Homemade Flour Tortillas

Don't freak out - they're actually really simple to make. I won't say easy because rolling them out took a little doing, and a little patience. But seriously, the dough was soooo easy and the tortillas are sooo worth it. Yummmm....

So, today, it's flour tortillas. Next time, I'll share the corn tortilla recipe and after that... (drum roll please)... sweet corn tomalito. It's just like the one at Chevy's - maybe even better. So stay tuned. And now, flour tortillas:

Homemade Flour Tortillas

2 cups all-purpose flour
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vegetable oil or non-hydrogenated lard
3/4 cup lukewarm milk

In a bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add vegetable oil to the lukewarm milk and whisk briefly to incorporate. Gradually add the milk to the flour mixture, and using clean hands, work into a sticky dough.
Turn dough out onto a surface dusted with flour and knead vigorously for about 2 minutes or until the dough is no longer sticky.

Return dough to bowl, cover with a damp cloth and allow to rest for 10 -20 minutes so that it will be easier to roll out.

Divide dough into 8 balls of equal size, cover them, and let them rest again for about 20 minutes. Avoid letting them touch, if you don't want them to stick together.

Dust a clean pastry board or working surface with flour.

NOTE: I found a great tip online to help make the next step a lot easier. A small disclaimer here - this worked really well with corn tortillas. I'm assuming it'll work with flour tortillas, but you'll have to be the guinea pig on this one! You can take a large freezer bag (gallon size) and cut it in half. The thick plastic works better than saran wrap. Place the dough in between the two halves and roll it out that way (in between two sheets of plastic). Then, to remove the tortilla from the plastic, peel the top layer off. Pick it up and flip it over, so the tortilla dough is against your hand. Peel the 2nd sheet of plastic off with your other hand. Plop it right from your hand into the hot pan.

One at a time, remove each piece of dough. Press it out into a 5-inch circle. Using a flour dusted rolling pin, roll out the tortilla from the center out until the tortilla measures a little less than 1/4 inch thick and is a 7 or 8 inch circle (the challenge is that this dough wants to bounce back. It's takes some patience to keep rolling it, letting it bounce back, then rolling it again. Eventually, it does get bigger. If you plan on making this more often (and I'm considering it), then you might consider getting a tortilla press. They're not very expensive (maybe $20 or so online), and they make the process a lot easier. Even without the press, though, this really was one of the easiest recipes I've ever made.)

Transfer the tortilla to a dry preheated skillet or griddle. when the tortilla begins to blister, allow it to cook for 30 seconds, flip it, and cook the other side the same way. (I cooked them longer - about a minute on each side).

Remove tortilla, place it in on a clean paper towel and cover loosely with foil. Repeat for remaining tortillas.

Tortillas freeze well. Wrap tightly in plastic, removing any air pockets. Keeps frozen for several weeks.

To serve tortillas which have been frozen, thaw at room temperature, wrap in foil and heat in a warm oven.