Grandma's Homemade Flour Tortillas (& What's in a Name)

Grandma's Homemade Flour Tortillas

I fully realize that I haven't really explained the name of my blog yet. I planned to do so in one of my initial posts, but time and recipes got away from me. But, this ends up being great timing because of Mother's Day to share with you the story behind the name as well as one of my favorite family recipes.

As a child, I was one of the pickiest eaters. One of the things that you could get me to eat was my grandma's homemade tortillas. My grandma used to watch my brother and I before/after school and sometimes during vacation. For lunch, she'd never let me have leftover bacon from breakfast because she would always save that for my grandpa (have you had tortilla and bacon sandwiches? yum!), but would always make me peanut butter and honey sandwiches using her homemade tortillas. Now imagine if she had let me have that bacon with my peanut butter and honey tortilla sandwich, double drool. (Okay, I wouldn't have eaten it all together then, but it sounds really good now!)

To this day, my grandma's tortillas are still THE BEST TORTILLAS (though she doesn't make them anymore because of her arthritis). They're soft and thick and have the right amount of salt. (Many of the homemade tortillas that I've had don't have enough salt.) Because they're so thick, they don't really wrap very well for burritos, but you can just stuff it like a taco. When I have good tortillas, everything is stuffed into tortillas or sopped up with them. :-)

So in honor of Mother's Day and my grandma, I am gifting you one of my most special recipes-- my grandma's homemade tortilla recipe!

Happy Mother's Day!

Tortillas finished and keeping warm!

Close-up of my tortillas

I love the way the brown spots look on tortillas :-)

My lunch growing up: homemade tortillas, peanut butter and honey

More pb and honey!

Dark and flowery, New Mexican honey

All about tortillas and honey! :-)

Grandma's Homemade Flour Tortillas
A T&H family recipe

8 c. flour
2 Tbs salt
3 Tbs baking powder
1/2 c. oil (vegetable oil, vegetable shortening, or lard)
1 c. warm water

Sift together flour, salt, and baking powder. Then add in the oil and knead with your hands until small clumps form (kind of like cornmeal or a little larger). Be careful not to overmix.

Add in warm water a little at a time and knead well until a ball forms (you might use less than the 1 c. of water or a little more, just see as you go). My grandma says not to add more flour after adding water-- not really too sure of the reasoning why though, so make sure you don't add too much water to the dough.

Once the dough forms into a ball, separate dough into balls (a little larger than golf ball sized). I usually do this by dividing the dough in half, then continuing to divide into halves until I get the size I want. It makes it easier to make sure they're all about the same size too. Place these between damp towels to let them rest and so they don't dry out while you're preparing and making the tortillas.

Heat a comal, large cast iron skillet, or griddle on medium heat. (I've been told not to use a non-stick skillet because it will ruin the coating.)

Roll out a ball of dough with a rolling pin. Starting from the center of the dough, roll the dough toward your then working your way around the dough (starting from the center each time) until a disk forms. Take the dough and turn it over, then do the same. Do this until you get the size and thickness that you want. Don't worry if they don't come out perfectly round!

Immediately place the rolled out dough on top of the griddle or whatever you're using, then flip the tortilla over after a minute or so when it puffs up a little and when brown marks start appearing on the bottom (there may be some bubbles on the top). After flipping the tortilla (my grandma uses her fingers but I use tongs haha), continue to cook for another minute or so until it is cooked through.

Once cooked, place tortilla underneath a towel. It keeps them warm and I'm convinced it helps them stay nice and soft!

Continue rolling out the dough and cooking the tortillas until you've finished with all the dough. Don't roll all the tortillas out at once because they'll dry out and shrink, so you'll have to do this one at a time. Sounds like a hassle, but it becomes easier as you do it more often.

If not eaten right away, store cooled tortillas in the refrigerator in a ziplock bag or in the freezer in a ziplock bag between two paper towels.

Makes about 1.5-2 dozen tortillas, depending on size.