Congrats, man. Pancakes are deceptively hard to cook. There are a lot of little variables involved to make them really good.
For anyone that might need some help:
- The batter should be barely thicker than housepaint.
- Some lumps in your batter are fine, if you develop too much gluten, then the end product will be tough(secret tech: Let your batter rest for 15 minutes before cooking to better hydrate)
- Don't use too much fat to cook them, they'll end up oily with a splotchy surface
- Your pan should be egg-frying temperature
- Flip when the edges are dull and you have bubbles on the top.
- Dont worry about flipping the thing more than once and letting it get darker on a side you've already cooked. That advice comes from getting attractive grill marks on things, and does not apply when cooking on a flat top or skillet