Tortillas!

I can't imagine why anyone with a working kitchen, basic ingredients, and a a few extra minutes wouldn't want to make their own tortillas. Unless they have a phobia of great tasting food. Is that a real thing? Is there a word for it? Deliciophobic?? Yep let's go with that.

Then a friend of mine pointed out that it is probably because they just don't know how. A little more reasonable I suppose. But for those of you suffering from deliciaphobia, don't wait to get help!! You can conquer this!!

 For the rest of you, you are only minutes away from acquiring a skill that will make you powerful beyond belief! You will be the most popular person you know! People will actually want to be you!
Well..... you will be able to make tortillas. That's close to the same thing.


So here we go......

Step one:

Ingredients. No this is not an advertisement for Great Value. I'm just cheap. Or as I like to call it economically intelligent.

You will need:

• 4 cups of flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 2 T shortening or firm butter 
• 1 1/4 cup VERY hot water

Step two:  

Mix the flour, salt, and baking powder in a large bowl. Cut the shortening or butter into the flour mixture (I just use my hands but you could easily use a fork or pastry cutter). Be sure to distribute the shortening or butter throughout the entire mixture. If there are large clumps you will have greasy spots and dry spots in your tortillas. It should look like small beads covered in flour throughout the mixture. It is hard to see in a picture but you will understand as you do it.

Step three: 

Next, mix in the water. It should be as hot as you can handle on bare skin. My water is steaming from out of my faucet so I usually don't heat it up. But if yours isn't, stick it in the microwave for a minute or so. You want it to be hot so that it will melt the butter. If the butter is melted before you add it to the flour it is very hard to distribute through the whole batch. That's why I use the water to melt it. (I use my hands to mix in the water too.... it's not as much fun if you don't get a little messy!).
Then dump the whole thing on a clean counter top or table. It is okay if it looks like this. This is normal. 

Step four:

Now is the fun part! Knead the dough until most of the flour is incorporated. This is where trial and error will teach you to make the perfect tortilla, since I can't take a picture that tells you how the dough should feel. It should be very smooth, not too sticky, but not dry. I usually don't use all of the flour. What I don't knead into the dough I use when I roll them out. It will look something like this. Notice that there is still flour on the counter, that isn't extra, that is from the original four cups.

Step five: 

This recipe makes 16 tortillas. So I divide it up as evenly as possible. I pull the dough apart in halves. Then again with the halves and again and again. They will seem very small but they roll out to a good size. 

Step six:

Roll them out!! If you have a tortilla press this part is ridiculously fast and easy. But I don't. And I think it is safe to say if you are reading this you don't either. So I use a rolling pin. The most important thing is to not use much flour at all. This isn't a pie crust. It will dry out and the loose flour on your griddle will burn and smell awful and make your tortillas look awful and it will all probably make you cry. So just don't do it. *sigh*

If you want perfectly round tortillas, take a plate or lid of a pot, put it in the middle and cut around it with a pizza cutter. I use to do this but now I just don't care that much. They taste good enough that it doesn't matter what they look like.



Step seven: I usually have my griddle heating up from the time I start. I put it on medium and adjust as I go if needed. The MOST IMPORTANT part of making tortillas is the towel...... Have a towel ready for the tortillas when they come off of the griddle. Keep them covered ALWAYS. By trapping the warmth and moisture, you will keep your tortillas soft and flexible. This is the most common mistake made and it is the easiest to fix. I usually use the thickest towel I have and line it with paper towels.

Put your first tortilla on the griddle. And start rolling out the next one.

When you have a few good size bubbles on your tortilla, flip it over.

You will only need to keep it on this side for about 10 to 15 seconds. Then place it in the towel and cover it. Keep going until they are all done.

Don't they look so yummy?!?

Well good luck with your tortilla making adventures! If you have any questions feel free to comment. I will get back with you as soon as I can.

Thanks for stoppin' by!! =)