Food Storage Friday: Tortillas

Brittany here. Tortillas are so versatile, don't you think? Not only can you use them for burritos, enchiladas, and quesadillas, but you can use them for virtually any sandwich when you've run out of bread. Not that that's ever happened to me. That being said, I am not a connoisseur when it comes to what makes a tortilla truly authentic, although I confess I do prefer my tortillas to be soft and tender as opposed to dry and tough. Call me crazy.

Anyway, I thought I'd attempt a homemade version and see how it went. All things considered, it went pretty well.

Ingredients: flour (I used bread flour, but the recipe actually called for all-purpose), salt, baking powder, oil, and water.


Mix 2 cups flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt together in a bowl. Add 2 tablespoons oil and 3/4 cup water. Stir and then pour out onto counter to knead.

Knead for a few minutes. Now, here's my confession. The recipe called for lard, but I didn't have any and didn't want to buy any. I understand that the lard is what truly makes a good tortilla. So I substituted the oil on a whim. It worked out okay, but if you have lard, I'd definitely use that. You can replace the lard with shortening, which also would probably work okay.

Allow the dough to rest for about ten minutes and then cut into portions and roll into balls--I made eight.

Heat a skillet to medium and roll out a tortilla. Make it as thin as you can (and maybe you can make yours more circular than mine). Mine were about 1/16 of an inch on the counter, but they were still too thick for my preference after I cooked them.

Place the tortilla in the warm skillet and allow to cook for about 1 minute on each side or until lightly browned and bubbly. Roll out another tortilla while one is cooking. Transfer to a plate.

These tortillas turned out to be pretty darn good, especially warm. Serve with cheese, sour cream, salsa, and black beans while rotating, or whatever floats your boat. I think I'll do breakfast burritos tomorrow. Yum!


Tortillas (recipe adapted from www.allrecipes.com)

2 c. all-purpose flour
1 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
2 T. oil (or 1 T. lard)
3/4 c. water

Mix dry ingredients and add oil and water. Knead for a few minutes until a smooth dough is formed. Let sit for about 10 minutes. Divide into 8 sections and roll into balls. Heat a skillet to medium heat. Roll out balls into 6-8 inch circles and place individually on skillet, cooking about one minute on each side. Remove to plate. Serve warm, or store in airtight container.

Makes approximately 8 tortillas.



One year ago on SGI: Granola Bars