Homemade Flour Tortillias

I learned something new and fun in the kitchen during our trip to Utah - how to make homemade flour tortillas. I'm hoping to get a tortilla press soon so I can make them at home. I'd love to learn how to make corn tortillas someday too.

My aunt has an electric tortilla press similar to this, but you can also use a simple cast iron press to flatten the tortillas. Instead, you'd just fry them up on the stove. Homemade tortillas are so good, and actually pretty simple to make. It would be a fun activity to do with a friend or a child who was up for helping (kids can roll the balls). With such cheap ingredients, why would you ever want to purchase store bought flour tortillas again?

I brought bell peppers from my garden that I knew needed to be picked and eaten before we would return, so we decided to make these homemade tortillas and had grilled chicken fajitas one night for dinner. It was a delicious meal! I wish I had taken more pictures of the beginning of the process, but I was busy chopping onions and peppers before I realized that this would make a great blog post.

Homemade Flour Tortillas

• 3 c flour (we used fresh ground whole wheat)
• 1/3 c oil
• 3/4 tsp salt
• water

Whisk the salt and flour together in a bowl. Mix oil with flour by rubbing it with your fingers. You want to make pea sized bits, similar to how you would if you were cutting butter into flour with knives.

Add 1/4 cup of water, no more than 3/4 cup, at a time to the flour and oil mixture. Stir with a large fork until flour forms large clumps.

Sprinkle your work surface lightly with flour. Remove dough from the bowl and kneed for 2-3 minutes, until dough forms one large, smooth ball.

Pinch off golf ball sized, or larger if you like, pieces of dough. Roll into round balls and place on a greased cookie sheet. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest for 30 minutes.

Gently pat ball to flatten into a small circle (not tortilla sized). Place circle on tortilla press, close lid, and quickly bag it with the attached handle three tips. It is important to for the hits to be fast and forceful.

At this point you would cook the tortillas on a frying pan at medium heat until golden, flipping part way through so both sides are evenly browned. If you plan to cook the tortillas on an electric press, check the manufacturers instructions for specifics on working with your machine.

**I've noticed that some recipes use hot milk instead of water. Also, some add anywhere from 1-2 tsp baking powder. These are a thin tortilla, if you want a more substantial feeling tortilla go ahead and add the baking powder in with the flour and salt.**