Homemade Flour Tortillas

My birthday was a couple months ago. One of the coolest gifts I received was a cast iron tortilla press from two wonderful girlfriends. Thank you Angelica and Mai!!! I promised myself that I wouldn't let it sit around unused.

After doing some research online and in my cookbooks, I came up with what I thought to be a good recipe.

They were delicious and well worth the extra effort! It may be difficult to go back to store-bought tortillas.

Homemade Flour Tortillas

• 2 cups of all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• slightly less than 1/2 cup of shortening
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 cup of warm water

Put the flour and baking powder into a medium-size mixing bowl. Whisk together until well combined.

Add the shortening and cut it into the flour with a pastry blender (a large fork would work) until it resembles small peas.

Dissolve the salt into the warm water and add half of it to the flour mixture. Use your hands to mix together. Add the rest of the salt water a little at a time until it forms a sticky ball. Stop adding water if it becomes too sticky. You should be able to handle it without it ending up all over your hands. 

Put the ball of dough onto a lightly floured work surface. Knead the dough for a minute or so. Then put it back into the bowl and cover with a clean dish cloth. Let it sit for a couple hours at room temperature.

Then cut the dough into 8 to 9 pieces, depending on how large you want the tortillas. Roll each piece into a ball.

Roll out each ball into a nicely shaped tortilla with a rolling pin.

Or use a tortilla press if you have one. They should be about 1/4 inch thick.

Cook them for about 1 1/2 minutes per side on a hot griddle or pan. Preferably cast iron. They should slightly bubble and start to brown. Turn down the heat if they seem to be cooking too quickly.

Serve immediately with your favorite toppings. My kids like to eat them plain!

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