How to Scale Any Recipe to Make it a Small Batch Recipe · i am a food blog (2024)

If you’re anything like me, you like scaling recipes. It’s one of the magic things about baking: everything is infinitely scaleable. You should, in theory, be able to make one cookie or 100 cookies all taste exactly the same using the magic of math. So if you want to learn how to scale recipes for small batches, you’ve come to the right place.

Plus in the time of Covid, when you don’t have a lot of ingredients (I’m looking at you butter, flour, and eggs!) scaling recipes just seems like the smart thing to do. You can avoid going to the grocery store more than necessary and still have a huge variety of things to make and eat. Most small batch recipes out there are for baking, since baked goods always seem to be for 2 dozen or more, but I find the following tips and tricks good for scaling cooking recipes too since we just have two of us at home . I’m forever googling: how much is half of 3/4 cup. Now, for my sanity, I will have all the conversions right here on one page.

How to Scale Any Recipe to Make it a Small Batch Recipe · i am a food blog (1)

How to Scale Recipes for Small Batches

If your recipe comes in weights (yay British baking sites!) and you use a scale, you’re in luck. All you need to do is punch everything into a calculator and divide by 2 if you’re halving or 4 if you’re quartering. But, if your recipe is in cups and tablespoons, sometimes there’s a bit more to figure out. You could use one of those online recipe converters. But if you do, you’ll probably end up with a bunch of strange fractions like 7/8 cup or 1/16 teaspoon. I know because I use them all the time andI am forever googling things like:

  • what is half of 3/4 cup
  • how do you measure 1/6 cup in tablespoons
  • how do you measure out half an egg
  • how many tablespoons are there in 1/6 cup

Online recipe converters are helpful because they do most of the math for you, but I’m always double checking. So, here are some things that I find really useful when scaling recipes.

Converting Cups to Tablespoons
If you’re small batching baking, you’ll inevitably run into weird cup measures like 5/8 or 3/8. Don’t bother trying to use your cup measures, instead, just check how many tablespoons you need.

1 cup = 16 tablespoons
7/8 cup = 3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons
3/4 cup = 12 tablespoons
2/3 cup = 10 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons
5/8 cup = 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons
1/2 cup = 8 tablespoons
3/8 cup = 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons
1/3 cup = 5 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon
1/6 cup = 2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons
1/4 cup = 4 tablespoons
1/8 cup = 2 tablespoons

How to Scale Any Recipe to Make it a Small Batch Recipe · i am a food blog (2)

Eggs – How Do I Measure Out Half an Egg or Partial Eggs?
Almost all baked goods call for eggs and usually more than one. Most likely if you’re small batching a recipe you’ll get 1/2 egg. Don’t despair. You don’t have to go looking for tiny eggs. It’s super simple to halve an egg.

How to Measure Half a Large Egg
Lightly whisk your large in in a small bowl, being sure to incorporate the white with the yolk then either:

A. Measure out 1.5 tablespoons lightly beaten egg
B. Weigh out 26-28 grams lightly beaten egg

How to Measure One Third of a Large Egg
Lightly whisk your large in in a small bowl, being sure to incorporate the white with the yolk then either:

A. Measure out 1 tablespoon lightly beaten egg
B. Weigh out 18-19 grams lightly beaten egg

How to Measure a Quarter of a Large Egg
Lightly whisk your large in in a small bowl, being sure to incorporate the white with the yolk then either:

A. Measure out 2 1/4 teaspoons lightly beaten egg
B. Weigh out about13-14 grams lightly beaten egg

What Do I Do With My Extra Egg?
You can save it in the fridge, in a container to use in another small batch recipe or scramble it up.

How to Scale Any Recipe to Make it a Small Batch Recipe · i am a food blog (3)

What Else You Need to Consider:

Sizes/Pan Size
If you’re small batching cookies, just make the cookies the same size as what the recipe calls for. With a small batch, you’ll just end up with less cookies. For cake/bread you’ll need to adjust the pan size, sizing down accordingly unless you want a flatter cake or loaf. Generally, you can use a regular loaf pan for sheet pan cakes that you want to small batch. For loaves/quick breads, half a recipe should usually fit into a mini loaf.

Temperature
This one’s easy, just keep the temperature the same!

Baking Time
For cookies, the baking time will remain the same. For cakes and loaves, they generally take a little less time, so subtract 10-15 minutes off the time and start taking peeks into your oven (without opening the oven door). When the cake/loaf is has risen and is suitably browned, double check with a skewer in the middle (it should come out clean). Make a note of how long it took you to bake so that next time you’ll know exactly how many minutes your mini cake took.

That’s it! If you have any questions or any small batch ideas you want me to make on the blog, let me know in the comments! Happy baking/cooking :)

PS – Here are a couple of small batch ideas to inspire you!

