I lost a quarter cup of honey to a measuring cup last Thanksgiving. It sat in the bottom looking like amber glue while I scraped at it with a spatula and my mother in law watched me struggle.

Here is the fix, and it takes four seconds. Coat the spoon or cup with a thin film of neutral oil before anything sticky goes in. Honey, molasses, corn syrup, peanut butter, tahini. All of it slides out in one pour.

I keep a small bottle of canola oil next to the measuring cups now. That is the whole setup.

Why it works

Sticky ingredients grab onto dry surfaces. Give them an oily surface instead and there is nothing to grab. You are not changing the food, only the surface it touches.

One caution from experience. Use the blandest oil you have. Olive oil works but a tablespoon of it will flavor your molasses cookies in a way nobody asked for.

What works for what

• Honey and syrup: oil the measuring cup, then use the same cup for the oil you need in the recipe. One dirty dish instead of two.
• Peanut butter: oil the measuring cup and also the knife. The knife is where the real mess lives.
• Sticky rice and dough: oil your hands, not the bowl. Faster and less slippery.

Non stick spray

Spray works too, and it is faster for a measuring cup. The problem is overspray. My countertop gets a film of it that I notice three days later.

Oil from a bottle gives you control. A drop on a paper towel, wipe the inside of the cup, done.

The scraping trick

If you already measured the honey and forgot the oil, do not throw the cup in the sink yet. Set it in hot water for two minutes. The honey loosens and pours out with a firm shake.

That one saved my Thanksgiving batch twice.