Flour Tortillas

Our recipe for this week is one the kids really can make on their own.  I help because it still does take a while for the girls to exert enough pressure to rolls the tortillas out thin enough.  

FLOUR TORTILLAS

Ingredients:
3 cups all purpose flour*
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
4-6 Tbs shortening
~1 1/4 cups warm water**

Mix dry ingredients in large bowl.(This is Steven's specialty!)
Cut in shortening with pastry blender or two knives.  Add water a little at a time to form soft, non-sticky dough.  Knead dough for 3-5 minutes.  Divide dough into 12 balls for large tortillas or 24 balls for smaller (soft taco size) tortillas.  Let rest for at least 10 minutes. (The girls and I take turns cutting in the shortening and we all form the balls.)

Roll each ball out on a well floured surface.  Roll the balls out as thin as possible - they should be slightly transparent but still able to hold together. (Angie and I take this job.)
There are several ways to cook the tortillas.  We like to use the griddle. A dry skillet warmed over medium heat works well, too.  Some experimentation might be necessary to get the right temperature.  The goal is to cook the tortilla about 5-10 seconds on each side, producing nice, brown speckles on the surface of the tortilla in that amount of time.  Adjust heat settings as necessary to reach that heat balance.  It is okay to take longer or less time to cook - medium heating just produces the best results.  (Olivia is our master tortilla cook.)
Lay out two clean dishtowels, one on top of the other.  As soon as you pull each tortilla off the heat, place it between the towels, stacking the tortillas on top of each other.  This keeps them soft while they wait to be consumed or bagged.

Serve warm or store in an air-tight container or bag. 

*You can use white flour, whole wheat flour, or anything in between!  Wheat flour does change the texture of the tortillas, so our recommendation is to start with a 2:1 ratio of white to wheat flour and then increasing the amount of wheat flour in subsequent batches until you find your favorite ratio.
**You will probably not need all of the water with white flour.  If you use only wheat flour, you might actually need a good bit more water than this.  The goal is for all of the flour to be absorbed and the dough to be very manageable without being sticky.

Comments

Stephanie Kay said…
Yum. Several years ago our local walmart carried a tortilla mix in a 5 pound bag. They were delicious and very easy. Just add water and roll out. I might have to try your recipe.
These are definitely almost that easy since the only extra step is cutting in the shortening. Also, Mom just told me that she places a pot lid on her rolled out tortillas and cuts around it to make them perfectly round.
Beth said…
Thanks for posting this--I had tried to make tortillas from another recipe and they did not turn out well! We'll be trying this one soon!

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