I found this relatively easy recipe for flour tortillas online at the Pioneer Woman's new recipe website/community, Tasty Kitchen. I decided to give it a go since we love flour tortillas. I have very fond memories of going to my grandmother's house and eating fresh tortillas slathered with butter, then dipped in syrup. My mom never could master the art of making flour tortillas, but my great-grandmother was a pro! I think it helped that she was of Mexican decent and made them her entire life. The rolling pin she used is now in my dad's possession. I think the next time I go visit, I'm going to bring it back with me!
A couple of notes before I post the recipe. Make sure your surface is very well floured, as well as your hands, and your rolling pin. You don't want it to be overly floured, but you don't want the tortillas to stick to the rolling pin or the surface. Also, make sure that your griddle or skillet (preferably cast iron) is nice and hot when you start. If you have too much flour on your tortillas when you throw them on the griddle, the flour will burn and you'll end up with little black flecks of flour on your tortillas. (As seen in the pic above! LOL) Do NOT add all the water at once!! You probably won't need all the water, so add slowly and then mix to the proper consistency. It shouldn't be too wet or 'stringy' when you pull it. It also shouldn't stick to your hands. If it does, add more flour. Because I added all the water, I had to add a lot of flour to get it to the desired consistency. I had approx. 2 dozen tortillas of various shapes and sizes.
Flour Tortillas
* 3 cups White Flour (I used All-purpose)
* 2 teaspoons Baking Powder
* 1 teaspoon Salt
* 5 tablespoons Cold Butter, Shortening, Or Lard (I used butter, of course!)
* 1-¼ cup Warm Water
Preparation Instructions
Combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Add shortening/butter and either combine in food processor or cut into dry ingredients until mixture is crumbly. Add warm water 1/2 cup at a time until mixture is a soft dough. Add more flour a tablespoon at a time until dough is soft and slightly sticky, but not wet.
Shape dough into 12-15 balls, about the circumference of a silver dollar/50pence. Roll the dough out on a well-floured surface until dough is about 1/4inch thick.
(It works really well to have one person rolling out tortillas while another one cooks them).
Heat a frying pan or griddle until water dances on the surface. Place one tortilla in the pan and cook for about 30 seconds, or until edges start to pull away from the pan and small air pockets start to form. Flip tortilla over and repeat on the other side. Tortillas will have some parts which are more brown.
Repeat for all tortillas. Serve warm, or package in airtight container once cooled. Use within a week, or up to a month if frozen.
