Perfect Pancakes

I have discovered the perfect basic pancake recipe (granted, this isn't exactly an original discovery...I believe this is basically the recipe Amanda always uses, but hey, it was a new discovery to me). It's simple, quick, uses ingredients that are generally kept on hand, turns out amazingly fluffy, and the variations on it are endless.

Basic Pancakes
2 T butter, melted
1 C milk
1 egg
1 C flour
2 T sugar
2 t baking soda
1/2 t salt

Whisk together wet ingredients in a large bowl. Combine dry ingredients in a smaller bowl, then add to wet ingredients. Mix just to combine (do not over mix). Heat griddle over medium heat, lightly grease, and pour on 1/4 cup batter per pancake. When bubbles begin to form and break, flip over and cook for about another minute or two.

Easy as can be! And even more fun to expand on. You can sub out buttermilk for the the regular milk. You can add whatever extracts/spices suit your fancy (I've done vanilla, almond, maple and lemon extracts, and have added cinnamon, nutmeg and cardamom). You can add cocoa powder for chocolate pancakes or pureed pumpkin for pumpkin pancakes (approximately 1/4 cup on each [assuming you like super chocolatey pancakes, because really, who doesn't?], though pumpkin requires upping the flour by about another 1/4 cup...keep the same consistency). You can add whatever else you want (chocolate chips, bananas, blueberries, strawberries, poppy seeds, nuts, sprinkles, whatever!). These pancakes are a blank canvas, ready for your creativity!

As for toppings, don't be limited by plain old pancake syrup. Try heating your favorite jam with a little water to make a fruit syrup (raspberry jam + chocolate pancakes = AMAZING), cooking up some fruit into a compote, or making your own cinnamon syrup (combine 1 C sugar, dash of salt, 2 T flour, 1 t cinnamon, 2/3 C water, and 1/2 C evaporated milk in a small sauce pan; boil until thickened; add 2 T butter). Hmmm, I bet if you take out the cinnamon and milk, and add lemon extract and zest, you could make a pretty tasty lemon syrup, perfect for topping poppy seed pancakes... Get creative!