Knowing how to scale up a recipe, especially when it comes to baking, is a skill. It’s one thing to double a lasagna or a pot of rice and beans for meal prep, but there are a lot of things to take into account when scaling up a baking recipe. Since baking is much more of an exact science than everyday home cooking, it’s already ripe for human error—incorrect measurements and techniques can lead to disappointments, and doubling or tripling can complicate matters. Luckily, many baking recipes can be scaled up without issue—all you need is some planning, patience, and consideration. We spoke to two baking experts who set out what to organize before getting started. Plus, we’re sharing our best tips and tricks for scaling up your favorite cakes, cookies, quick breads, and more.

When to Scale Up a Recipe

First things first: determine whether you should or should not scale up your chosen recipe. Certain types of baked goods are easier to scale up than others, no matter your experience level and expertise.

The Easiest Recipes to Scale Up

• Muffins: Muffin batter is about as basic as it gets, so doubling or tripling can usually be done quickly and easily. Pan size and temperature don’t really need to be taken into consideration since each muffin goes into its own baking cup. 
• Cookies: The same is true for cookies. As long as the size is consistent, scaling up a basic cookie recipe, such as snickerdoodles or chocolate chip cookies, shouldn’t be a problem. Something more advanced like French macarons is another story (see below for more about scaling up recipes with whipped egg whites). 
• Cakes Standard cakes (think vanilla or chocolate layers rather than angel food cake) can be scaled up by using a volume ratio, outlined below.
• Cupcakes: Similar to muffins, cupcakes are simple to scale up. 
• Brownies: Bar cookies and brownies can be scaled up; they work similarly to cakes. 
• Biscuits and scones: Since biscuits and scones are portioned into individual servings like cookies and muffins, they can also be doubled or even tripled.

Recipes that Are Trickier to Scale Up

There are two baking projects that Samantha Seneviratne, recipe developer, food stylist, and cookbook author, rarely scales up—anything with yeast or whipped egg whites. 

• Yeast: Recipes with yeast are a little trickier, says Seneviratne. “You don’t always need to scale up on the yeast to make it work.” She says it’s more about monitoring the time and temperature rather than adding more yeast—with enough time, something like bread will usually rise eventually, given that it’s in a warm, hospitable environment. She notes that too much yeast can make monitoring a recipe much more difficult, as the yeast can get out of control. Jason Schreiber, food stylist, recipe developer, and cookbook author, says scaling up with yeast can be done as long—as you are using baker’s percentages (meaning that each ingredient is measured as a percentage of the flour weight). In other words, measure all of the ingredients for bread in metrics rather than in cups, tablespoons, teaspoons, etc. 
• Whipped egg whites: Whipped egg whites are another tricky ingredient to use when scaling up a recipe, mainly because of how quickly the whites will start to lose their volume. If you double or triple a recipe, it will often take longer to bake, giving the egg whites more time to deflate. Seneviratne prefers to make these kinds of recipes in batches as opposed to scaling up.

The Basics of Scaling Up a Recipe

There are four main things to consider before deciding to double or triple, or even quadruple your next baking project: the type of measurements to use, the volume of the pan, the overall timing, and whether or not to adjust the temperature of the oven. Not every aspect will be relevant for each recipe, but it’s a good idea to use this checklist before you start.

Measure Properly

Skip the standard American cups and teaspoons and opt for the weight when scaling up, say Seneviratne and Schreiber. Both agree this is key: “Grams are going to be infinitely easier to work with,” says Seneviratne. Consider measuring flour as an example. You’ve probably heard you shouldspoon and level flour for baking recipes. If you plunge a measuring cup right into a bag of flour, you will get a completely different amount than if you were to first fluff and lighten it up. Measuring by grams removes the guesswork and vagaries of the amount of flour or other ingredients, leaving you with the proper amount of an ingredient every time. (As a rule of thumb, one cup of spooned and leveled all-purpose flour weighs about 120 grams.)

Be sure to follow these two tips from Seneviratne:

1. Make sure your scale is accurate before getting started. To test for accuracy, weigh a stick of butter; each stick weighs around 113 grams. 
2. Use a calculator. When scaling up a recipe, it’s easy to lose track of numbers, so keep a calculator handy for quick conversions.

Pay Attention to Volume

Volume is the toughest aspect of scaling a recipe. You can’t always double a recipe, put it in a pan twice the size, and expect it to turn out fine. There are numerous wildcards that can change how the recipe will turn out. For instance, a batch of cake batter in a 9-inch round pan will bake differently than in a 9-inch square pan, says Seneviratne. 

When you change pan sizes, it changes the way heat is transferred to the batter, explains Schreiber. “This could require you to use more or less leavener than the simple math would indicate,” he notes. Overall, it depends on the recipe you are using—one brownie recipe could turn out perfect when doubled, but another falls flat (sometimes literally!). 

While it’s not foolproof, the only way to adjust the pan based on volume is by determining the pan’s baking capacity. 

• For a square or rectangular pan, multiply one side by the other. 
• For a round pan, calculate the area of the circle: the radius (half the diameter), squared, times pi. Here’s a handy tool so you don’t have to do the math yourself. 

An 8-inch square pan has a capacity of 64. With a little math, you’ll find that a 9-inch round pan has the same capacity, making it an easy swap. So, while adjusting the pan size does require some math, it can be done if the numbers add up. Otherwise, scale up the recipe and bake it in multiple pans or in a few batches.

Be Flexible With Timing

Generally, baking time is a range and a guide, not a dictate. Many bakers will tell you that they prefer to use other indicators before time to determine whether their baked goods are ready to come out of the oven. “I think baking time is kind of a farce anyway,” says Seneviratne. Since ovens vary so much, she prefers to be on the conservative side with timing and opts to check on her bakes frequently instead of relying solely on a timer.

She suggests using your eyes, your sense of smell, and plenty of toothpicks to test for doneness. Examples of non-time-related indicators include: a cake with a perfectly golden brown top; brownies that have begun to pull away from the edges of the pan; a toothpick inserted into a muffin or cupcake that comes out mostly clean or with a few moist crumbs attached; or cheesecake that is set around the edges but still slightly wobbly in the center.

Consider the Oven Temperature

Temperature adjustments happen on a case-by-case basis. For example, when you bake batch after batch of cookies, there’s no need to change the oven temperature. However, for something with a heavier volume than the original recipe indicates, such as a cheesecake, Seneviratne will sometimes reduce the oven temperature a bit (about 25 degrees is a good starting point). “In this case, I want to give the bake plenty of time to cook through without burning or drying out,” she says. If you follow the tips above, temperature should be the last part of the recipe puzzle that you change.