Flour Tortillas

yield: 8 8 inch tortillas

INGREDIENTS:

2 1/2 cups All-Purpose Flour, plus additional as needed
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup of any one of the following: lard , butter (room temperature), shortening, or vegetable oil
7/8 to 1 cup hot tap water

EQUIPMENT:

Mixing bowl
Measuring cups and spoons
Fork
Rolling Pin
Nonstick or cast iron skillet

Step 1: Wash your hands with soap and water

Step 2: Mise En Place

Gather all of your ingredients and equipment

Step 3: Combine all dry ingredients in a bowl and stir to combine

Combine:

2 1/2 cups All-Purpose Flour, plus additional as needed
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Step 4: Add butter and blend in using your hands until butter disappears and dry ingredients feel like wet sand

Not a lot to see here, just rub the butter and flour between your fingers or palms until all of the butter has "disappeared" and no big lumps remain.

Step 5: Add in most of the water

Pour in all but a tablespoon or two of your hot water. You will be forming a soft dough but it shouldn't be sticky. You can always add more water if your dough is too dry, so leave a little back.

Step 6: Stir with a fork until most of the dry ingredients are incorporated and you've formed a shaggy dough.

Don't worry about getting it perfectly smooth at this point, just make sure there aren't big piles of unincorporated flour. If you need to add more water, add it 1 teaspoon at a time until it looks about like mine.

Step 7: Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured countertop and knead for 1-2 minutes or until the dough comes together into a smooth soft dough.

You don't need to worry about developing gluten here, we're just trying to make sure all of the dough is equally hydrated. If your dough feels too sticky to knead, sprinkle it with a little flour as needed until you can knead it without it sticking badly to the counter.

This is my dough after kneading, I can easily press my finger into the dough and it feels soft but not sticky.

Step 8: Portion Dough

Start by shaping dough into a ball, then cut the ball into fourths. Now cut each piece in half and you should have 8 mostly equal pieces of dough.

Next, roll each piece of dough into a ball shape. You can use both hands or roll it on the counter top.

We are going to roll these balls into circular tortillas, so shaping them in rounds now helps make it easier to roll a round later.

Step 9: Rest your dough for 30 minutes in the refrigerator

Transfer to a plate. If possible, spray with pan spray to keep tortillas from drying out. If they form a crust they will be harder to roll and have a less uniform finished look.

Cover tightly with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator to chill for 30 minutes.

Step 10: Roll tortillas

Lightly flour the counter and top of each ball of dough. Begin by lightly flattening the ball

Roll into an 8" circle.

Step 11: Cook tortillas

Heat a skillet on medium high heat for several minutes before adding tortilla. Place flat in skillet and cook for 30-40 seconds on each side.

You'll see some bubbles start to rise, that's great news!

using tongs, a spatula, or your hand, flip tortilla over and cook on second side. You should see some brown spots on the cooked sides. If your uncooked tortillas have a lot of excess flour on them, you may need to wipe out your pan in between cooking each tortilla, otherwise you'll end up with a lot of burnt flour.

Tortillas need to be stored in an airtight bag, container, or wrapped really well in plastic wrap in the refrigerator for 5 days or can be frozen for up to 6 months.