How to make Luxury White Pancakes
The difference between &quot;fluffy and fall-apart crumbly&quot; and &quot;thinner, chewy, and sort of dense&quot; is precisely governed by baking powder/soda.  Baking powder/soda creates the fluffiness.  If you want thin and chewy, omit the baking powder.  This should get you 90% of the way to the texture you want.  The next variable to experiment with would probably be the water/flour ratio (more water = thinner pancake).  This should get you 95% of the way to what you want.  The next 5% comes down to more subtle things (whole milk vs 2% vs skim, bread flour or cake flour, etc.), but the key point is baking powder/soda.