What Is a Scant Cup Measurement?

By Staff WriterLast Updated Apr 6, 2020 3:35:48 AM ET

A scant cup is a cup minus 1 to 2 tablespoons. A scant cup is meant to signify just a little bit less than a standard cup measurement of something.

By contrast, a heaping a cup is a standard cup measurement with an additional 1 to 2 tablespoons. Sometimes this measurement is also referred to as a heaping cup or a heaped cup. Also, within the context of liquid measurements, a heaped cup would actually be called a generous cup.

It should also be mentioned that the standard for a cup measurement can differ depending on the country. This is important because a cup measurement is one of the most commonly used measurements in the field of cooking, so it is important o know the exact measurement that may correspond to the country that the recipe originates from. For example, in the United States, a standard cup measurement is equivalent to 240 milliliters, which is also equal to 16 tablespoons. The U.S. measurement for a cup can also be defined as 8 ounces, but it should be mentioned that this is actually a larger amount than the standard cup measurement for the United Kingdom, which is actually 8 fluid ounces. In Australia, a cup is equal to 250 milliliters, so it's slightly larger than the U.S. version.