The Simple Pancake Hack That Will Make Breakfast So Much Easier

We could eat pancakes any time of the day, any day of the week. We don't care if you call them a flapjack, a griddle cake, a slapjack, or a hot cake; we will happily throw a bunch onto our plate. In their most basic form, they are flat but fluffy, fried cakes that are just waiting for hungry fans to spread a little butter and dribble a little syrup or jam on top. Pancakes have been around forever, and per Kate's Kitchen, apparently, even Otzi the Iceman liked pancakes, as proven by researchers who discovered the likes of this delicious breakfast food in his stomach. 

But as much as we love pancakes, we don't love the mess that happens in our kitchen when we make them. Somehow the batter ends up on the countertops, dripping down the frying pan, and all over the stove top. Sound familiar? If so, then you know the messiness can make it hard to enjoy eating your hot cakes if you are thinking about the cleaning that awaits you after you're done. Luckily, there's a hack to ease your clean-up burdens.

A cheap or washed and recycled squeeze bottle before it hits the recycle bin can be a game-changer. According to Handyman, the secret to making pancakes that will leave your kitchen mess-free and won't cause you undue stress — at least we hope it won't — is all in how the pancake batter is poured onto your griddle or into your hot frying pan. By putting your pancake batter into the squeeze bottle, you are able to more easily control how much batter you use for each pancake, as well as what shape you want to make. It also makes for drip free pancakes which, in our opinion, will make everyone happier. 

Lifehacker notes that using a squeeze bottle also allows you to engage your kids in some creative pancake artwork that is both fun to look at and good to eat. And once you get really good at creating your various pancake shapes using your squeeze bottle, you may want to visit the Sugar Geek Show and check out how to really up your pancake making game using different food colors and Dr. Seuss characters for your inspiration. But regardless of your art skills, using this squeeze bottle hack will make it easier to make and enjoy pancakes for breakfast.