We've all been there: Your recipe calls for a 9x13 pan but all you have is an 8x8 pan, or vice versa. Fortunately these two common baking dish sizes are really easy to go between. In fact, you likely won't even need to pull out a calculator.
The area of a 9x13 pan is 117 square inches. The area of a 8x8 pan on the other hand, is 64 square inches, or close to half that of a 9x13 pan. This means you can scale a recipe down from a 9x13 pan to an 8x8 pan by simply halving the recipe. Conversely, to go from a 8x8 pan to a 9x13 pan, you double the recipe. And because there's not a major difference in the depth, there's no need to adjust the oven temperature or cooking time (although you never know when you'll need to add or subtract a few minutes depending on your oven, so do still consider any visual cues provided in the recipe to signify doneness, such as browning, cracking, etc.).
Most ingredients are easy to halve. Take flour, for example: You can easily go from 1 cup to ½ cup or from 2 ½ cups to 1 ¼ and so on. However, there are other ingredients that are harder to halve, like a whole egg. Do you really need to halve those ingredients? It depends on what you're making.
For Casseroles
Fortunately, that extra tablespoon or so of liquid will make very little difference in the final result, so go ahead and use the whole egg.
For Baking
Eggs play an important role in adding moisture to, leavening, and binding the dough in baked goods. So if you're making a baking recipe like brownies or a sheet cake, you'll need to be a bit more precise about halving ingredients. The best way to do this is to weigh your ingredients using a digital food scale. A grade AA large egg weighs about 1.75 ounces without the shell. Here's how to halve an egg for baking:
Start by cracking the egg into a bowl and beating with a fork or whisk until the yolk and the white are combined.
Add an empty bowl to a food scale. Use the tare function to zero out the weight of the bowl.
Add the egg to the empty bowl a little at a time until you reach about 0.875 ounces.
The area of a 8x8 pan on the other hand, is 64 square inches, or close to half that of a 9x13 pan. This means you can scale a recipe down from a 9x13 pan to an 8x8 pan by simply halving the recipe. Conversely, to go from a 8x8 pan to a 9x13 pan, you double the recipe.
From this you can see that you can substitute two 8” pans for the 9”x13” one as 2x64 = 128 square inches which is close enough. CALCULATING SQUARE INCHES FOR ROUND PANS is a little more complicated.
Just increase the oven temp by 25 degrees F and decrease the bake time by a quarter. In this particular example, since your pan is 1 inch larger, more surface area will be exposed. The liquid in the cake batter will evaporate quicker, which means it will bake faster.
Bingo! You've just seen the easiest, most basic pan substitution: the capacity of an 8” square pan and 9” round pan are the same (64”) and the pans can be substituted for one another in any recipe.
An 8×8-inch square pan is equivalent to 8 liquid cups. If you want to bake the recipe in a 13×9-inch square pan (14 liquid cups), divide the volume of the pan you have by the volume of the pan the recipe calls for: 14÷8 = 1.75.
A 9×13 baking dish. The batter that fills two loaf pans is perfect for one baking dish. We didn't even need to adjust the cooking time that much; since the baking dish is more shallow, it bakes in about the same time as a loaf pan, even though it's bigger. We kept an eye on it and may have added 5 or 10 minutes max.
It is hard to tell how much you will need to adjust the time by as this will depend on the size difference but for a larger pan start checking 10-15 minutes prior to the stated time, and for a smaller pan add time in 5-minute increments until it is baked.
If you're moving the recipe to a larger pan, increase the oven temperature by 25 F degrees and decrease the baking time (you'll still end up with a thinner cake, but the taste and texture should be fine). In both cases, use a cake tester to make sure the cake is cooked.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake the cake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the top feels set, the edges are beginning to pull away from the sides of the pan, and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
The 8×8 pan's 64 inches of surface area can contain up to 8 cups. And, because there won't be a major difference in surface area or batter depth when you pack your halved recipe into the smaller baking dish, you won't even need to adjust the oven temperature or the cooking time.
Which Bundt pan is best for a 9" x 13" cake recipe? A. Joanne, bake your recipe calling for a 9″ x 13″ pan (or two 9″ round pans) in either a 10-cup or 12-cup Bundt pan. Increase the baking time by about 30% in the 10-cup pan, somewhat less in the 12-cup.
How many quarts is a 9x13 baking dish? Great question! The average 9x13 rectangular baking dish holds 3.5 to 4 quarts. However, the number of quarts varies based on how deep the dish is—some of our deeper recommendations hold up to 5 quarts.
In general, the 13-by-9-inch cake will take about 5 to 10 minutes less than the 9-inch layers. To be safe, start checking about 15 minutes before the time in the original recipe.
Bake the cake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the top feels set, the edges are beginning to pull away from the sides of the pan, and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove the cake from the oven and either serve the cake warm from the oven or allow it to cool completely in the pan before frosting.
Introduction: My name is Kimberely Baumbach CPA, I am a gorgeous, bright, charming, encouraging, zealous, lively, good person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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