Apparently the main problem was that the batter I made according to the instructions on the bag of pancake mix was way too viscous. A friend told me to add more water and showed me the consistency it’s supposed to have. Now my pancakes are round and thin instead of being two-inch thick lumps. I still need to work on finding the right temperature. I used to burn the outsides without cooking the inside and I’ve gotten better but I think I still had the heat up just a little too high today.
I mean, apple sauce instead of egg works wonders. (Or banana if you like the flavor. Or pumpkin. Or plenty of things. Bob’s red mill makes an egg substitute that works fine too.) Make sure if you’re using baking soda you add some lemon juice or some acid of some kind to activate it (apple sauce generally does that but other egg subs won’t.)