Homemade Tortillas 101 (tips, tricks, and recipes)

Have you ever tried your hand at making homemade tortillas? In the southern states it is much more common to make homemade tortillas than it is here in frozen MN. Us Norwegians seem to be afraid of trying, or perhaps we just don't understand how very easy it is? No matter...we are going to walk you through the easy steps, give you tips for success, and leave you with fun recipes to try. We love the accomplishment we feel when we've whipped up a batch of homemade tortillas (never mind how tasty they are as homemade tortilla chips---yum!) and know others of you will enjoy learning.

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First up, you should know that basic homemade tortillas are only a few, common ingredients.

Usually flour, shortening, baking powder, water, and salt. A quick mixing of those ingredients and you can shape your dough.

Tips:

• don't over-mix your dough.
• Use lard instead of vegetable shortening, if possible.
• When your recipe calls for warm water...use HOT. Just pop it in the microwave first.

After you've created your dough, turn it onto a floured surface and knead it for a couple minutes. (If you don't know what kneading is... google it quick. It's basically pushing and pulling on the dough). Divide the dough into equal pieces and shape into balls. Press the balls into rounds and let rest, covered,  for about 20 minutes.

Tips:

• Let your balls of dough rest for about 20 minutes before rolling.
• Don't skip the kneading!
• Roll out your dough as thin as you can unless you like them a bit thicker (we do!)
  
• [easyazon_link identifier="B00HWEIKZO" locale="US"]Tortilla presses[/easyazon_link] only work great for corn tortillas, flour tortillas don't get thin enough unless rolled by hand.

(again, we like our tortillas a bit thick...the above isn't true to traditional tortilla thinness, roll yours much thinner for traditional tortillas!)

Heat a bit of butter in a pan on medium heat before adding your tortilla dough. If you get your dough to bubble...yahoo!

Tips:

• keep the heat on med-high
•  use a [easyazon_link identifier="B00G2XGC88" locale="US"]cast-iron pan[/easyazon_link] if possible
•  fry just until golden brown
• your first couple tortillas will be a bit of a failure. Like pancakes :)

Basic, homemade flour tortillas

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Ingredients

  

• 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 ¼ teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ cup lard or shortening
• ½ cup hot water

Instructions

 

• Combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir.
• Add shortening by spoonfuls and stir in after each addition (you might have to use a fork).
• Stir in the hot water and stir well.
• Knead about 30 times and then cover to let rest.
• Shape into balls and rest again. Roll out into large circles.
• Fry on med-high heat about 30 seconds on each side.

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 Tip: You can turn traditional flour tortillas into Gluten-Free by subbing out Bob's Red Mill Gluten-free Flour for the all-purpose flour

Basic, homemade corn tortillas

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Ingredients

  

• scant cup of masa harina found in the ethnic section of your grocery
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¾ cup hot water

Instructions

 

• Mix the masa harina together with the salt.
• Stir in the hot water.
• Keep stirring until a dough forms. Form it into a ball and let rest for 20 minutes.
• After resting divide dough into 8 equal parts and form into balls. Let rest.
• Press each ball with your tortilla press (I like to put parchment paper on it to help it not stick)
• Grill on med-high heat for 30-45 seconds.

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basic, whole wheat flour tortillas

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Ingredients

  

• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 3 tablesppons lard or shortening
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• ⅔ cup hot water

Instructions

 

• Stir together the flour and salt.
• Add shortening and stir with a fork.
• Slowly add water. Stir until dough forms.
• Knead for 2 minutes. Let rest for 15 minutes.
• Form the dough into 8 balls and let rest for another 15 minutes.
• Press into thin rounds.
• Heat on medium-high heat for 30 seconds per side.

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And to go with:

basic coleslaw
shrimp tacos