My Flour Tortillas Recipes

HOMEMADE FLOUR TORTILLAS

Steps:

• Whisk the flour, salt, and baking powder together in a mixing bowl. Mix in the lard with your fingers until the flour resembles cornmeal. Add the water and mix until the dough comes together; place on a lightly floured surface and knead a few minutes until smooth and elastic. Divide the dough into 24 equal pieces and roll each piece into a ball.
• Preheat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Use a well-floured rolling pin to roll a dough ball into a thin, round tortilla. Place into the hot skillet, and cook until bubbly and golden; flip and continue cooking until golden on the other side. Place the cooked tortilla in a tortilla warmer; continue rolling and cooking the remaining dough.

OUR FAVORITE SOFT FLOUR TORTILLAS

Steps:

• Add the salt to the warm water and stir together until the salt has dissolved.
• In a large bowl, use a fork to combine the flour with the oil (or other fat) until it looks crumbly. Pour in almost all of the salty water and stir until a shaggy dough forms. If the mixture seems dry, add a bit more of the water.
• When the dough comes together, transfer to a floured work surface and knead until smooth, two to three minutes. Cover with a clean dish cloth and leave for at least 15 minutes and up to an hour or two. Resting the dough makes rolling it out easier.
• Divide the dough into ten equally sized blobs and then shape into small disks. Use a rolling pin to roll each small disc into 8-inch rounds or use a tortilla press. The thinner the better, here. If you happen to get 9-inch tortillas, don't worry! We also don't worry too much about making them perfectly round. (See our video to watch us do it.)
• Stack the rolled tortillas with a piece of parchment paper between them. Alternatively, you can roll and cook the tortillas at the same time. Roll one tortilla out, then while it cooks, roll the next tortilla out.
• Make ahead: Divide the dough into smaller balls (this recipe makes ten 8-inch tortillas), wrap them very well, and then place into the refrigerator up to three days. About thirty to forty minutes before you are ready to cook the tortillas, take the balls out of the refrigerator and let them come to room temperature before rolling them out.
• Heat a wide, heavy-bottomed skillet over medium-high heat. When it's hot, add the first tortilla. Within 20 to 30 seconds, you should start to see it puffing up with bubbles forming.
• When the bottom of the tortilla has some brown spots, flip it and cook until the second side is browned in spots and the tortilla looks dry around the edges. Each tortilla will take 1 to 2 minutes to cook. If this is taking a long time, increase the heat. If the pan starts to smoke or brown the tortillas too quickly, turn the heat down a bit.
• Transfer the cooked tortilla to a dish towel and cover it then continue with the remaining tortillas, adjusting the heat as needed.
• Store leftover tortillas in a resealable plastic bag for a day or two or freeze if needing to store longer. Fresh homemade flour tortillas are in their softest state when warm so if you have room temperature or cold tortillas, we recommend reheating them in a skillet until they are warm and pliable again.

FLOUR TORTILLAS

Steps:

• Combine the flour, salt and sugar in a medium bowl. Add the shortening or oil and mix until mealy. Stir in 3/4 cup water to form a dough. Turn it out onto a surface and knead, adding more flour if needed, until a smooth, slightly sticky dough is formed, 5 to 7 minutes. Cover the dough with plastic wrap or a towel and let it rest at room temperature for 30 minutes. (Full disclosure: When we're hungry, we skip this step. But letting the dough rest does make it easier to roll these out.)
• Heat a dry skillet over medium heat. Divide the dough into 8 equal parts and roll them out on a lightly-floured surface until they're really thin, keeping the remaining dough balls covered. I like a 1/16- or 1/8-inch thickness but wouldn't turn down a 3/16-inch-thick one. Cook them in the skillet on both sides until they're just starting to show some brown spots, 45 seconds to 1 minute per side. Keep warm in a towel until ready to serve.

HOMEMADE TORTILLAS

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine flour and salt. Stir in water and oil. Turn onto a floured surface; knead 10-12 times, adding a little flour or water if needed to achieve a smooth dough. Let rest for 10 minutes., Divide dough into 8 portions. On a lightly floured surface, roll each portion into a 7-in. circle., In a greased cast-iron or other heavy skillet, cook tortillas over medium heat until lightly browned, 1 minute on each side. Serve warm.

FLOUR TORTILLAS

Steps:

• Heat the milk in a small saucepan over medium heat until tiny bubbles start to form around the edges of the pan (the milk should be 180 degrees F), 4 to 5 minutes. Immediately remove from the heat and stir in the lard until melted. Let cool for 15 minutes.
• Meanwhile, whisk the flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl until completely combined. Pour in the warm milk mixture and stir with a rubber spatula until a shaggy dough forms.
• When cool enough to handle, knead the dough in the bowl until almost completely smooth, about 3 minutes; do not overwork, the dough should be soft and only slightly elastic and not sticky. Wrap in plastic and let rest at room temperature for 1 hour to relax dough.
• Divide the dough into 16 balls about a scant 3 tablespoons each (or 46g.). Arrange the balls on a rimmed baking sheet and cover with a damp kitchen towel until ready to use.
• Working with one dough ball at a time, roll out on a lightly floured surface to a 7-inch round.
• Heat a medium cast-iron skillet or large griddle over medium-high heat.
• Working with one at a time (unless using a large griddle), cook the tortillas, reducing the heat if they are getting dark too quickly, until air bubbles form on the surface and the bottom is brown in spots, about 30 seconds. Poke any large bubbles with a fork to release steam, flip the tortillas and cook until brown in spots on the other side, about 30 seconds. Stack and wrap the tortillas in a clean kitchen towel and keep warm. Repeat rolling and cooking the remaining dough balls.

CHEF JOHN'S FLOUR TORTILLAS

Steps:

• Whisk flour, salt, and baking powder together in a large bowl. Add vegetable shortening and work into flour mixture using a pastry cutter until it resembles coarse crumbs.
• Form a well in the middle of flour mixture and mix in hot water. Work flour and water mixture together with a fork and transfer to a cutting board.
• Knead until a smooth, soft dough is formed, about 3 minutes. Add more flour if dough is too sticky.
• Place more flour on cutting board, cover dough with bowl, and let rest for 15 minutes.
• Cut ball of dough into eight equal parts and cover until needed.
• Roll out balls of dough either by hand or with a tortilla press.
• Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Place flattened tortilla in skillet and cook until it begins to bubble, about 1 minute. Flip tortilla over and cook for an additional minute. Flip again and cook for 1 more minute. Repeat with remaining dough.