Homemade Flour Tortillas
To get started you will need all-purpose flour in a bowl together with baking powder and salt then give them a good mix. Add in vegetable shortening and you can just combine that with your hands until the flour feels like coarse sand then you will add one cup of hot water, the water should not be too hot but just hot enough to be able to melt in the lard to that they can incorporate better with the flour. The water should be added in bits so as to give you an easy time to work on the dough.
To makes sure your tortillas are nice and subtle, you want to keep the dough on the wet side, juts knead until the dough balls forms and the dough stops sticking in your hands but still feels wet and tacky. Place the dough on a work surface and knead the dough without adding any flour for around 10 minutes and the dough will stop sticking and will be nice and supple.
At this point, you could let the dough rest for around 15 minutes, before letting the dough rest, divide the dough into equal pieces, about 12 balls. You can just roll the dough into your hands and shape them into a ball then cover the with a damp paper towel and let the dough rest for at least 10 minutes.
Once rested. start rolling each dough on a lightly floured surface them preheat your cast iron skillet and once hot, place the rolled tortilla dough in without any oil and let it sit on the pan for about three to five minutes then flip it over the other side until they are done.
These tortillas will come out soft and pliable, you can fold them, shape them and they will go back to their original shape without breaking. The best way to eat these tortillas is with delicious breakfast tacos.
Ingredients;
- 3 cups (400 g ) all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp (7.5 g ) baking powder
- 8 oz (236.59 ml ) hot water
- 1/3 cup lard or shortening (65 g) use only 1/4 cup (59 ml) if using oil
- 1 tsp salt (5 grams salt)
Tips for soft tortillas;
- Be sure the dough is moist and slightly tacky before kneading.
- If the dough is still too wet, add a Tbsp of flour at a time until workable
- Make sure you knead for 10 to 15 minutes dough should be smooth and soft after kneading
- Rest the dough for 15 minutes to allow the gluten in the flour to relax which helps the tortilla to bubble while cooking
- Try to roll out your tortilla thin.