Basic Flour Tortillas

Name: Basic Flour Tortillas
Prep time: 40 min
Cook time: 1 min
Total time: 41 min
Yield: 12 tortillas
Ingredients: 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 parsley (optional) or 1 1/2 cups oregano (optional)

Submitted by Diana Adcock

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

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Ready In:: 41mins
Ingredients:: 9
Yields:: 12 tortillas

ingredients

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 1 1/2 cups parsley (optional) or 1 1/2 cups oregano (optional)

directions

Any optional ingredient is to be added to the flour before you add the salted water.
In a large bowl combine the fat with the flour using your fingers until completely incorporated.
Add any optional ingredient now.
Stir the salt into the water to dissolve and pour around 2/3's of a cup over the mixture.
Working fast begin to stir.
You should have clumps and not a blob of dough.
Check to make sure all the dry ingredients are moist and if not continue to add water a bit at a time.
Turn out and knead until smooth consistency is achieved.
Divide the dough into 12 equal pieces and form into balls.
Set the balls on a plate, cover with plastic and let rest for 30 minutes.
Heat an ungreased griddle or heavy skillet-I use cast iron, over medium high heat.
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.
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.
Remove to a heavy towel, wrap and repeat process until done.

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Reviews

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.

_Pixie_
I made these side by side with recipe #32131 . 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.

Craigsmo
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!

lynmoz
Great recipe!!! I'm not a huge fan of store bought tortillas and this recipe solved that problem. Easy, fast, and very good. Thanks!!!

JessieGrl
Would you believe I used your recipe to make 3 dozen tortillas? I put them under a towel and they are soft!! Easy recipe to do.

Vnut-Beyond Redempt