The best gliding performance for any given airplane is determined scientifically by engineers and test pilots during the certification process. The speed and configuration required to achieve it are then published in the relevant operating manual. Any other procedure that somehow results in better performance is probably a fluke. Notice that it's only the survivors who can brag about their gliding procedure being better than the manufacturer's. There are probably a lot more who are not in a position to tell us they wished the used the published procedure.
Depending on where you are in the traffic pattern when you lose your engine, retracting the flaps may or may not be a very good idea. For example, if you had 10 degrees of flaps out in your Cessna on downwind, by all means retract them. But if you had full flaps on base leg, retracting them would probably cause you to fall out of the sky.
Making the runway or emergency landing area may require you to fly a less than rectangular pattern. Don't hesitate to cut that base-to-final corner out of the pattern if you are short on available gliding distance. A gently banked turn from the end of downwind directly to short final may be the best route.
I've only had one total engine failure in a single-engine airplane in 37 years of flying. That was in a fully loaded Cessna 206 about 3 minutes after takeoff. I managed to glide back to the airport and land downwind on a different runway than the one from which I took off.
Keep practicing your simulated engine failures and get familiar with how your airplane performs power off. Know what a "good" power-off pattern looks like from any position relative to your intended touchdown spot. Your life may depend on it one day.