What I noticed when searching for a good pancakes recipe a few years back, there are many, MANY different ways to make pancakes! I've tried dozens and have had mixed results - some were too chewy, some too dry. But one that I stumbled up in the Fanny Farmer cookbook was perfect, with a little bit of my tweaking. So here is the reason why I can never, ever bring home a box of pancake mix.

1 cup flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt

2 tbsp melted butter
1 egg
buttermilk (a cup and a half, depending on how thick you like them)
additions: sliced bananas, apples, blueberries (yum!), chocolate chips, etc.

Mix the dry together, then add the wet, and be sure to leave the batter a little lumpy. I usually throw the egg and buttermilk in first before the butter, that way the butter (which is most likely hot from being newly melted in the microwave) won't make the egg curdle - eew! As I mentioned above, the amount of buttermilk depends on how thick you like your pancakes, just add more as you mix. The original recipe called for a cup of milk, which I thought made the pancakes way too thick, and buttermilk is a tad thicker than milk is.

Use medium heat, and when the pan's hot make circles using about 1/2 a cup of the mix (again, depending on how big you like them). This is when I add bananas or apples or blueberries. Just drop them in. When you start to see bubbles forming, it's time to flip them over. When they're about done, I usually set the heat to LOW and let the outsides of the pancake get a little crispy. I do this because when you stack them on the plate, they tend to get a little soggy.

Oh, I've also used strawberries, but I've found that they're SO GOOD if you just sprinkle them on top of the pancakes and add a dollop of whipped cream. Mmm!

And save yourself a headache - use a nonstick pan, hehe.