Give us this day our daily bread. It seems that every culture has its own special form of bread. Tortillas are the well-known bread of Mexico. And as with any bread, homemade is the best. Although we don’t consume tortillas daily, I still purchase tortillas at the store as I can’t keep up with making enough for my family.
But whenever feasible, we make our own tortillas…especially to accompany fajitas. Tortillas can be formed all by hand, but we typically roll them out with a rolling pin. I also have a tortilla press that presses and cooks them.
And here’s a family-fun fact. The first tortilla press Tom bought for me came in something like a 12–14-inch square box. The sides were slick and shiny. Our then 9-month-old, crawled over to the empty box, stood up to it and used it as a “walker” sliding it across the carpet as he walked behind it all over the house. Within a couple days he was walking on his own!
A few years ago, I replaced my old recipe with a better recipe. It happened because of a rare rainy and blustery day in Old Town San Diego where we visited one of our favorite Mexican restaurants, Café Coyote. Lunch included an order of flour tortillas. From our table we could watch the tortillas being made, not only for restaurant guests but also for the sidewalk customers who, in better weather, are known to form a lengthy line.
After arriving home and thinking about those delicious tortillas, I made a visit to the restaurant’s website, and to my delight, I found their tortilla recipe online! This recipe is simple, easy and the tortillas turn out beautifully. Although a tortilla press can be convenient, I think a rolling pin works the best. For delicious homemade tortillas, you must give this recipe a try.
Handmade Flour Tortillas
Ingredients
- 3 cups flour
- 1/2 tbsp salt
- 3 oz softened butter
- 1 cup warm water
Instructions
- Preheat a griddle, grill or pan. In a mixing bowl stir flour and salt together.
- Cut in the softened butter. There can be a few small pieces but you don't want any large chunks of butter.
- Add about 2/3 of the water and mix the dough together. Continue adding the remaining water as necessary until the dough comes together in a soft ball.
- Portion the dough into 12-18 equal sized pieces. Roll each piece into a ball and set aside.
- Dust work surface lightly with flour and use a rolling pin to roll out each tortilla. Transfer to the hot griddle and cook for 15-20sec per side or until they puff up and turn golden brown.
