In Baking Hows, Whys, and WTFs, Shilpa Uskokovic will answer your burning baking questions and share her tips and tricks for perfect sweets. This month: How do you successfully halve a recipe?
Admittedly, I’ve never once thought to halve a recipe for any dessert I’m making because in my book, I’d always rather have more sweets than fewer. You, however, might not have quite the sweet tooth I do. In the case that you’re looking to halve a recipe, you might find some mathematical and logistical hurdles, like how to halve an egg or figuring which size baking pan to use. You can, in fact, still make a great baked good at half the size. Here’s a mini-primer on how to accurately downsize baking recipes.
First: an obligatory PSA that you should definitely be baking with a scale, especially if you are a chronic recipe cutter-downer. Scaling recipes by half, quarter, or whatever else is just so easy, effortless, and accurate when you use weights; I’d be remiss if I didn’t remind you now to please just buy a scale. (Use it. Love it. Thank me later.)
Easy-Peasy
Let’s start with the easiest, most straightforward liquid and dry (think water, milk, flour, sugar) measurements as a refresher. Think back to elementary school math class, but if that feels like too long ago, here’s a handy chart.
| Original Amount | Half the Amount |
|---|---|
| 1 cup | ½ cup |
| ⅔ cup | ⅓ cup |
| ½ cup | ¼ cup |
| 1 tsp | ½ tsp |
| ½ tsp | ¼ tsp |
| ¼ tsp | ⅛ tsp |
Slightly More Complicated
That was easy enough, but sometimes you encounter slightly harder fractions (like ¾ cup) that don’t have a corresponding measuring cup in your set. In these cases, it’s helpful to think in terms of their equivalent tablespoons and teaspoons, which makes it easier to scale.
| Amount in Cups | Equivalent in Spoons | Half the Amount |
|---|---|---|
| ¾ cup | 12 tbsps | 6 tbsps |
| ⅓ cup | 5 tbsps + 1 tsp | 2 tbsps + 2 ½ tsps |
| ¼ cup | 4 tbsps | 2 tbsps |
| ⅛ cup | 2 tbsps | 1 tbsp |
| 1 tbsp | 3 tsps | 1 ½ tsps |
Possibly Problematic
Some ingredients are like the youngest siblings in a family—they may need a little more attention. Take eggs, for instance: Because the whites and yolks perform different functions in a recipe (whites add aeration and fluffiness, yolks add fat and richness), you can’t skip out on one of them if you’re halving a recipe that calls for a whole egg. Your best bet is to lightly whisk the whole egg in a small bowl until incorporated and then measure out half the amount. Generally, half a large egg is 2 tablespoons (or if you have a scale, a vastly more accurate 25g). If you need to halve a larger but odd number of eggs (such as 3,5,9, etc.), whisk the eggs in a measuring cup and measure out half that way—and save the leftover eggs for a next-day omelet.
Times, Temperature, and Pan Sizes
Cutting all your ingredients in half necessarily means there will be less dough or batter to work with. If you’re making individual items like cookies and muffins, there’s no need to worry, but for cakes, you will definitely need to choose a smaller baking pan. Half a cake recipe baked in the original pan size will be less cake and more pancake. I always refer to this exceptionally detailed guide from The Joy of Baking when substituting one pan for another.
Needless to say, baking temperatures will remain the same. I repeat, do not halve the temperature. Baking times, however, might decrease by a little. Start by shaving off about 20 percent of the bake time and start checking for doneness from there. Again, this is less important for treats like cookies or muffins that are baked in individual portions; it doesn’t matter that there are only 3 cookies on your rimmed baking sheet rather than 6 or 8. Do use the 20 percent rule for cakes, quickbreads, brownies, and the like.
Cut your losses
There are times when it just isn’t worth breaking out the calculator and reliving math class. Most yeast dough recipes designed for home cooks come in batches sized just right for a stand mixer. Cutting one further in half would mean there is so little dough that your stand mixer would have almost nothing to grab onto. You could certainly knead the dough by hand, but frankly, yeasted goods freeze so well it’s much more sensible to bake a full batch and simply freeze half to save for a rainy day. Cookies, biscuits, and scones are all prime contenders for freezing, either before baking, which is my preference, or after.
The best tip I have for you is to do all the math and write down or type out your halved recipe separately. There’s not a lot worse than making a recipe only to realize you added half the butter but all of the flour. Wait, actually the very best tip I can offer is to use a scale for all your baking needs. (Oh, you thought I wasn’t going to revisit this topic? Ha!) You can consistently scale any recipe up or down, anytime with far less mess and hassle than using cups.
