Flour Tortillas

These tortillas are so good, you'll give up Mi'Casa.  I promise. 

This is the original recipe I got from my friend who got it from a real Mexican Tortilla Making Lady:

Lollie’s Tortillas 

4 C. Flour

¼ tsp. baking powder

1 Tbsp. salt

1/3 C. shortening or lard (if you use shortening, be sure to use Crisco brand)

1 ¾ C. warm water.

Mix dry ingredients. Cut in shortening. Add water and knead by hand. Pinch into 16 golf ball sizes of dough. Let sit for 10 minutes. Roll with flour and cook on stove.

Of course being my mother's daughter, I switched to whole wheat and olive oil, but Allison says Lard is really yummy.  Here's the revised recipe that I use now and it's bosh size:
16 C. flour (whole wheat)



1 tsp. baking powder


4 Tbsp. salt


1-1/3 C. olive oil


7 C. warm water.


Mix dry ingredients in bosh. Mix in oil. Pour in water all at once and mix til well combined. Dough will be extremely sticky. Dump out onto well oiled counter. Make sure your hands are well oiled. Split dough into four even parts. Split again and again until each of the original four are split into 16 balls. (64 total). Roll each ball in your well oiled hands. Place on an oiled cookie sheet or parchment paper and cover. Let rest for 10-15 minutes. Heat tortilla press for five minutes (open). Place balls one at a time just to the back of the center of press. Slowly close lid and handle with a firm but gentle pressure. Cook for about 5-10 seconds . Open press and slide tortilla off onto a towel. When all tortillas are cooked and cooled, dust with flour and freeze in Ziploc bags (you only need to dust one side and put dusted side of one to raw side of the next). When ready to use, cook tortillas on a really hot griddle just like the ones you get in the grocery store in dough form. You can cook up a bunch at one time and freeze or refrigerate them that way, but they won’t be quite as fresh.


Measure ingredients:

Dough is really sticky

Dump onto oiled counter

Split into four even sections

Keep splitting until you have 16 balls per section

Place balls on cookie sheet and cover for 10-15 minutes

Preheat press for 5 minutes

Place ball just to back of center

Press slowly

It's done, move off to towel

Let cool on towel

I made 10 dozen today

Dust with flour

Stack after dusting

Cook on hot griddle

Freeze in Ziploc bags.

If you are as talented as Camilee, try her method.  She presses while cooking up the tortillas on her stove all at the same time.  She's amazing like that, though.  I have to cook mine later.