I have always wanted to make my tortillas, but for some reason, I found it somewhat intimidating. I’ve always thought I had to be slightly adjacent to an elderly woman, teach me their ways, and be honored with the knowledge of making my own. As I feel that is still the case, hunger won. I wanted tacos, and I didn’t want to go to the supermarket JUST for tortillas. While my tortillas have not looked into perfect circles a sage Abuela would, they still look good and taste way better than the market ones. This is how I made my own flour tortillas.

From what I get, flour tortillas are a ratio of ingredients rather than a set rules of “measurements”. Granted, if you want to maximize flavor, you go all out. This is what I used. It is loosely based on Rick Martine’z from Bon Apettit’s recipe, which you can see here.

Ingredients:

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons of liquid (I have used milk or water)
1/3 of fat (I’m using bacon fat, but you can use butter, lard or oil)
3 cups of All-Purpose Flour
2 teaspoons of Baking powder
1 3/4 teaspoons of kosher salt (use 2 teaspoons if not using bacon fat)

How to:

1. Boil water or if using milk, heat milk in a small saucepan over medium-high heat until it reaches 180 degrees. The milk should have tiny bubbles. It should not boil (if it does, you scalded your milk and have to start from scratch). Once it reaches 180 degrees, add your fat of choice and stir. Let the fat dissolve and let cool for 15 mins.

If using water, add the water to a bowl with the fat of choice and let cook for 15 mins.

2. whisk all the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Pour the milk/water mixture to the dry ingredients, mix with a rubber spatula until it becomes a shaggy dough.

3. Once its cool enough to handle, knead the down in the bowl or a lightly floured surface (you should use as little flour as possible, if not the tortilla will be dry) for about 3-4 mins. The dough should be soft and elastic. Wrap in plastic wrap and let rest (at room temperature) for 1 hour.

Alternatively, you can leave in a plastic wrap for 30 mins and then make it into balls and leave to rest for 30 mins.

4. Divide into 16 balls. They should be about three tablespoons (I go by weight; 46 g for a 6-inch tortilla). Arrange the balls on a rimmed baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap or a damp kitchen towel.

5. Working with one ball at a time, roll out on a lightly floured surface to a 6-7 inch round.

6. Heat a medium cast-iron (a 10 or 12 inch cast iron) or a large griddle over medium high heat.

7. Cook the tortillas for about 30 seconds on each side or until air bubbles form on the surface. Poke the large bubbles with a fork to release the steam. Stack tortillas and wrap the in a clean kitchen towel. Keep the tortillas stacked in a ziplock bag and keep for up to 10 days.

If you like recipes like this, click that Follow button. To get email updates, subscribe to the blog! You can also follow on Facebook with the page “Boricua in the Midwest” and follow my Instagram @boricuainthemidwest for the blog’s posts and @lokoxmusica where you can get a snapshot of my life filled with music & food!