Flour Tortillas

If you read my "Salsa Creamcheese Rollups" post you know that most storebought tortillas have nothing but preservatives and artifical junk that is hard to even pronounce.  I normally buy mine at Earthfare since they at least don't use hydrogenated oils in them. It's easy just to pick some up for whatever you are making with them so I never really thought of making my own.  But then I ran across a post about homemade flour tortillas on a blog that I follow (annies-eats) and saw that it didn't really seem too complicated and I already had all the ingredients on hand. I gave it a shot and I'm so glad I did!  These turned out so good. They did take longer to make than I thought, but I just need to get quicker at rolling them out.  There are really only a few ingredients, all with names you can pronounce. I think we are going to use these to make some Bobby Flay "Spice Rubbed Chicken Breast Tacos" which are amazing. Can't wait!

Ingredients:
3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 heaping tsp. salt
5 Tbsp of unsalted butter at room temperature (you can also use shortening, but I'm definitely not a fan of that stuff. And I've also heard traditional ones are made with lard)
1 cup water

Directions
Combine all dry ingredients in a bowl. Then, cut in butter with a pastry blender until mixture is crumbly (The recipe I used, had a food processor with a dough blade for this but said you could also use a pastry cutter which I did have so I just used that).

I improvised on the next step and added the mixture to my bread machine. If you have a food processor just use that.  With the mixture in the bread machine (or food processor) add in the water in a slow drizzle and mix until the dough forms a ball.  I'm guessing you might also be able to do this by hand, but it might take longer.

Allow the dough ball to knead for a few seconds and then transfer to a lightly floured work surface. Divide into 12 equal pieces (a kitchen scale really helps with this!). Mine were about 2 1/4 ounces each.

Cover with a clean kitchen towel and let rest for about 10 minutes. Then, working with one piece at a time, roll into an 8 inch circle. You can get a measuring mat at a craft or cake decorating store for pretty cheap. It makes it so much easier to measure. I used a pizza cutter to make them all even circles.

Once ready, carefully transfer to a skillet heated over medium low heat and cook on each side for 10-20 seconds. This is also where I had trouble. My first tortilla got all of out shape and then I overcooked it.  I got a little better as I went. They didn't all turn out in exact circles, but I think that makes them look unique.
 


Recipe source: Adapted from Annies-eats