Perfect Pancakes

I love a good pancake, don't you?  But getting the pan at just the right temperature and flipped over at just the right time is an art.

Here.  Let me make it easier for you.

Multiply as needed for friends, family, and the week ahead.  (Good use for that ketchup bottle)

Ingredients:
1 cup flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 pinch salt
1 pinch cinnamon (optional.  I also enjoy nutmeg, personally)
2 teaspoons baking POWDER (not soda.  Really.)
2 tablespoons applesauce or oil, if you really must be that way
1 egg
1 cup milk

Directions
 Mix all your dry ingredients thoroughly, especially the baking powder, which tends to cake together. Beat together the wet ingredients, then beat everything together until you've gotten all the lumps out.

Heat a good nonstick skillet on the stove over medium heat (this is for an electric range.  Gas ranges may want to go with more of a mid-low).  When you hold your hand over it (not touching) and it feels warm, pour in about 1/4 cup of batter. 

Watch the batter until air bubbles appear all over the top (especially towards the middle) like so

Using the widest spatula you have, press hard against the bottom of the pan and swipe straight under the pancake so you're holding the whole thing on the spatula.  Quickly flip that sucker over and into the pan.  (Ever try the game when you were a kid where you swung the bucket around over your head really fast to keep the water in there?  Same concept.)  Give it about a minute to a minute and a half on that side and then slide it off on your plate.  Repeat till you have the desired number of pancakes.

If you have any leftover batter, you can store it for about a week in a well covered container.  Old squeeze ketchup bottles are a marvel for this.