Homemade flour tortillas
edited to add tortilla-making photos
I would really love to tell you about Saturday's football game, but that's not happening today. I can't see the camera from where I'm sitting, and you don't want the post without pictures. Instead, you get to hear about what's happening here today.
What's happening today? My 4 biggest helpers are gone and my back hurts. I've made bread (from fresh-ground whole wheat), washed diapers, rearranged two rooms in my house and acted as slave-driver to my remaining helpers for most of the day and there's still a lot left on the to-do list. I didn't mean for that to sound so whiny - I don't feel as whiny as that sounded. I simply feel like staying in this chair for a little bit, and that's exactly what I'll do.
So instead of the really exciting football game in which hubby had the bloodiest and most glorious injury on the field and went right back in for more, you get to hear about tortillas.
We eat a lot of flour tortillas, and WalMart seems to have discontinued the ones I buy. The cheapest ones, of course. Years ago, when we had a respectable number of children, we used to make our own at home using my mother-in-law's recipe. Our recipe has more fat than most and is very similar to pie crust. It took a bit of practice to get them right, but it wasn't a big deal to roll out a batch of 8 and they were absolutely delicious. Now that there are 11 of us, 8 doesn't go far. We need almost 3 dozen if want burritos for dinner. 20 will do it for breakfast burritos. Up north good tortillas were hard to get, but down here it's not a big deal. Needless to say, we haven't rolled our own for many years.
But when I couldn't find the el cheapo ones that I liked, I suddenly thought to check the price on a tortilla press. I found a two-fer deal on Ebay and split with a friend to get my own brand cast iron new tortilla press for $15 including shipping. I wasn't entirely sure it would work for flour tortillas - some say only corn tortillas can be pressed - but it did! We doubled the recipe below and pressed and cooked 18 homemade flour tortillas in less than 10 minutes, and that included the time to train the 5, 8, and 9yo, letting them do several on their own. They came out thicker than the rolled ones until we realized we should divide the dough into smaller pieces, but it was just as easy as I had hoped, and they tasted just as good as I remembered. We ate all 18 in about 10 minutes too. 
Are you ready for the recipe? If you don't have a tortilla press, just roll them out. It's much like rolling pie crust. Roll from the center in all directions, use plenty of flour, and rotate frequently to keep it from sticking. Don't panic if they look like your 5yo rolled them out. You don't have to serve them to company. Just eat them before anyone sees!
Homemade Flour Tortillas
makes 8 large or 12-16 small
- 2 cups flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/4 cup oil
Stir together flour and salt. Add water and oil, stirring until well combined. Knead until smooth, about 50 times. Divide into desired number of pieces, cover and let rest 10 minutes.
Roll out on floured surface or press in a tortilla press. If using a tortilla press, divide into 12 or 16 pieces instead of 8.
Cook on a hot dry griddle or skillet about 30-60 seconds on each side, just until light brown spots begin to appear. Now try to eat just one while they're still hot off the griddle.
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Filed under: food
Being from New Mexico and having Roberto’s tortilla (which are THE best ever) we really do not like the faux tortillas here in Indiana so we make our own too. They are more like the New Mexico ones anyway.
I think our recipes are very similar except we add a little baking powder so they are a little thicker. I love them. I actually make some Sopapillas out of our recipes last week, and they tasted authentic!
they sure are easy to make and very filling!
We have an electric tortilla press that cooks them as well as shaping. We have found they are a little thicker, but use them as flatbread instead of tortillas. I think I’ll get some kiddos making some tomorrow!!
can you post a picture of the press I would like to see how big it is for storing purposes
That’s the same recipe I use, and they are super good. We are still small enough for me to hand roll the tortillas, but I’ll sock this idea away for when we have a larger brood.
I think I love you. No, I LOVE YOU!!
We also love flour tortillas, and we cannot get good cheap ones here. There is a substantial Mexican community in the area, and so there are good ones in the store, but they aren’t the cheapest.
And I STINK at making our own (plus, we eat a lot of tortillas. I looked at presses a while back, but kept seeing the warning not to try them with flour tortillas.
THANK YOU!
No one ever told me you couldn’t use my tortilla press with flour tortillas. Not sure I would have listened. LOL
I got mine in Mexico last time I went to visit my parents. I got two. A larger one and a smaller one. I use the large one the most. I also use your recipe. I cut open a large ziplock bag and use it in the press with the dough in the middle. Makes for easy flipping and clean up.
I had a press once, but couldn’t get it to work at all on flour tortillas.
But I have learned since that the key to easy-rolling tortillas (I tried by hand, but probably applies to the press, too) is the “let sit” stage of the recipe.
Thank you!!! I’ve done them by hand twice but the effort has left me hesitant to revisit the adventure. We’ve been eating our pintos and cheese…in a bowl since. ;o) Free shipping, reasonable price, the extra press to scratch off a name from my Christmas list…just perfect!
Okay I remember your handmade tortillas when we came for a visit in Ohio. The were so yummy!!! Especially since you couldn’t find good tortillas in Ohio and I was desprirate for some good ones. LOL But in case you ever need tortillas without having to make them…HEB sells some good ones…there brand. They have a 50 bag in the bag with the blue writing (good) I think the ones in the brown writing are better they are homestyle? but there largest is 20. They are on the bed aisle and they are good and the cheap ones. I have never found any at Walmart that I liked.
