No Frills Flour Tortillas
Followers have asked me for years to share an extended flour tortilla video. You don't have to twist my arm to prepare tortillas, lol! Because then I get to enjoy a few!
Servings 12 Tortillas
Equipment
- Rolling Pin
- griddle
Ingredients
- 4 tbsps. fat, natural lard, Irish butter, bacon fat, beef tallow...oil... Irish butter is pure butter and does not contain any water like some other brands
- 3/4 tsp. salt
- 3 cups all-purpose flour, plus 1/2 cup more for dredging later
- 1 c Hot water
- 2 tbsps. vegetable shortening or fat of your choice this is to lightly coat the tops of the dough once you shape each ball
Instructions
- Cream the lard or butter with a spoon. Add the flour and salt. Using your hands, cut in the butter until you have small crumbles. Gradually mix in the hot water. Don't add it all at once because you may not need it all. The dough should feel sticky.
- Transfer the sticky dough to a flat surface and knead aggressively for 7-8 minutes, The dough should look fairly smooth and feel soft. Cover the dough with a damp paper towel or with plastic wrap. Let it rest for 15 minutes.
- After 15 minutes, divide the dough into 12 equal balls. Shape each one by gently rolling in the palm of your hand while you use your fingers to tuck the dough under to shape a disc. See video. Rub the shortening on your hands and apply a light coat over the tops of all of the discs. Cover once again and let them rest for 10-15 minutes.
- In the meantime, preheat your griddle (comal) at medium heat. You want it to be very hot but not smoking hot or the tortillas will burn. Take one disc at a time and dredge it through the small bowl of flour. Place it on a flat surface and begin to roll the disc up, then down applying a little bit of pressure as you go across the center. Rotate slightly flipping it over if needed and repeat until you have a mostly uniform round 10-inch tortilla. Lay the rolled out uncooked tortillas on a flat surface. Roll out 6, then take one at a time and cook it.
- Once you place the tortilla down on the hot griddle, you should here sizzling sounds and small bubbles should start to form. After about 20 seconds you should see a lot of bubbles, flip the tortilla over. Cook for another 20 seconds. Flip one more time and at this time the tortilla should inflate. Cook for a few more seconds, careful not to burn yourself with the steam when removing the tortillas. Store in a large, covered tortilla warmer as you cook them. Repeat with the remaining discs. The steam created in the warmer will soften the tortillas further. If not eating right away, let them cool before storing in a plastic storage bag.
- You can leave them on the counter for two days but then refrigerate them for up to 6 days. Reheat on a preheated griddle for 10-15 seconds per side. Transfer to a tortilla warmer.
Notes
If the tortillas feel too dry when you go to reheat them, brush a light coat of water on both sides. This will add a little moisture back into the tortilla, so it remains soft. You can do this with corn tortillas as well.