Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Homemade Tortillas

My husband has Mexican heritage and grew up on authentic Mexican food. Me - not so much. I have learned some tricks and tips, but I am still a long way from authentic. One thing I try to do though is to keep tortillas in the house. Saul has converted me - and we can eat them with breakfast, lunch, or dinner. = )

BUT. . .I was SHOCKED when I saw that one little tortilla had 190 calories in it!! What!! It seems so healthy - you can make wraps with them - and I could easily eat three in one sitting!! Once I saw this, I knew that I could not keep up the tortilla addiction. 

Saul kept talking about how yummy homemade tortillas were though, so a few months after we were married, I tried my hand at it. They didn't turn out too badly and they weren't too hard to make. No, they weren't quite round on my first try either, but they were close enough.

I finally found a recipe that I really like - and that doesn't have nearly the calorie count that store bought ones do. In fact, this recipe only has 90  calories per tortilla - less than half of store bought. Plus, they are super cost effective. Yeah!!

Here is the recipe I use:

Homemade Tortillas
Yield: 8 tortillas
Time from start to finish: 30 minutes

2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
1 Tbs. lard/shortening
3/4 cups water

  1. Mix flour, salt, and baking powder.
  2. Add shortening and mix with hands until the mixture is crumbly.
  3. Slowly add water and mix until a dough forms.
  4. Kneed dough for a minute or two or until dough becomes smooth and elastic.
  5. Roll dough out into a log and cut into 8 semi-equal pieces.


  6. Roll each piece into a ball.

  7. Turn skillet on high.
  8. Dust the counter with flour. Using a floured rolling pin, flatten dough into tortilla shape. You'll want them to be thin and as large as possible - they usually shrink and puff up when you put them on the skillet. Also, you probably won't end up with a perfect circle - just do your best. Practice makes perfect. = )

  9. Place tortilla on skillet - approximately 20 seconds on first side, 10 seconds on the second side.

  10. Place finished tortillas in a tortilla warmer or wrapped in a clean towel until it is time to eat.
  11. Enjoy!
These tortillas can last awhile in the fridge. You can also flash freeze the dough (either in balls or flattened) then defrost and cook when you want them.

I feel so much better about eating these tortillas - I know exactly what is in them, they taste great, and they have less calories than the store bought ones. Hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

Kathryne

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