A batch of 12 muffins
Here's one batch. Use your own receipts when you price the muffins you sell.
- Flour
- 300 g from a $1.80/kg bag = $0.54
- Butter
- 200 g at $8.00/kg = $1.60
- Sugar and eggs
- 200 g sugar at $2.00/kg plus 4 eggs at $0.30 each = $1.60
- Other ingredients
- Milk $0.66 + baking powder $0.25 + vanilla $0.15 = $1.06
$4.80 in ingredients ÷ 12 sellable muffins = $0.40 ingredient cost per muffin.
If two muffins break and you can only sell 10, the ingredient cost rises to $0.48 each. Use sellable yield, not the number you hoped to bake.
Start with the amount used, not the pack price
For each ingredient, write down three numbers: what the pack cost, how much was in it, and how much you used. If you bought flour by the kilogram and use grams in the recipe, convert the pack size to grams first.
Add up the ingredient costs for the batch. Then divide by the pieces you can sell. If you baked 12 muffins but two are damaged, divide by 10, not 12.
Recipe cost is not the same as selling price
The $0.40 muffin figure above only pays for ingredients. If each muffin also needs a $0.25 wrapper, direct cost becomes $0.65. Production labor per item is active batch hours multiplied by your hourly rate, divided by sellable yield. Monthly fixed costs such as rent are divided by normal monthly active production hours, then multiplied by active batch hours and divided by sellable yield. Keep production labor out of the monthly fixed-cost total to avoid counting it twice. A selling price has to cover these costs and your chosen margin or profit per item.
Use the itemized mode below when you have pack prices and recipe quantities. Use quick totals if you already know the batch ingredient cost. The calculator keeps those modes separate so the same ingredient is not counted twice.
When a recipe changes, calculate it again
Add 50 g more butter, get fewer muffins from the tray, or pay more for eggs, and the cost per piece changes. If you change the recipe, don't keep quoting the old cost.
The free calculator here is for a one-off check; it does not save what you enter. With a Bakeluma account, you can save products and reuse ingredient and packaging records instead of typing the same pack prices again.
Questions bakers usually ask
Should I divide by the number baked or the number sold?
Use the number you can sell. If a batch makes 12 but only 10 meet your standard, the batch cost is spread over 10 items.
Does this include boxes and labels?
Add packaging in the calculator if the finished product uses it. The recipe ingredient total alone does not include packaging.
Do I need an account to try it?
No. The calculator on this page works without signup. It does not save or upload your one-off entries.
Got the recipe cost? Now check the price.
A batch cost tells you what went into the bake. Before you sell, add packaging and any fixed costs you need the product to cover, then check the price against your target margin.