How Much Is A Stick Of Butter? Many Measurements! - KitchenSanity

Cooking and baking with butter requires careful monitoring both of amounts and temperature. Too much butter and things get soupy. Too little and your baked goods can be flat and dry. Butter may come wrapped in wax paper or in a tub, so careful measuring is critical.

In short, 1 stick of butter is about 4 Oz. (113.4g) or 8 tablespoons or half a cup in total.

Jump To:

1. 1 Stick Of Butter Equals?
2. How To Measure Butter Sticks And Blocks
3. When The Recipe Calls For Creamed Butter And Sugar
4. Why Buy Butter In A Tub?
5. Final Thoughts

1 Stick Of Butter Equals?

The following questions can make or break your kitchen experience:

• How many tablespoons in a stick of butter? 8 tablespoons total
• How many sticks of butter in a cup? 2 sticks
• How many ounces in a stick of butter? 4 ounces, or half a cup
• How many grams is a stick of butter? 113 grams

SEE ALSO: How long does butter last?

How To Measure Butter Sticks And Blocks

Butter generally comes 4 quarters to a box, and each quarter is half a cup, so a full box is two cups of butter. You can also purchase butter in blocks, so the whole box is one big rectangle of butter, still containing two cups. You can learn more about measurements in our guide to how many tablespoons are in a cup.

There will probably be lines printed on your sticks or block of butter. Cut the butter through the wax paper while cold but not frozen, as frozen butter breaks rather than splitting cleanly and you’ll get uneven lumps that will make your measurement inaccurate.

Cutting frozen butter can also be dangerous. Putting a lot of pressure on a knife handle and forcing your way through cold butter is a good way to damage the blade of your knife, cutting board and (most importantly) fingers.

When The Recipe Calls For Creamed Butter And Sugar

Creaming butter and sugar together introduces air into the fat, so when you add your flour and baking soda or powder, you get puffier cookies. Cold butter just doesn’t cream well and may force your mixer to work much harder than it has to.

Experts with America’s Test Kitchen suggest putting that cold stick of butter into a Ziploc and beating it with a rolling pin to flatten it and get it ready to mix with sugar.

You can soften frozen butter quickly by placing it in a fairly deep bowl and floating the bowl in a container of hot water. Make sure no water gets in the bowl; all you’re doing is providing a warm, cozy environment for the butter to soften. As it softens, you can cut small portions away to increase surface area and speed up the thawing process.

Never microwave cold butter for baking! Liquid butter is great on lobster, but it makes for terrible cookies. You need the sold fat structure for the best texture when blending butter and sugar.

Why Buy Butter In A Tub?

Butter can also come in a tub. To measure tub butter properly, a Wonder Cup can be very helpful. This cup has a stopper on the bottom and a sleeve with measurements printed on it.

Simply slide the sleeve to note how much volume of any product you need, then fill the void. As you push the stopper up into the sleeve, the tube is wiped clean. This tool is also very handy for peanut butter, shortening, molasses and corn syrup.

Related | How Long Does Shortening Last?

Butter is fat, and fat absorbs odors. Unless you go through butter fairly quickly, it may spend a lot of time in your refrigerator or cooler, absorbing any and all odors left to build up in your refrigerator. If it takes you some time to use up butter, airtight tubs may be the best way to go.

Final Thoughts

Look through any old community or church cookbook, and you’ll find tons of recipes that call for butter. This is because it’s a very consistent fat.

It has a standard texture, melts at about the same temperature, and will hold air so leavening agents can act on it.

Also, butter has a great mouthfeel. Your baked goods will maintain a consistent texture and stay moist and delicious with real butter.

Unfortunately, if you’re in a pinch and need a substitute for butter, there aren’t many options that can replace it.