I love fresh homemade tortillas! The night before last I set out to make homemade flour tortillas. I don’t live near my aunt Layla, who happens to be Hispanic, so I was on my own. Um, let’s just say they were totally edible, but they looked like something that came out of an abstract art book! Don’t get me wrong the first batch was delish, but for me it’s the accomplishment of conquering the task at hand. They not only had to taste good, but I wanted them to at least resemble somewhat of a circular shape and not some funky looking, distorted version of one. My aunt would of cried with hysterical laughter! Yep, we had a tortilla dinner two nights in a row, but I was bound to perfect these if it was the last thing I did! So.. last night I started from scratch, did my research, called several different people and voila’. If you get the chance to make these you will not be sorry they are delicious! Eating one straight from the pan was SO good! I rubbed butter all over the inside, rolled it up and inhaled!
Ingredients
3 1/2 cups unbleached flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
8 tablespoons vegetable shortening
1 cup hot water (add more if needed)
Directions
In a large mixing bowl, add flour, salt, baking powder; stir. Add shortening to bowl. Use a fork or pastry blender or your fingertips to incorporate shortening into flour mixture until mixture becomes crumbly. Add water, mix with hands. Once dough is formed, knead dough for about 1 to 2 minutes. Place dough back in bowl and cover with a clean towel for about 20 minutes. Form dough into 1 inch balls. Place balls back in the same bowl, cover with a clean towel. Working with one ball at a time, shape into a circle. (You can do this with your hand or rolling pin or both. I found that it was easier to start with the rolling pin then use my hand to perfect the circle and make them thinner. Try to get your tortilla as thin as you can.) Meanwhile warm a nonstick pan over medium heat. Place uncooked tortilla in hot, nonstick pan. Cook until the side facing you forms little bubbles, flip tortilla and continue cooking until little brown spots form on reverse side. Be watchful these babies cook super fast! About 1 minute. Enjoy!
Note: You can substitute 1/2 the unbleached flour for whole wheat flour.
I was so happy to see your tortilla post! Friends are always asking me for my recipe but I make them by memory and by touch so it’s hard for me to come up with measurable amounts of each ingredient. I learned from my mom and have been making them longer than I can remember and your recipe is the closest to my mom’s recipe that I’ve seen. I’ve seen recipes using oil or butter but we’ve always used shortening. Also, use the hottest water that will come out of your tap. It must be hot to soften the shortening! There is nothing more beautiful than a ball of tortilla dough (masa).
Thanks again for this recipe!
Patsy
Thank you, Patsy, for your sweet message! It really warmed my heart. Homemade tortillas are the best. Thank you for the tip about the really hot water too. Have a great week!
You’re welcome! I was blessed with a mom who truly loved her family not only through her cooking but also by teaching us about Jesus, praying for us and with us daily, and loving our dad. I can’t think of a better example.
I love the way you use the word “blessing” in the bio for your blog. It really is a beautiful place to go and learn. Thanks for pouring your heart into it.
Patsy
p.s. I just followed you on pinteres. I can’t wait to read more here and there =)
Almost all of the recipes I see for tortillas call for I unbleached flour. Does it make a difference if I use bleached flour?
Thanks!
Hi thanks for your question! Go ahead and use bleached flour. For us, it’s a personal conviction as to why we use unbleached flour- as beached flour is processed with an edible bleaching additive that bleaches the flour white. I chose not to put this additive in our bodies. http://www.differencebetween.net/object/difference-between-bleached-and-unbleached-flour/ I provided a link on the difference between the two. Have a great day!