Tasty Flour Tortillas

Living in the desert southwest, everyone assumes you know how to make tortillas.  I was taught by one of my husband's cousins several years ago (a Texas girl, herself), but I didn't actually work out a recipe I liked until recently.

My biggest issue was the consistency.  No matter what I did, if the inside of the tortilla was cooked, the outside of the tortilla always seemed to come out crunchy, which is not what you want if you intend to use the tortillas in soft tacos or any other situation where they need to be folded.  I even tried increasing the amount of shortening in the recipe in the hopes it would soften the dough, but to no avail.  For a while, I completely gave up and refused to make them at all.

Fast forward several years later, when my husband and I discovered a tortilleria in Silver City, New Mexico, with the most heavenly flour tortillas.  We made special efforts to stop by every time we were in the area, and at least two tortillas never made it back home.  (Home?  I'm not sure those two tortillas made it to the next stoplight . . .)

One day, I was speaking with a co-worker about these wonderful tortillas.  "You know why their tortillas are so good?" he asked me.  "It's because they use lard."

Lard?  Well, I knew the Mexican ladies I worked with used a lot of lard, but I personally couldn't stand the idea of stocking the stuff, myself.  Then one day, when I had a daughter shopping for me, a glorious mistake happened.

Instead of buying all-vegetable shortening, which is what I normally pick up, she grabbed regular shortening off the shelf and brought it home.  An idea pinged in my mind.  If the lard was what made those tortillas so wonderful, then maybe using the shortening with both animal and vegetable fats, rather than all-vegetable shortening, would make the difference.

The secret ingredient!!

It did.  It really did!  I couldn't believe how easy it was to have soft, pliable, fluffy tortillas with just this one simple ingredient change.  I think the people in the tortilleria still make them better than I do, but you wouldn't guess it by how quickly they disappear off the table.

Ingredients for about a dozen tortillas:

2 cups flour
1 Tablespoon baking powder
2 teaspoons salt (Reduce this if you think they come out too salty.)
4 Tablespoons shortening
Hot tap water to make the dough--a little over 2/3 a cup is about right.

Mix the dry ingredients together, then cut in the shortening.

Add hot water and mix the dough with a fork until it gathers and forms a ball around the fork.  If you add a touch too much water, I as I did in the following picture, it isn't the end of the world.  It will just be a little sticky until the flour from your hands or from the rolling process incorporates into it a little.

With lightly floured hands, divide the dough and roll into balls about 2 inches in diameter.  (Smaller if you want smaller tortillas.)  I was told when I first learned that it is better to work quickly, while the dough is still a bit warm from the hot water.  I think she was right; if you wait too long, bits of the dough will dry out and it will be difficult to get a smooth tortilla.

Heat a skillet or griddle on the stove on medium heat.

I tend to use a normal rolling pin to roll out the tortillas, but many people use one looking more like the one on the left, which is made from a piece of sanded dowel.  I haven't practiced with it enough to be able to roll things out at a consistent level.  (By the time I'm done with rolling a tortilla using the dowel, it has wave patterns or something . . .)

It is very easy to get too much flour on tortillas in the rolling process, making them taste more like . . . well, flour.  But if there is not enough flour on the tortillas as they are rolled, they will stick to the board and end up forming very interesting shapes.  I remembered a trick the ladies from showmethecurry.com had used when making parathas--dipping the dough into a bowl (or pie plate) of flour as they went--and so decided to try it out this time.  I found it really did help to keep just the right amount of flour involved in the rolling process.

I probably shouild have slightly flattened the ball before dipping it.

Roll the tortilla, dipping into the flour lightly if necessary, until it is round and very thin.  (I confess not all mine are quite this round . . .)

If you have rolled out a tortilla and your pan is not ready to bake it yet, you can hang it on the side of your bowl or something while you roll out another tortilla--but not too long, or it will dry out.

Place the tortilla on the skillet or griddle (no oil necessary), spinning it around as it cooks if you are worried about it sticking.  (I've never had them stick.)  The surface will get bubbles on it as it cooks.  If a bubble gets too big, lightly press it down with your turner.

You can see toward the top left where I pressed down a large bubble.

After the surface has bubbles and the underside has lightly browned spots, flip the tortilla.

Cook until the next side has lightly browned spots, then remove and keep warm.

Continue with other tortillas until they are all cooked.  If flour starts to accumulate on the skillet or griddle, use a paper towel or kitchen towel to wipe it away.  (Otherwise, it will burn and you'll end up with burned flour on the next tortilla you cook.)


Yummy!  These are good for soft tacos, quesadillas, or just eating with butter.  (Or, as the Kitchen Artiste In Training likes to do, eating with butter and cinnamon-sugar.)