How much is half a pound of butter in cups

Quickly understand how butter is measured and weighed around the world.  Convert butter from US cups, sticks of butter and tablespoons and more to grams with handy Butter Measurement Conversion Charts.

The confusion:  Most countries outside the US (and Canada), weigh their butter using scales which makes it very difficult to understand American recipes.

I knew I couldn’t be the only one in need of quick answers.  So, in the charts at the bottom of this page, I have tried to give a variety of different conversions to try to clear up some of the confusion.

Differences in butter around the world:

• American butter is required to have at least an 80% fat content.  French butter must contain a minimum of 82% fat.  The higher the fat content in butter, the less water it contains, making pastries flakier.  More butterfat also means a softer texture, faster melt, and often, a deeper yellow color. 

• European butter is known for its rich taste which is a direct result of the higher butterfat content.  It also contains less water, European butter is often the preference for baking, especially when the butter flavor is essential in a recipe.

Tips on Making Measuring and Weighing Butter

• To make it easier to convert yourself – Try memorizing one fact in each category so you can work it out in your head. 

For example – 1/2 cup of butter equals 1 stick of butter so if a recipe calls for 2 sticks of butter, it will be simple to work out in your head that 2 sticks are equal to 1 cup and so on.

Note: Fractions are rounded to the nearest 8th fraction. Values are rounded to 3 significant figures.

FAQs on butter weight to volume conversion

Half pound of butter equals how many cups?

Half pound of butter is equivalent 1 ( ~ 1) cups.

How much is 1 cup of butter in pounds?

1 cup of butter equals half ( ~ 1/2) pound.

Weight to Volume Conversions - Recipes

(*) A note on cooking ingredients measurentsIt is difficult to get an exact conversion of cooking ingredients as the density of these substances can vary so much depending on temperature, humidity, how well packaged the ingredient is, etc. These words add even more uncertainty: sliced, chopped, diced, crushed, minced, etc. Therefore, it is better to measure dry ingredients by weight rather than volume as this can be more accurate.

Disclaimer

While every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of the information provided on this website, neither this website nor its authors are responsible for any errors or omissions. Therefore, the contents of this site are not suitable for any use involving risk to health, finances, or property.

Pounds and cups are both units used to measure butter. Keep reading to learn more about each unit of measure.

Pounds

Butter in the US is most commonly sold by the pound, which contains 4 sticks, or 16 ounces.

The pound is a US customary and imperial unit of butter. Pounds can be abbreviated as lb; for example, 1 pound can be written as 1 lb.

Cups

One cup of butter is equal to 2 sticks, or 1/2 pound.

Cups can be abbreviated as c, and are also sometimes abbreviated as C. For example, 1 cup can be written as 1 c or 1 C.

You've found pounds of flour in a recipe, but you're not familiar with these units! This pounds to cups calculator is the solution to your problem. Not only you can convert flour pounds to cups, but also cups of sugar to pounds. Wondering how many cups in a pound of butter? Or how many sticks of butter in a pound? Easy-peasy! Scroll down, and you'll find a simple explanation, conversion table, and even a little buttery infographic. If you're looking to convert from metric units of weight, check out our popular grams to cups calculator.

Pounds to cups - flour

Weight is usually more accurate when it comes to measuring the amount of cooking ingredients you need. If you prefer volume units such as cups, you can use our pounds to cups calculator! However, you need to remember that densities of products vary among brands, so the one you have may differ a bit. We've chosen the averaged value from several sources, so the value should be more or less fine. If your recipe doesn't require high precision, our pounds to cups calculator is a safe bet.

Below, you'll find the conversions not only for two popular flour choices - all-purpose and cake flour - but also for seven other types of flour:

Flour type

US cups

UK cups

(wheat) all purpose

3.2

3

(wheat) for baking

4.3

4

buckwheat

2.9

2.7

barley

3.1

3

corn

3.5

3.3

rye

2.9

2.7

soy

2.8

2.7

corn starch

2.9

2.8

potato starch

2.7

2.5

Flour is an essential ingredient in baking, but also if you're a fan of pancakes or crêpes. Challenge yourself and try one of 15 unique recipes for pancakes from all over the world - you won't be disappointed!

Pounds to cups, cups to pounds - sugar

We've prepared the conversion table for a quick comparison of different sugar types:

1 pound of sugar in cups:

Sugar

US cups

UK cups

Granulated sugar

2.3

2.1

Powder sugar

3.4

3.2

Brown sugar

2.4

2.3

1 US cup of sugar in pounds:

Sugar

Pounds lb

Granulated sugar

0.4

Powder sugar

0.3

Brown sugar

0.4

If you want to know another conversion than one sugar cup to pounds, just use our tool!

How many cups in a pound of butter? How many sticks of butter in a pound?

If you're wondering how many sticks of butter in a pound the answer is simple - four. Also, one cup of butter equals two sticks, so one pound of butter is equivalent to two cups:

Find below other quick conversions for butter measures:

• 1/4 pound of butter = 0.5 cup of butter = 1 stick
• 1/2 pound of butter = 1 cup of butter = 2 sticks
• 3/4 pound of butter = 1.5 cup of butter = 3 sticks
• 1 pound of butter = 2 cup of butter = 4 sticks
• 1.5 pounds of butter = 3 cup of butter = 6 sticks
• 2 pounds of butter = 4 cup of butter = 8 sticks

If you are cooking pasta for dinner tonight, you may want to look at the dry to cooked pasta converter, to make sure you are using the right measurements.

You might want to give the pint to pound conveter a try, as it has a conversion for many routine items.

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