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Flour Tortillas

This is recipe works as a basic starting point to make fresh tortillas. It is simply flour, water, salt, baking powder and a fat of your choice. Butter is listed as fat in this recipe, but you can use lard, shortening, bacon grease or even a cooking oil of your choice.

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Ingredients

2 cup All Purpose Flour
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking powder
2 tablespoons butter or fat of your choice.
¾ to 1 cup hot tap water (Not hot enough to burn you)

  • In a mixing bowl, add flour, salt, and baking powder, then stir with a fork to mix the dry ingredients together.
  • Add the butter to the flour then mix it with your fingers, breaking up the butter until it has a course looking texture.
  • Add about ¾ of the hot water and mix by hand until the mixture forms a shaggy somewhat sticky dough. Add more of the water if the dough is not hydrated enough. You will get a feel for this as you make it a few times.
  • Let the dough sit for 15 min to finish hydration.
  • Flour the surface of your countertop and knead the dough by hand for about 5 to 8 minutes. The dough should be soft and smooth and will stretch without tearing when you pull on it. It should pass the windowpane test. Take a piece of dough and see if it will stretch thin enough that light passes through and will not tear.
  • Divide the dough into 10 golf ball sized pieces. (About 2 oz. balls) Roll them into balls and set them on a tray and cover with plastic wrap to keep them from drying out. Let them rest for about 20 min.
  • Heat a 10-inch frying pan or skillet on medium high heat.
  • Flour the surface of your counter. Take a dough ball and press it down to start a rounded shape. Roll it out into a thin tortilla. I like to start to see the countertop through the dough as I am rolling. You can experiment with what you like.
  • Gently take the rolled dough and transfer to the hot skillet and cook them on each side for approximately 1 min per side. The dough will probably develop air pockets as it cooks and will brown a little but not burn.
  • Once they are done, cover them with a clean folded dish towel to sweat.
  • Enjoy your fresh tortillas!