Basic Flour Tortillas

Dib's's Note:

Homemade tortillas are so much better than store bought, and so easy to do--enjoy!

• Total Time: 41 mins
• Prep Time: 40 mins
• Cook Time: 1 mins

Ingredients:

Yield: 12 tortillas

• 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 5 teaspoons vegetable shortening or 5 teaspoons lard
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup very warm tap water
• 1 1/2 cups semi packed slivered spinach (optional)
• 3 teaspoons powdered spinach (if you have it) (optional)
• 1/2 cup slivered sun-dried tomato (optional)
• 4 teaspoons powdered tomato (if you have it) (optional)
• 1 1/2 cups chopped cilantro (optional) or 1 1/2 cups basil (optional) or 1 1/2 cups parsley (optional) or 1 1/2 cups oregano (optional)

Directions:

1. Any optional ingredient is to be added to the flour before you add the salted water.
2. In a large bowl combine the fat with the flour using your fingers until completely incorporated.
3. Add any optional ingredient now.
4. Stir the salt into the water to dissolve and pour around 2/3's of a cup over the mixture.
5. Working fast begin to stir.
6. You should have clumps and not a blob of dough.
7. Check to make sure all the dry ingredients are moist and if not continue to add water a bit at a time.
8. Turn out and knead until smooth consistency is achieved.
9. Divide the dough into 12 equal pieces and form into balls.
10. Set the balls on a plate, cover with plastic and let rest for 30 minutes.
11. Heat an ungreased griddle or heavy skillet-I use cast iron, over medium high heat.
12. One at a time place each ball on a lightly floured surface and begin to roll out to a 7 to 8 inch diameter circle.
13. Lay the tortilla on the hot griddle-you should see almost immediate bubbling across the surface-for about 40 seconds, turn and cook another 40 to 45 seconds.
14. Remove to a heavy towel, wrap and repeat process until done.

Reviews

[*Pixie*]

These are quite good. A bit labour intensive but yummy. I used some right away to make tortilla bowls for a salad, the next day my son used one to make his lunch, and I made a Mexican Lasagna with the rest. They were particularly tasty in the Mexican Lasagna. I was surprised at how the dough could bubble up when cooking since there was no baking powder or soda in them. We made up a full batch of plain ones. I ended up using more like 1 cup of water and an extra teaspoon oil before we could get the dough to be smooth. I say we, because my wrist (which has on and off again carpel tunnel problems) decided that kneading the stiff dough was too much for it, so I had to rope my teenager into finishing kneading and rolling these out for me.

[Craigsmo]

I made these side by side with Flour Tortillas . This one came out very dry and the tortillas were not as flexible as the other recipe. These probably would work better as a Quesadilla, but not the best for tacos or fajitas.

[lynmoz]

I had absolutely no trouble at ALL with this recipe. I used real butter and whipped these up using my kitchenaid mixer with dough hook. These are a bit time consuming but well worth the effort. I am SO glad to find a great alternative to store bought. Thank you!