How To Make Tortillas: Your Guide To Homemade, Low Fat Flour Hotcakes
As a lover of many Mexican foods, I've always been curious about the process behind how to make tortillas at home, from scratch. It’s quite surprising how few ingredients there are in flour tortillas, making these homemade hotcakes super easy to cook yourself. While it's a little time consuming, they are well worth the extra effort. It's nice not having to take another trip to the grocery store, and tweaking the recipe to make it low fat!
Tortillas are unleavened bread, also called a flatbread, meaning there’s no yeast involved in the cooking process. To make these, I used a combination of wheat and white flour. You can use all white flour if you prefer, just substitute exact amounts. A neighbor of mine ground the wheat flour herself and gave it to me, so this was the perfect opportunity for me to try it out.
if you've ever search the Web for how to make flour tortillas, you've probably discovered, like I have, that there are quite a few recipes out there. The general consensus is that in order to make them you will need flour, some water and a fat. Some add salt and either baking soda or powder. I developed mine by looking at about 15 different recipes, combining all of these ingredients and lowering the fat content considerably. Be aware that many recipes include either lard or shortening; I read on several that vegetable oil can be substituted without a problem. I also ran across a couple that used considerably less oil and more water. So that’s what I did. Instead of moistening the dough with a lot of fat and some water, I used a lot of water and a small portion of fat.
The results are great, perfect for wrapping around some tuna salad for lunch or warming it to have with tacos. Keep in mind that lowering the fat also lowers the flavor a bit since fat will add flavor to your final product. My oldest son commented last night when we had tacos “these are good but they have no flavor.” This coming from someone who is used to eating store-bought white flour tortillas. So, I would recommend experimenting with the ratio of fat to water for a combination that your family will enjoy. For us, these are a great way to enjoy tacos and sandwiches with a lot less fat and a little more grain.
Oh, one last note. When you get to the part where you roll the dough balls in your hand, follow my tip about running one of your hands under the faucet first. Get your hand wet, shake off the excess water, then roll the ball between your two palms. This adds just enough liquid to keep the dough moist which will result in an easy to roll out dough. Be sure to keep the dough covered so that it doesn’t dry out.
Homemade Flour Tortillas
2 cups whole wheat flour
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 – 1 1/4 cups warm water
Whisk the two flours, salt and baking powder together in a large shallow bowl. Add canola oil and 1 cup of the water and mix to form a dough. Add enough additional water until the dough comes together. Knead 10-15 times then let the dough rest, covered with a towel for five minutes.
Divide the dough into 18 equal pieces. Run your hand under a running faucet and shake off the excess water. Wetting your hand will keep the dough moist as you roll. Roll each piece into a ball and place on cookie sheet, not touching each other, and cover with a towel. Allow dough to rest five minutes.
Line a cookie sheet with foil.
Keep the dough balls covered with the towel as you work. Sprinkle counter with flour and keep rolling pin floured as well. Remove one dough ball from under the towel and place on the floured counter. Press gently with your hand then use floured rolling pin to roll into a circle.
Roll dough, flip it, roll it, flip it, and roll again until circle is about 7-8″ in diameter. Tortilla will be very thin. Place tortilla on foil lined cookie sheet.
Repeat this process until cookie sheet has a single layer of tortillas (about three), then place another layer of foil on top and continue the process until all 18 tortillas are rolled out.
Preheat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Place tortilla in preheated pan and cook, one at a time, for about 30 seconds per side.
After the first 15 seconds you will see bubbles begin to form.
Place cooked tortillas on a foiled lined baking sheet in the same fashion as when you rolled them out.
Use tortillas immediately or allow them to cool completely, then store in a plastic zipper storage bag in the refrigerator for up to one week. To reheat, remove from zipper bag and place in a dry skillet over medium-high heat. Heat one side, then flip and heat the other, just enough to heat through.
Amanda Formaro is the crafty, entrepreneurial mother of four who loves to bake, cook, make kids' crafts and create decorative items for her home. She is a crafting expert and guru in the kitchen, and is the Home & Garden channel editor for Craft Gossip, and owner of FunFamilyCrafts.com. You can see her crafty creations on Crafts by Amanda and her delicious recipes on Amanda's Cookin'.
