Homemade Flour Tortillas

I was serious when I said I wasn't going back to store-bought bread.  And when I say bread, I mean just about any carb.  I think it goes without saying if you've seen any of my previous posts, but Ryan and I love Mexican food.  So in honor of Mother's Day, this week we're making Ryan's mom's famous fajitas.  They're just famous within the family, but they're famous for a reason.  The only thing that makes them better is these homemade flour tortillas.  This recipe makes 8 small tortillas, so about enough for 4 or so meals, but you can always double the recipe if you need more!

I've made this tortilla recipe twice now and I don't think I can go back to store-bought tortillas.  Yes, this definitely takes more time and energy, but there's something about eating something you created from scratch that just makes it taste better.  The hardest part of this recipe is honestly rolling out the tortillas into a good shape!  So yes, it's 100% do-able and worth it.  If you want larger tortillas, you could also double the recipe and roll them out larger.

Total Time: 30-40 minutes
Servings: 8 small tortillas

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour + more for for dusting
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 1/2 tbs vegetable oil
1/2 cup warm water

Instructions:

1. Mix the flour, salt and baking powder until combined.
2. Add the oil and mix until combined.
3. Slowly add the warm water and stir until fully incorporated.
4. Divide the mixture into 8 even sections and roll into balls.
5. Let the dough rise for 15 minutes.
6. Roll out your dough balls with a rolling pin (or wine bottle if you don't have one) until they are the about 6".  Make sure you dust them with flour before you roll them so they don't get stuck to your cutting board or the pin!
7. Heat up a cast iron pan over medium high heat for 2-3 minutes.
8. Reduce heat to medium and add one tortilla, cooking for about 90 seconds.  The tortilla should start bubbling before you flip.  Check to see if it has some color on it before flipping.  Flip and cook the other side for about 60 seconds.  Repeat with each tortilla until completed.

Add your dry ingredients to a bowl and stir.  Don't worry about getting everything fully incorporated, you're going to be continuing to mix as you add ingredients.

Here's what the tortilla dough should look like when you roll it into balls.  Even though you rest them, since there's no yeast in the dough you won't see them rise at all.

Push the balls down a little and dust them with flour before rolling them out.  I recommend washing off a wine bottle and dusting it with flour too.

Roll out your tortillas until about 6 inches wide and as thin as you can get them.  I recommend rolling vertically a few times and then horizontally so you can get them in a fairly round shape.  Don't worry if they aren't perfectly round, they're homemade so they won't be perfect, but that's part of the charm!

See the bubbles starting to form?  This tortilla is getting close to being ready to flip.  It's okay if the bubbles are large, they'll deflate when the tortillas cool.

The first time I made these, I used a cast iron pan and the second time I used the flat side of a grill pan.  I liked the coloring and cook I got from the cast iron better, so I would definitely recommend going this route if you have one.

Place your tortillas in a decorative bread basket or bowl and enjoy with any fillings you enjoy!

You can keep these tortillas in the fridge for a few days, but they're best eaten fresh.

If you need to re-heat them, top them with a damp paper towel before popping in the microwave.