11 Small Batch Baking Ideas– Just a bunch of ideas to get your creative juices flowing.
Small Batch Pancakes– For those times when you’re making pancakes for one.
Small Batch French Toast– Just one person? You can still have french toast!
One Egg, Four Kinds of Cookies – You just need one egg to make snickerdoodles, chocolate chip cookies, ginger cookies, and sugar cookies!
Small Batch Browned Butter Blueberry Oat Crumble Bars Recipe– A baby batch of blueberry oat bars. You can use the blueberries you have stashed in your freezer.
Small Batch: Mini Chocolate Loaf Cake Recipe– BONUS, this one doesn’t have eggs, milk, or butter!!
Small Batch Copycat Cinnamon Streusel Starbucks Coffee Cake Recipe– Just in case you’ve been craving Starbucks coffee cake ;)

How to Scale Any Recipe to Make it a Small Batch Recipe · i am a food blog (4)

How to Scale Any Recipe to Make it a Small Batch Recipe · i am a food blog (2024)

FAQs

What is the formula for scaling down a recipe? ›

Example. Scaling a 10-portion recipe down to six portions involves two steps: Divide 6 by 10, which gives you a conversion factor of 0.6. Multiply each ingredient amount by 0.6.

How to scale up a recipe for production? ›

How To Scale Up A Recipe: 4 Easy Steps
  1. Step 1: Determine the Conversion Factor for the Recipe. ...
  2. Step 2: Convert all Weights in the Recipe to Ounces and all Volumes to Fluid Ounces. ...
  3. Step 3: Multiply Each Ingredient in the Recipe by the Conversion Factor. ...
  4. Step 4: Simplify and Round the Numbers for Easier Recipe Use.

How do you resize a recipe? ›

To convert serving sizes, we incrementally adjust the individual serving size of each ingredient up or down. For example, if you adjust a recipe with 2 servings that needs 1 onion up to 4 servings, we'll divide the ingredient amount by 2 (1 onion / 2 servings = 0.5 onions) and then multiply that by 4.

How do you find the scale factor of a recipe? ›

Calculate the Scaling Factor

To do this, divide the desired number of servings by the original number of servings. For instance, if the original recipe serves four and you want to make it for 12, the scaling factor would be 12/4=3.

What is the simple scaling formula? ›

The basic formula that is used for calculating the scale factor is, Scale factor = Dimension of the new shape ÷ Dimension of the original shape. In case, if the original figure is scaled up, the formula is written as, Scale factor = Larger figure dimensions ÷ Smaller figure dimensions.

What is the calculation for scaling? ›

To find the scale factor, first find the corresponding sides on the two figures. Then, divide the measurement of the new figure by the measurement of the original figure. The resulting value is your scale factor, or how many times larger or smaller your new figure is compared to the original.

How do you convert recipes to yield smaller quantities based on operational needs? ›

Determine the required yield of the recipe by multiplying the new number of portions and the new size of each portion. Find the conversion factor by dividing the required yield (Step 2) by the recipe yield (Step 1). That is, conversion factor = (required yield)/(recipe yield).

Can all recipes be scaled up or down? ›

Most recipes can be scaled up or down, but it may require some adjustments in the instructions. For example, if you're doubling a recipe, you may need to cook it for longer. Conversely, if you're halving a recipe, you may need to cook it for less time.

How to scale a food product? ›

  1. 1 Market research. Before you invest time and money into scaling your new food product, you need to validate that there is enough demand and potential customers for it. ...
  2. 2 Product development. ...
  3. 3 Regulatory compliance. ...
  4. 4 Process optimization. ...
  5. 5 Supply chain management. ...
  6. 6 Marketing strategy. ...
  7. 7 Here's what else to consider.
Oct 10, 2023

What is the one big rule in baking? ›

#1 Read through the recipe.

How do you ratio a recipe? ›

Known Total Amount
  1. Determine the total quantity to be made.
  2. Find the total number of parts in the ratio.
  3. Find the amount per part by dividing the total quantity to be made by the total number of parts.
  4. Find the amount of each ingredient by multiplying each ingredient by the amount per part.
May 1, 2024

What does it mean to scale out a recipe? ›

Adjusting the number of servings of a recipe is called scaling, and broadly speaking, it involves multiplying (to increase) or dividing (to decrease) the quantities of the individual ingredients in the recipe.

How do you create a scaling factor? ›

To find scale factor, start by finding the length of a corresponding side on each figure. If you're scaling up from a smaller figure to a larger one, plug the lengths into the equation scale factor = larger length over smaller length.

What is a scaling formula? ›

Scale Factor Formula

The formula for scale factor is given by: Dimensions of Original Shape x scale Factor = Dimension of new shape. Scale factor = Dimension of New Shape/Dimension of Original Shape. Take an example of two squares having length-sides 6 unit and 3 unit respectively.

What is the equation for the scaling function? ›

The graph y=k⋅f(x) (where k is a real number) is similar to the graph y=f(x), but each point's distance from the x-axis is multiplied by k. A similar thing happens when we graph y=f(k⋅x), only now the distance from the y-axis changes. These operations are called "scaling."

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