Once you learn how to make pancakes from scratch, you can delight your family with homemade pancakes of every variety.

Truth be told, pancakes are among kids' most-requested breakfast foods, especially when they have friends sleeping over. And pancakes never fail to satisfy the kids! Depending on the season, you may even want to try pumpkin pancakes for a whimsical twist.

Have you ever wondered what makes pancakes so fluffy? Why do pancake recipes always tell you not to overmix the batter? The answers to these questions lie in a protein called gluten. In this activity you'll learn about the chemical processes that make pancakes fluffy—and also why overmixing your pancake batter will result in tough, rubbery and flat pancakes.

When you mixed together the wet and dry ingredients in the first bowl, "Mixed until combined-lumpy," you allowed the gluten proteins to become loose, mobile and perhaps begin to link to one another in a relaxed weblike network. When cooked, the chemical leaveners (the baking powder and baking soda) in the pancakes created large air bubbles. The loose gluten network captured the air bubbles and maintained the each pancake's shape while still keeping it fluffy with air.

In the second and third batches, overmixing the batter until smooth or very smooth overdeveloped the gluten. This means that the gluten organized itself into more tightly wound, side-by-side bonds in a very strong weblike network. So there is more of a tough gluten network than in the first batch, leaving less space for fluffy air pockets in between each gluten protein. The second and third batches of pancakes might have been a little tougher than the first batch. This is because there were fewer and smaller air pockets. You might have observed that the bubbles rising to the top of the pancakes during cooking were rose more slowly and were smaller than the large, frequent bubbles in the first batch of pancakes. You probably also noticed that the second and third batches spread out more on the pan when you poured the batter than did the first batch. This is because overmixing the batter allows for more of those gridlike side-by-side gluten bonds, which make the cooked pancake turn out flatter.

Follow these tips, and you'll know how to make perfect pancakes every time.

1. Griddle Temperature For Perfect Pancakes

A griddle with temperature control is the best tool for cooking pancakes. We like to use an electric skillet. Set the temperature to 375 F when preheating, then turn it down to 370 or 360 F once you start to cook the pancakes.

Flip at the right time: Look for bubbles on top and light browning around the edges, after about 2 to 3 minutes. Then flip and continue to cook for an additional 2 to 3 minutes.

It's okay to peek to see if they are browned on the bottom. If the pancakes are too floppy to flip, they aren't cooked enough. If they are getting brown before they're ready to flip, turn down the heat.

Try making one test pancake first to see if the griddle or skillet is the right temperature. Invariably, the first pancake ends up being the worst one anyway.

Other Tips For Making Perfect Pancakes

Even though it's a pain, it's important to mix the dry ingredients and the wet ingredients in separate bowls before combining them.

Let the batter rest 5 to 15 minutes before cooking.

For really light and fluffy pancakes, separate the eggs. Add the egg yolk(s) where the recipe calls for eggs to be added in. Beat the egg white(s) separately, and fold in at the very end.

Use a 1/4 cup measuring cup to make nice-sized pancakes that are consistent.