Tuesday, September 21, 2010

making your own Tortillas

When we first moved to the States I had a nice mexican neighbor who taught me how to do these.  they are EASY but take time. And you need to be prepared to have flour all over the place - because making these can be MESSY.  I have altered the original recipe to suit my family's tastes and to include healthier whole wheat flour.  This recipe makes a lot of tortillas - so you can HALF this if you choose - though I find they keep well in the fridge for a couple of days.

Simple Flour Tortillas
2 cups white flour
2 cups wheat flour
1&1/2 teas salt
2 teas baking powder
1/3 cup vegetable shortening

1-1&1/4 cup Hot water
(extra flour for rolling)

Mix all dry ingredients and then crumble in shortening with a fork.  Add hot water a little at a time until dough becomes soft and pliable.  Knead a couple of times and then break  into 1-2 inch balls (depending on how large you want your tortillas).  Dust tops and bottoms with flour and then roll out as thin as you can make them with your rolling pin.

Heat skillet or cast iron pan on med-high. Cook tortillas 1-2min per side (I flip mine when I see bubbles start to form) Be careful not to over-cook these as they can quickly become cracker-like when overdone.  Place them immediately into a clean kitchen towel if eating right away or into a large freezer bag for storage.  TIP - Placing these into a large freezer bag while still hot will keep them steamy and pliable!!

3 comments:

byumomof4 said...

YUM!!
We LOVE homemade tortillas-- you are SO right about the flour ALL OVER the place!!!

annaliese said...

thank you for posting this! I was actually going to ask you for your recipe!! now I don't have to talk to you--phew ;)

Mer said...

Sounds delicious. Thanks for sharing! :)