Homemade Tortillas

I think I got the foundation recipe from Rockin' Robin Cafe. Notice I said "THINK." That's because I was perusing all kinds of recipes for tortillas at the time and I can't find my original copy. So that's why I think it came from Rockin' Robin. :D

These are rather easy to make. I've tweaked the recipe to do whole wheat pastry and graham flours over time. Please keep in mind I'm not the Pioneer Woman. I'm not even the Oklahoma Granny, who also does an excellent job at photographing her yummy recipes. But I try. 

Easy Tortillas 

1 cup unenriched, unbleached white flour
1 1/2 cups of whole wheat pastry flour (OR 1 1/4 cup graham flour)
1 tsp of baking soda
1/2 tsp of kosher salt
1 to 1/14 c of almost hot water--not boiling. (I just nuke mine for about a minute)
2 tsp of oil (I use olive oil and it's not bad)
Flour for dusting

 Sift all dry ingredients into a bowl and mix well. Mix oil into hot water. Add hot water--start with a half a cup and add as needed. Mix thoroughly while adding the hot water. Dough should be sticky, not powdery with loose flour. Keep adding the hot water until you reach the consistency of well mixed but sticky, sticky dough.  

Take the dough out of the bowl and place on a flour-dusted surface. Begin to knead. As you knead the dough, keep adding flour until the dough is no longer sticky but still elastic.  

Add just a bit of flour to keep it from sticking to your hands as you knead. 

 

When the dough is elastic and firm, put back in the bowl and cover with a clean dishtowel or bread cloth for 20 minutes.

After dough had risen a little bit, pull off parts and roll into balls. The size depends on how big you want the tortillas to be. Small tortillas mean a ball of dough the size of a golf ball--larger tortillas mean bigger balls.  Rule of thumb is don't make your tortillas larger than your griddle or your tortilla keeper!
 
Place the balls on a clean plate and cover for about 10 minutes. Meanwhile heat up your griddle. I use good ole' cast iron myself because it heats up evenly and stays hot.

 

Roll out your tortillas. I use my rolling pin after I've flatten a ball of dough. Perfect circles are not necessary but if they are, you can cut the tortillas out using a knife. I usually make mine as rectangular as possible for burritos and enchiladas. It just made more sense to me. I also make mine thin, but some people (like my son) prefer them thick. 

Place tortilla flat on the hot griddle. 

Now I have problem with time because I'm not watching the clock. I use the bubble method. In other words, when the bubbles appear all over the tortilla, I flip it over, flatten it, and cook for about 15-30 more seconds. 

 

 The more tortillas I cook, the shorter it seems to need to be cooked on the back side. Do wipe out your griddle every 3rd tortilla because flour does burn and smoke. 

That's it. Easy-peezy tortillas as my sister calls them. :D