Cornmeal Pancakes

I've tried a few recipes for cornmeal pancakes.  None have worked very well.  Nonetheless, I was undeterred.  This morning I got one of my cooking emails and it featured pancakes.  Since it was breakfast time and I was hungry, I took a look.  (This is one advantage of being unemployed.)  The cornmeal pancake recipe caught my eye because I have cornmeal and four that need to be used up.  So I did some spur of the moment cooking.
It's not that different than the other recipes I tried.  Probably the use of buttermilk/baking soda, or the ratio of flour to cornmeal, helped. In any case, these ones worked.  (I did have to substitute milk/lemon juice for the buttermilk) The pancakes were tasty and had a slight crunch from the cornmeal, and had good body so that it wasn't hard to flip them.  I ate them with maple syrup (yet another thing I'm trying to use up) but they'd be even better if there were bacon or sausage involved.  (yes, i still have bacon and sausage in the freezer, so another batch may be made before I leave)

RECIPE INGREDIENTS butter for the skillet 3/4 cup yellow cornmeal 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/3 cup unbleached white flour 1 large egg 1 cup buttermilk 2 tablespoons corn oil

DIRECTIONS Preheat a nonstick griddle, or with butter lightly grease a skillet, over medium heat while you mix the batter. In a large bowl, whisk together the cornmeal, salt, baking soda and flour. In a separate large bowl, whisk together the egg, buttermilk and corn oil. Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and pour in the liquid mixture. With a fork gently combine the ingredients until smooth. Over low heat, using about 3 to 4 tablespoons of batter for each pancake, cook the pancakes on the griddle or in the greased skillet, about 3 minutes on each side.