Homemade Flour Tortillas :)

My tortilla project may have gotten a bit out of hand...

I made tortillas 4 times in 6 days because the perfect tortilla continually seemed just out of reach.

In fact, I'm making a 5th batch right now because I still don't think I have it quite right.

After sifting through about 15 recipes for flour tortillas, this seems to be a basic and reliable place to start:

3 cups of flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup of warm water

1/3 cup oil

Putting the dough together is easy. Mix all the dry ingredients together. Add the liquid. Then mix together and knead until you have a smooth dough.



You can use a food processor if you want, but with a recipe this small I think it is easier to use a bowl and your hands.










Divide the dough in to 16 equal portions (a scale is handy here).








If you don't have a scale, divide the dough in half. Then, in half again and again and again until you have 16 portions.








If you use a scale, make sure you weight the dough each time you make the recipe because even if you follow it exactly again and again the weight of the dough will vary slightly.










Roll the portions in to balls and flatten.

Cover with a kitchen towel/proofing bag, and let the dough rest for at least 15 minutes rest. I found 30 minutes worked best for me.

Then, roll out the dough in to a tortilla about 6 inches wide.





Attempting to roll perfectly circular tortillas certainly set off my OCD. I'll not bore you with my bitter thoughts or the
profanity that came out of my mouth. Instead, let's just say tortilla rolling is an area of growth for me!











Immediately cook the tortillas in a pan on medium heat. Flip when they just start to brown (30-45 seconds).









The tortillas will keep in the fridge for a day or in the freezer forever. Store them separated by wax paper or paper towels.









Once frozen, they take maybe 30 seconds to reheat in a pan or a few minutes on a sheet pan in the oven. 
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I did follow the basic recipe above the first time around, but I changed it up each time after the test run.

For all of my other tortilla attempts I used 2 cups of whole wheat flour and 1 cup of AP flour.

Whole wheat flour is more absorbent that AP flour.

Therefore, I added about 3 extra tablespoons of warm water to make the dough as supple and malleable as I felt it should be.

The use of whole wheat flour produces a somewhat firmer tortilla. I don't mind the texture as a trade off for a bit more nutrition in my tortillas.

After figuring out the whole wheat substitution, I began adding spices. I made one batch with cumin and garlic. Another batch contained ground chipotle powder.

My most recent batch (and the one pictured above) contains 2 teaspoons of chipotle powder, 1 teaspoon of onion powder, and 2 teaspoons of garlic powder. Spicy and delicious! Perfect for carnitas, eggs, and anything else!

At any rate, I can guarantee you that there will never be store bought tortillas in my house again.

Fresh tortillas make EVERY dish better!

I've used them for tacos, breakfast burritos, quesadillas, and simply wrapped around cheese and meat for a quick meal/snack. So easy and delicious!