into the bowl on the scale, because scraping a cupful of peanut butter out of a measuring cup is slow and inaccurate.
A satay sauce for grilled chicken
A satay sauce uses 135 g of peanut butter, half a cup, whisked with soy sauce, lime juice and a little hot water. The sauce should be thick enough to coat the chicken but thin enough to pour. Half a cup is manageable with a spoon, but weighing it is faster and there is nothing to scrape.
Energy balls for a hiking trip
An energy ball recipe uses 135 g of peanut butter, half a cup, mixed with oats, honey and chocolate chips, then rolled into balls. The peanut butter is the glue that holds the balls together. If it is short, the balls crumble; too much and they are greasy and will not hold their shape.
Practical guidance
Dry powders and leavening agents are measured spooned and levelled, never heaped and never scooped from the container. A heaped tablespoon of baking soda can be double the intended amount, and that much extra leavening leaves a soapy, metallic taste and a collapsed crumb. Dip a dry spoon into the container, fill it, then level it with the back of a knife. Keep leavening in airtight containers away from humidity, and replace baking powder every six months once opened, because stale powder is the most common silent cause of flat cakes.
Scaling is straightforward once you know the cup weight. Doubling a recipe that calls for 270 g of peanut butter means measuring 540 g, or 2 cups, and tripling it means 810 g, or 3 cups. Halving is just as easy: half a cup is 135 g. The key is to scale every ingredient by the same factor, because changing one ingredient without changing the others throws the recipe out of balance. A cake scaled by half still needs half the flour, half the sugar, half the butter and half the peanut butter, not just half of one of them. If you are scaling a recipe by an awkward factor, like two thirds, weigh the peanut butter rather than trying to measure two thirds of a cup in a jug, because the jug markings are not precise enough for fractions of a cup.
When should you weigh peanut butter instead of measuring it? Whenever the recipe has to work the first time, and whenever the amount is large. A kitchen scale costs less than a single failed cake, and it removes the biggest source of variation in home cooking: the way ingredients pack into a cup or a spoon. Put the bowl on the scale, press tare, and add the peanut butter until the display shows the number you need. There is nothing to wash afterwards except the bowl, and the result is the same every time. For small amounts, a level spoon is accurate enough, and for liquids, a jug is fine, but for anything where precision matters, the scale is the tool to reach for.
Storage. Cool cupboard; stir natural peanut butter before use.
- Weigh peanut butter; the cup measure is unreliable.
- Oil the cup lightly so it slides out cleanly.
- Stir natural peanut butter before measuring.
Frequently asked questions
How do I measure peanut butter without a scale?
Spoon it into a dry cup and press it down firmly to remove air pockets, then level the top. To get it out cleanly, lightly oil the cup first, or use the water displacement method: fill a jug with water to a known level, add peanut butter until the water rises by a cup, then pour the water away.
Is natural peanut butter the same weight as regular?
Nearly. Natural peanut butter is about 5 g lighter per cup because it contains less added oil and sugar, but the difference is small. Stir natural peanut butter well before measuring, because the oil separates and the top of the jar is lighter than the bottom.
Can I substitute almond butter for peanut butter?
Yes, gram for gram. Almond butter is slightly lighter per cup, about 250 g, but the difference is small enough to ignore in most recipes. The flavour is milder and the cost is higher, but the texture is very similar.
How many tablespoons is 100 g of peanut butter?
One tablespoon of peanut butter is about 16.9 g, so 100 g is about 6 tablespoons. For small amounts, tablespoons are more accurate than a cup, and a scale is more accurate than either.
How long does peanut butter keep?
About six months in a cool cupboard once opened, and longer unopened. Natural peanut butter should be refrigerated after opening to stop the oil separating, and stirred before each use.
Common mistakes to avoid
The most common mistake with dry powders is using a heaped spoon instead of a level one, which can double the amount of a powerful ingredient like baking soda. The second is scooping the spoon straight from the container, which packs the powder down and adds weight. The third is using a damp spoon, because moisture makes powders clump and stick, and the measurement becomes unreliable. The fourth mistake is confusing baking soda and baking powder, which look identical but behave very differently: soda needs an acid, powder does not, and swapping them will change whether a bake rises at all. Finally, do not keep leavening agents in a humid kitchen without a sealed container, because they absorb moisture and lose their strength, and a cake made with stale baking powder will not rise no matter how carefully you measure it.