Is a cube of butter a half cup?
One quarter-pound stick of butter is a half (1/2) cup. If you're using the larger eight-ounce rectangle butter blocks, the whole block is a 1/2 cup. Check the butter's wrapper for the weight in ounces. A four-ounce stick is 1/2 cup; an eight-ounce block is 1 cup.
One full stick of butter equals 1/2 cup, or 8 tablespoons. Our half sticks equal 1/4 cup of butter, or 4 tablespoons. They can be used interchangeably in recipes. You don't have to use measuring cups to measure butter.
Butter (or margarine) comes in 1 pound packages, 4 sticks, or "cubes" to a package. Each stick (cube) is one half cup or 8 tablespoons. So if a recipe calls for one cup of butter, you would use two cubes.
Butter Cubes, as the name suggests, are small cubes of butter. To make butter cubes, take a frozen block of butter and place it on a chopping board. Using a sharp knife, cut it vertically and then start cutting it horizontally into ½-inch cubes.
One half-stick of butter is 1/4 cup or 4 tablespoons.
Measure butter using a ruler
Keeping in mind that a whole brick of butter is 2 cups (500 mL), you can measure and convert it based on the chart above.
Olive oil is another alternative to butter, touting around 120 calories per tablespoon, 14 grams of total fat, and 0 grams of cholesterol. In terms of conversion, ½ cup of butter can be replaced by ¼ cup and 2 tablespoons of olive oil.
BUTTER VOLUME | US CUPS | GRAMS |
---|---|---|
half (½) stick of Butter | ¼ cup | 56.7 g |
1 stick of Butter | ½ cup | 113.4 g |
2 sticks of Butter | 1 cup | 226.8 g |
4 sticks of Butter | 2 cups | 453.6 g |
Two (4-ounce) sticks of butter equal 1 cup.
The problem is, "cube" seems to be a colloquial measurement meaning either a literal cube (2 tablespoons), a whole stick (8 tablespoons), or half a stick (4 tablespoons). With a "West Coast" stick of butter, a literal cube is a half stick (4 tablespoons) . An "East Coast stick of butter is 1/4 stick (2 tablespoons).
What is the equivalent of 1 cup butter?
Butter measurement equivalents | ||
---|---|---|
US Cups | Grams | Tablespoons |
¾ cup of Butter | 170.1 g | 12 Tbsp |
7/8 cup of Butter | 198.5 g | 14 Tbsp |
1 cup of Butter | 226.8 g | 16 Tbsp |
Butter is easiest to measure by weight (using grams or ounces) but some people prefer to measure sticks of butter (that are pre-wrapped and pre-measured portions of butter) or with a tablespoon.

1/3 cup would equal 5 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon butter.
Water-displacement method
Take a bigger liquid measuring cup and fill it with water equal to the amount of butter you need for the recipe. Add chunks of butter until the water doubles in volume. Be sure that the measuring cup is big enough to handle twice the volume that you wish to measure out.
When you multiply a whole number (not a fraction) by itself, and then by itself again the result is a cube number. For example 3 x 3 x 3 = 27. An easy way to write 3 cubed is 33. This means three multiplied by itself three times.
Hello, Block butter is the one you'll find in a block or cylinder – usually wrapped in paper lined foil or paper. We use it whenever the recipe calls for melted butter or in creamed cakes. Mostly you can substitute for spreadable butter if you have it.
According to John Bruhn, former director of the Dairy Research and Information Center at the University of California, Davis, "...the size of the cube you see is a result of newer equipment purchased at the time to package the butter." And that difference has stuck, so much so that even Minnesota-based Land O' Lakes ...
half of a cup, equal to 4 fluid ounces (0.1 liter) or 8 tablespoons.
One stick of butter is 1/2 (half) cup. Two sticks of butter is 1 cup.
Most sticks of butter have measurements on the wrapper of the stick. Each line denotes 1 tablespoon of butter. If you have a stick and either threw the wrapper away or the wrapper doesn't have markings, you can still measure tablespoons. To do this, take a ruler or tape measure and measure the length of the stick.
Is a block of butter a stick?
A stick of butter is the result of taking a one-pound (450g) block of butter, and cutting it lengthwise into quarters (actually, it's made that way). Each stick of butter therefore weighs ¼ pound (4 oz / 115 g.)
- Olive oil.
- Ghee.
- Greek yogurt.
- Avocado.
- Pumpkin purée.
- Mashed bananas.
- Coconut oil.
- Applesauce.
Substitutes for Unsalted Butter
For 1 cup unsalted butter, substitute 1 cup shortening, ⅞ cup (that's 14 Tbsp. or ¾ cup plus 2 Tbsp.) vegetable oil, or ⅞ cup lard.
A square of butter, or a pat, is a slice from a stick of butter that equals one and a half tsps or 1 Tblsp.
Therefore, it's best to stick to 1–2 tablespoons (14–28 grams) per day, combined with other healthy fats like olive oil, nuts, seeds, coconut oil, avocados, and fatty fish. Enjoying butter in moderation may be linked to a lower risk of obesity, diabetes, and heart problems.
If your butter doesn't come in sticks or the sticks are irregular, you can easily still measure cups by using a measuring cup and a spoon. Begin by scooping the butter into the measuring cup. Keep an eye on the fill lines as you scoop to make sure you're adding the right amount of butter.
2 sticks butter = 1 cup (16 Tbsp.) 1 stick butter = ½ cup (8 Tbsp.)
One stick of butter is 8 tablespoons, or a half cup.
Fill a measuring cup part-way with cold water, and drop in your cold butter bits until the measure reaches the quantity you need. For 8 tablespoons butter, fill a measuring cup with, say, one-half cup water. Add butter until it reaches one cup (one-fourth cup equals 8 tablespoons). Voila.
Can I replace butter with water?
Even a major shortening brand recommends adding water when substituting for butter. To get a mixture that tastes a bit more like butter, you could use milk instead of water. In most baking applications, the additional liquid can simply be added when other wet ingredients are mixed in.
1/3 cup would equal 5 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon butter.
- Margarine. Margarine is possibly the most-used butter substitute for baking cookies, cakes, doughnuts or just about anything else for that matter. ...
- Shortening. ...
- Olive & Vegetable Oil. ...
- Coconut Oil. ...
- Pumpkin Puree. ...
- Applesauce. ...
- Greek Yogurt. ...
- Bananas.
Normal block butter is pure unadulterated butter fat that's made from dairy cream. Spreadable 'butter' is a mixture of butter and canola oil or another vegetable fat. The liquid fat softens the butter which is normally a solid block when refrigerated.
- Applesauce. Applesauce significantly reduces the calorie and fat content of baked goods. ...
- Avocados. ...
- Mashed bananas. ...
- Greek yogurt. ...
- Nut butters. ...
- Pumpkin purée.
Count the amount of sticks you have.
Each standard stick of butter is ½ cup. If your butter comes in sticks, you can convert that measurement into the amount of cups you need without any measuring. For example, if your recipe calls for 2 cups, you need 4 sticks.