Calculator
Recipe Scaler
Paste a full ingredient list and rescale every line at once — from 4 servings to 12, or from 12 back down to 2 — with sensible fractions and pan-size guidance.
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 1/4 cups granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 cups butter, softened
- 1 1/8 cups whole milk
- 3 tsp baking powder
- 1 1/2 tsp table salt
- 3/4 cups cocoa powder
- 6 large eggs
- 3 tsp vanilla extract
How the recipe scaler works
Each line is read for a leading quantity — whole numbers, decimals, fractions like 1 1/2 and unicode fractions like ¾— followed by an optional unit. Everything after that is treated as the ingredient description and left untouched, so notes such as “softened” or “finely chopped” survive the conversion.
Volume amounts are returned as kitchen fractions because that is how you actually measure. Weights are returned as decimals rounded sensibly: grams to the nearest gram, kilograms to two places.
Scaling rules worth knowing
- Fat, flour, sugar, liquid: scale linearly. These are the ingredients the tool handles perfectly.
- Salt and spices: scale to about 75–85% of the maths, then taste and adjust.
- Alcohol and extracts: scale linearly but expect stronger flavour, since less evaporates from a larger batch.
- Thickeners: a doubled sauce in a wider pan loses more water, so you may need slightly less cornstarch than the maths suggests.
Changing the pan as well
Scaling a cake usually means changing tin. Use the cake pan converter to find the volume ratio between your two pans, then apply that factor here — it is the same number.
Frequently asked questions
How do I double a recipe correctly?
Double every ingredient by weight or volume, but not the cooking time. A doubled cake in a bigger pan needs a lower oven and longer bake; a doubled sauce in a wider pan may reduce faster. Salt and strong spices are the usual exception — start at 1.5× and taste.
Can I scale eggs?
Not neatly. Beat the eggs, weigh the mixture (a large egg is about 50 g without shell) and use the fraction you need. For 1.5 eggs, use one whole egg plus 25 g of beaten egg.
Does the bake time change when I scale a recipe?
Yes, but not proportionally. Bake time depends on the depth of the batter, not the total amount. If you keep the same depth in a wider pan the time barely changes; if the batter is deeper, add 10–25% and cover the top if it colours too fast.
Should I scale leavening agents?
Scale baking powder and baking soda linearly up to about 2×. Beyond that, reduce slightly — too much leavening gives a coarse crumb and a soapy aftertaste.
What about yeast?
Yeast is not linear because it multiplies. When doubling a dough, use around 1.5× the yeast and judge by how the dough rises rather than by the clock.