How To DIY A Dessert-For-Breakfast Meal At McDonald's

When it comes to pancake trends, the restaurant chain that probably comes to mind is IHOP. However, it's not the only place you can treat yourself to decadent pancakes. Although it's not an official menu item, you can hack a delicious dessert-for-breakfast meal by ordering pancakes topped with soft serve at McDonald's. 

All you have to do is order a soft-serve cone (or you can get it in a cup if you don't want the cone on your pancakes) and a tray of hotcakes. When your meal comes, put the ice cream on your pancakes and enjoy an extra-creamy topping.

While many McDonald's locations only offer vanilla cones, some locations, such as those in Qatar, offer chocolate soft-serve, adding another pancake-topping possibility. Whichever you choose, it's a new way to treat yourself to an extra-sweet breakfast. With that in mind, what other pancake hacks can you try out at McDonald's?

McDonald's serves ice cream all day long, so on that front, you don't have to worry about being too early to get soft serve. But the hotcakes are more restrictive. McDonald's only serves breakfast until around 10:30 a.m. So, you won't be able to enjoy soft-serve pancakes for dinner.

Once upon a time, McDonald's did serve all-day breakfast. However, this was nixed in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. Although rumors flew that it would make its return, it never did.

The one thing to note about ordering a hotcakes and soft serve combo, however, is that things might look a little different if you visit a 24-hour location. While a standard Mickey D's will let you grab hotcakes as soon as the store opens, if you're at a 24-hour shop, you'll be able to DIY your dessert-for-breakfast meal starting at 5:00 a.m.

Adding soft serve to your pancakes isn't the only way to upgrade your breakfast the next time you head to the Golden Arches. You can also try taking things to the next level by ordering a different type of ice cream. Rather than just smashing a vanilla cone into your pancakes, add toppings by ordering a McFlurry. Or, you can opt for a sundae, which comes with hot caramel or hot fudge that you can use instead of pancake syrup.

Alternatively, if the idea of ice cream for breakfast doesn't call your attention, you can hack a McDonald's fruit pancake. For this, all you'll need to do is snag a side order of apple slices alongside your hotcakes and use the fruit atop your pancakes.

Or, you can go for a variation on chicken and waffles — chicken and hotcakes — and order McNuggets as well as hotcakes. Layer the nuggets on top of your stack of pancakes and drizzle them with pancake syrup for a treat reminiscent of everyone's favorite Southern dish. Whichever one of these hotcake hacks you choose to use the next time you visit McDonald's, just know that you may never go back to ordering a simple pancake meal.