Tips for Perfect Pancakes
1. Before you ladle on the batter, wipe the excess butter from the hot griddle using a folded paper towel. This will ensure perfectly browned pancakes.

2. Use all-purpose flour in the batter. Bread flour yields tough, chewy pancakes; pancakes made with cake flour turn soggy when crowned with syrup. You can experiment with flours that don't affect the structure of the pancakes, such as cornmeal, buckwheat flour, or whole-wheat flour. Substitute half of the all-purpose flour for any one of these.

3. Never whisk the batter until smooth; leaving lumps of unmoistened dry ingredients will result in fluffier pancakes.

4. Flip the pancakes just as the surface bubbles begin to burst. Flipping them after all the bubbles are gone produces a flatter pancake.

5. If you are adding ingredients such as blueberries or toasted nuts to the pancakes, sprinkle them over the pools of batter right after they are poured on the griddle; this will help distribute them evenly.

6. Serve with a pat of softened butter between each pancake, and have a full pitcher of warm pure maple syrup on hand for pouring with abandon.