Jan 6 10
by cara
at 9:44 PM
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Homemade Tortillas

This is something I have wanted to try for a few months now.  I purchase fresh (made in the store) tortillas from my local HEB almost weekly, and we usually wind up throwing a few away that go bad before we eat them.  I had read several places that making your own tortillas isn’t that hard to do and much cheaper, so I finally tried it.  The result?

It’s so easy a 2 year old can do it! No really.  My 2 year old practically DID do it, except for the last step (cooking in a hot skillet for 30 seconds on each side), and they taste great!

Tortillas

(Please ignore the choppy hair on the back of The Littlest Apple’s head.  I love all of his mop top hair, but the mullet had to GO.  It was my first time trimming his hair, an act of desperation, and my first “snip” wasn’t well received by TLA.  Hence the big chunk missing behind the ear shown above.  The other side looks way better, I promise!)

Back to the homemade tortillas:  They were WAY better than any store bought tortillas.  But if you want them to be more circular in shape and of relatively uniform thickness, I wouldn’t recommend actually letting a 2 year old make them.

One more thing to mark off my list of 31 Things To Do Before I Turn 31!

Tortillas 2

Homemade Tortillas

Recipe from Rick Bayless, via Chowhound

makes 8 8-inch tortillas

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups flour
  • 1/4 cup lard  (you can find this near the shortening on the baking isle)
  • 2/3 cup warm water
  • 1 teaspoon salt

Cut lard into flour. Dissolve salt in warm water, then add gradually to flour mixture. Mix until dough begins to form. Turn onto floured surface and knead about 3 minutes. Divide ball into 8 smaller balls (for ~ 8-inch tortillas). Cover balls with plastic wrap and rest at least 30 minutes.

Heat cast iron pan over medium/medium-high heat. On floured surface, roll out ball until about 8 inches or so in diameter. Grill in dry pan, maybe about 30 seconds on each side or until they look done.  I flipped mine back and forth a couple of times, until they looked done. Keep the tortillas warm as you cook them by placing them in between two towels on a plate or pizza stone and then placing in the microwave or a warm oven.

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16 Comments
  1. Too cute! And your tortillas look delicious. Thanks for sharing! 🙂

  2. I LOVE homemade tortillas. I just started making my own, and you’re right, they’re so much better than store-bought. my recipe is a little different than yours, but they’re pretty similar I think. I sometimes have a hard time rolling mine out, I might try your recipe in the future. Did you see that Williams Sonoma has a tortilla press? That’s the next kitchen gadget I want 🙂

  3. We actually have a tortilla press, but it doesn’t seem to work very well. I may have to try rolling them. If a 2 year old can do, I’m pretty sure I can manage.

    Thanks for the recipe.

  4. These look delicious! When I was in Ecuador for a time that was the only time I had homemade tortillas. I can’t wait to make these with my kids.

  5. These look so good! I’ve always wanted to make tortillas. I’m definitely printing this recipe! Thanks!

  6. Okay, that doesn’t sound too bad at all. I’m going to try it as soon as my farm gets more lard. They’re out at the moment. 🙁

  7. Never thought it would be so easy?! Wow, I’ll have to give this a try.

  8. Jeanne permalink

    HEB! I used to work for HEB when we lived in San Antonio years ago. We’ve been in NY for over 20 years now. I learned how to make tortillas from a neighbor in SA, mine differ slightly—we have to avoid lard because of cholesterol (and one child who went through a vegetarian stage), so I use a little Crisco instead. I melt it into the water (i microwave the water until it’s HOT). I also add some baking powder for a fluffier feel. I agree that they are better than store-bought…especially here in NY where they are shelf-stable for MONTHS (can you say EWWWWWWWWWWW?)
    Jeanne

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