Buttered bread or toast is simple and delicious, but nothing is worse than reaching for the butter from the fridge only to find it’s too cold and hard to spread. 

Sure, you can pop the butter in the microwave for a few minutes, but you risk melting it too much (which also renders it unusable if you’re making your favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe). And leaving it out on the counter isn’t an option when you need it ASAP. There are several hacks to soften butter in seconds, but the latest one is the most clever one yet, and possibly the least messy.

While this hack isn’t necessarily new, it’s currently trending once again online, and we think for good reason. Vital Farms recently posted about this on Instagram: “This nifty little hack for turning fridge-cold butter into soft, spreadable butter in seconds.” TikTok user roxy.369 says this is a “life hack” that’s worth trying.

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When it comes to TikTok trends, I would categorize them into three buckets: the ones that are must-tries and new favorites (like feta pasta and the paper towel trick); the ones that are not worth it or don’t work (ahem, pancake spaghetti); and then the ones that are downright dangerous (looking at you avocado water storage). The worst TikTok hacks can range from innocuously unnecessary to genuine food hazards, and the latter is where the newest trend falls.

The ‘hack’ has popped up for over a year on the video-sharing app but is making the rounds yet again, with the latest iteration gaining over 10 million views. The method is always the same: freeze whole eggs in the shell, then cut the frozen egg into slices and fry those in a pan, resulting in mini, kid-sized fried eggs. But be warned—you should not be making these at home, and especially not for kids. Here’s why.

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