It’s 8:30 on a lazy Saturday morning.  My son says “Mama, I’m hungry!”  Daddy chimes in with “What are you making, Mama?”   “Well….. What do you want?” I say.  “PANCAKES!!!!”   and bacon, of course.   There’s something special about homemade pancakes.  Most everyone enjoys them and they are so versatile. You can add flavors, chocolate chips, different toppings, just go crazy!   Pancakes are a sleepover favorite food at my house, too.     I’m going to share with you my Never Fail Pancakes basic recipe.  I don’t remember where I got this recipe years ago, but I have made only slight changes over time.  It’s a winner!  Here are some prep tips to go with it to ensure your weekend morning success.

-Don’t skip whipping the egg whites step.  It greatly contributes to the fluffy factor.
-When combining wet and dry ingredients, be careful not to overmix the batter.  Stir just until moistened.  Over-mixing makes for tougher textures.
-After heating your skillet or griddle, do a tiny test pancake to see if pan heat is right.  I use a dry, non-stick skillet but you can add butter or oil if you like.
-I use a 1/3 cup measuring cup sprayed with cooking spray for making uniform size pancakes.  You can also use those fancy pancake batter squirters, but I’m happy going old school.
-This particular recipe batter is very thick, so you’ll have to spread it out a little in the pan with back of measuring cup.  If it’s just too thick, add a little milk to the batter.
-You’ll know it’s time to flip when you see tiny bubbles in the batter.
-After cooking on second side, I flip it back over for a couple seconds just to get the other side hot again and ready for butter.
-When the pancake is done, I remove it from the pan and place on a layer of aluminum foil   large enough to wrap a stack of pancakes on all sides.  Spread some butter on top of each one as you move it over to the stack and then immediately wrap the foil back over top to keep it warm.  You can also keep them warm on a plate tucked inside a low temp oven.
-Serve with warmed syrup, but don’t put that plastic bottle in the microwave!  Pour some syrup in a little glass or ceramic pitcher and heat that in the microwave for one minute.  Cold syrup defeats the purpose of hot pancakes.