Did you use whole wheat flour or white flour for these? I tried whole wheat ones a few times years ago but gave up when they kept exploding in the tortilla press – maybe I should try again or just use white flour…
Cindy,
We used white flour.
I bet a whole wheat dough would be harder, though, so maybe you just can’t press those. I was pleasantly surprised that we were able to press our flour tortillas so easily since many people say that a press only works for corn tortillas.
Our recipe makes a pretty soft dough, with a lot of oil. I also found that it rolls (and probably presses) much more easily if we let it sit at least 10 minutes, as mentioned in the recipe.
ok, here is a question from someone who never made tortillas. Can you make them from whole wheat flour? We don’t eat anything but whole wheat. I really don’t like to feed my children or hubby white flour. I used to buy tortillas made from stone ground corn, but like you, the supermarket I bought them from discontinued carrying them.
thanks.
I haven’t used a press (about to thanks to Kim!) but have made whole wheat tortillas with this recipe:
http://www.passionatehomemaking.com/2008/04/whole-wheat-tortillas.html
I’m curious about subbing part Kamut with the hard wheat as it made my pizza crust much lighter.
Thank you, thank you! We go through about 100 tortillas a month (at least)…I have been wanting to find a tried-and-true recipe. We have a small press, which I’ve used once but wasn’t thrilled with the results. I will try it with your recipe now. I also (admitting my gringa-ness here!) didn’t realize that you ‘fry’ them dry…I’ve used oil, which doesn’t make for a soft, pliable tortilla. Whoops! Learning so much today.
We don’t have a press, and we have never made tortillas before. (My husband is a sales rep for Mission Tortillas… we get all the flour, corn, and wheat tortillas we want! Chips, wraps, salsa, etc.!!)
Anyway we tried your recipe today and I used half white flour and half whole wheat flour. They were hard to roll out. I was really smashing that roller! I did let them sit for 10 minutes. I wonder if the wheat flour made it so hard. When I took the tortillas off of the pan, they felt stiff, and I was afraid we wouldn’t be able to roll our chicken into them. Well, by the time I was finished cooking the tortillas and grabbed one to stuff it rolled very nicely! I was amazed at how they softened up and turned flexible.
So to sum up they turned out way better than I thought! I ate three stuffed with chicken and white cheese dip! My kids loved them, too. But I have decided that they are too much work for me to roll (my oldest is 7… I think it would be too hard for her, too), so I am putting a press on my Christmas list! : ) It was a nice treat.
Oh, and whoever suggested sopapillas… YUM! Can’t wait to give that a try!!!
Thank you for your recipe! I’ve been wanting to make home made tortillas for a while, now. I have a recipe but it uses shortening, and I’ve never been really happy with it. And I don’t think I realized you don’t oil your pan, either. The previous times I’ve tried them, my kitchen always ends up very smokey, so I must have had the heat too high. I will save this and give it a try sometime, when I feel adventurous.
And to those that mentioned sopapillas, how do you make those? I’ve made the kind before that you deep fry and they get all puffy, but those were from a mix. Or do you mean the kind where you just crisp up the tortilla and drizzle honey over it?
We have to make our own tortillas as we’re sensitive to wheat. Our family uses Kamut for all our bread and tortillas. They are so good. I have an electrical press that cooks the tortillas after you’ve pressed them. I love it but it was an investment.
BTW, I have been thinking about you recently. How are you feeling these days? Is the morning sickness passing yet? You should be getting close to your 2nd trimester, right?
Hi,
I’ve enjoyed your blog lately. Several members of my family are now enjoying the baking soda shampoo b/c of you and Marci at Amazing Grace Farm.
As far as tortillas go, Vickilynn Haycraft has a book about whole grain tortillas. It’s called Wrapping it Up! and can be found here: http://realfoodliving.com/. I’ve tried some of the recipes and techniques-works well.
HTH
Luci
Karen,
Thanks for asking. I’m still having good days and bad days but my bad days are nothing like other pregnancies! I think I’ve thrown up a total of 10 or 12 times.
I started my second trimester last Friday, and even though I’ve had 2 queasy days in a row I really do think it’s beginning to let up overall.
I’m trying these!!!
I’ve been afraid of making my own tortillas, but we also eat a lot here too, so I’m trying these tomorrow!!!!
I’m actually excited!
Thanks for posting pictures too!
I grew-up in a house that did nothing but make all tortillas from scratch. However I’ve found that using shortening keeps that from being to -for lack of a better word- heavy. When ever I make them I tend to make about 20 or so and eat nothing but that for 2 or 3 days.
Sounds great! We’ll have to try these soon!
Thanks, Kim!
Wendy
I was just thinking about making tortillas tonight…..Now I MUST! I do roll mine out (I don’t have a press) but there are only eight of us, so I don’t have to make more than a dozen or so.
OK I posted our “large family sized” tortilla recipe about 3 weeks before you did. Great minds must think alike! LOL I have to say though…I WANT YOUR TORTILLA PRESS! Do you know how long it takes to roll out 24 flour tortillas by hand and try to cook them at the same time? haha
Blessings, Dawn
I don’t have a press but after seeing this I googled around a little bit and found this…
http://www.curbly.com/chrisjob/posts/1013-diy-tortilla-press
Looks promising! Now I just have to talk to dh!