I Make My Own Tortillas

One day I decided to make my own tortillas. I’m not a big bread eater, but I love these tortillas. Store bought anything is usually loaded with extra things I don’t want to eat so I choose to make my own food. Plus, with the garden growing, I like to make quesadillas and use my veggies.

The simple ingredients of flour, salt, baking powder, oil, and water are mixed and then kneaded for a couple of minutes. Find the recipe here that I used, and the list of ingredients. It is loaded with ads, which is typical for recipe pages. I wrote down the ingredients on paper which I refer to each time I make them so I don’t have to go back to that annoying page.

These are easy to make, but they are very time-consuming. Do the first part of mixing and then they get to sit for a while. Rolling and cooking takes the longest. But, they are good. You will never go back to store bought!

Mix the dough, knead, and divide into 16 pieces.

I have an awesome wooden cutting board which I use for this. And I have a little dough cutter / scraper (Amazon affiliate link) that comes in handy.

Once you have 16 pieces of dough – just keep dividing each section until you have 16 – roll and flatten a bit with your palm. Cover them with a towel and wait a while – up to 2 hours, or as little as 15 minutes.

Roll flat and into a round shape (not easy for me)

Stack each flattened tortilla with parchment paper between. They will be cooked one at a time so you don’t want them to stick together.

Consider the Pan

The pan type was tough to figure out. The first time I used a small non-stick fry pan and I ruined it! The tortillas are baked for about a minute total in a dry pan – add nothing… no oil. This can make bits of the tortilla stick to the pan and burn on as you continue to cook all 16 tortillas. I couldn’t clean the black bits off the non-stick pan. It was ruined.

Finally I have decided that a plain stainless steel pan works best. When I have some black, burned parts I can clean it with stainless steel cleaner. So, use a pan that you are able to scrub afterwards.

I do use a low heat, but they have to cook… it’s a fine line between cooking and burning, so pay close attention.

Using the Cooked Tortillas

Once all 16 tortillas are made, let them cool and store in the fridge. I usually freeze many of mine to use at a later time. They freeze well.

A favorite way to use the tortillas is to make delicious quesadillas. This meal is very simple (once the tortillas are made) and offers many ingredient options.

Simply butter one side of a tortilla and place it – butter side down – on a pan, foil, or parchment paper. Add cooked meat, cheese, vegetables, or whatever you wish. Butter the top of the other tortilla and place butter side up. Bake at 350 for about 15-20 minutes or until brown and crispy.

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