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How much brown sugar do I add to one third cup to make half cup brown sugar?

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  • 3
    Questions like this make me happy that I'm living in a country with a metric system.
    – user34961
    Sep 8, 2017 at 7:35
  • 5
    Questions like this illustrate the convenience of cooking by weight rather than volume.
    – moscafj
    Sep 8, 2017 at 13:53
  • 3
    get 1/2 a cup of brown sugar and remove 1/3 of a cup.
    – Cos Callis
    Sep 8, 2017 at 15:25

4 Answers 4

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The math answer:

1/2 = 3/6
1/3 = 2/6

So (3/6) - (2/6) = 1/6 cups

As 1 cup is 237 ml, 1/6 is about 40 ml.

40 ml is two tablespoons (15ml each) plus 2 teaspoons (5 ml each).

To fill 1/3 to make 1/2 cup add 2 tblsp + 2 tsp.

The lifehack answer:

Dump the 1/3 of a cup into a 1/2 cup and fill it up.

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    Of course, from a cookbook that I read last week, not all tablespoons are the same. In the US, 40mL is 2TB + 2tsp, but it's 2TB + 1tsp in the UK, and 2TB in AU. Of course, in the AU, a cup is 250ml, but 1/6 of the difference between an AU & US cup is less significant than 1tsp.
    – Joe
    May 24, 2016 at 15:16
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    @Joe - taking the variances of volumetric meassurements compared to the precision of weight into account, 1/2 a tsp shouldn't matter much ^_^.
    – Stephie ♦
    May 24, 2016 at 15:41
  • "lifehack answer":....yeah so clever, but I think she already put the 1/3 cup into the batter (or whatever), so needs to measure out just the incremental amount
    – Lorel C.
    Sep 8, 2017 at 14:59
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    @LorelC. That's why I gave basically two answers. See part 1. And I believe that there are cases where one doesn't see the simplest solution. I certainly have experienced it.
    – Stephie ♦
    Sep 8, 2017 at 15:16
  • Can you imagine how many kids in elementary school working on fractions in Math class would like to be able to use your "lifehack" answer in lieu of having to replicate your "math" answer!
    – Ralph J
    Mar 6, 2018 at 22:53
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If all you have is a 1/3 cup then you can get 1/2 cup by adding 1/3 + a half of 1/3. So you measure 1/3 and put it into another container, then fill the 1/3 cup half-way and then add that to the container.

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Use the 1/4 cup and leave about 1/8 inch off the top unfilled.

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    This may be less accurate than other options, but it's definitely quickest and doesn't rely on having additional measuring tools.
    – Erica
    Sep 8, 2017 at 17:10
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In purely US volumetric cooking measurement units, 1/3 cup plus two tablespoons and two teaspoons is exactly 1/2 cup.

1 cup is 16 Tablespoons
1 Tablespoons is 3 teaspoons
which means
1 cup is 48 teaspoons

So:

1/2 cup is 24 teaspoons
and
1/3 cup is 16 teaspoons

The difference is 8 teaspoons
1/3 of a cup plus 8 teaspoons is 1/2 cup

In more compact measurements, 1/3 cup plus two tablespoons and two teaspoons is 1/2 cup.

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