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Stack of homemade flour tortillas.

Homemade Flour Tortillas

Homemade Flour Tortillas! They're super easy and require just a few pantry staples. Give them a shot next time you rock some tacos at home.
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Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 25 minutes
Servings: 8 tortillas
Author: Dana Sandonato

Ingredients

For street tacos (about 4 x 4")

  • 1 cup all purpose flour
  • 1/4 tsp kosher salt
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 TBSP cold butter you can also use 1.5 tsp lard instead, but I wanted to avoid it
  • 1/4 cup + 2 TBSP hot tap water

For regular tacos (about 8 x 8")

  • 2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1/2 tsp kosher salt
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 2 TBSP cold butter you can also use 1.5 tsp lard instead, but I wanted to avoid it
  • 3/4 cup hot tap water

Materials

  • Tortilla press or heavy baking dish
  • a plastic freezer bag, cut down each side (so it can flap open and shut) See notes*
  • cast iron skillet

Instructions

To make the tacos (same instructions for both sizes).

  • In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and baking powder. With clean hands, mix in the cold butter, crumbling it well with your fingers, until the flour somewhat resembles cornmeal. Add the hot water and mix the contents in the bowl until a dough comes together.
  • Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and knead it for a few minutes, or until it's smooth and elastic. Divide the dough into 8 equal parts and roll each piece into a ball.
  • Preheat a large skillet over medium-high heat. (I find that a well-seasoned cast iron skillet works best.) If you're using a tortilla press, place the cut open freezer bag onto the press, opened, so that half of it is covering the bottom of the press and the other half, the top. Place one of the dough balls onto the bottom surface of the press and bring the press down, pressing it tightly. Lift the press, and carefully remove the now flattened tortilla round from the plastic. Place it in the hot skillet and warm it through for about 1 minute each side, or until each side is golden brown. (Time may vary with different pans and stovetops, so always judge by the golden color.) When done, remove the tortilla and place it in a tinfoil pack or wrap it with a clean dish towel to keep warm. Repeat with the rest of the dough balls.
  • If you don't have a tortilla press, you can use a heavy baking dish. Simply place the dough ball on a floured surface, cover with a freezer bag, and press the baking dish down onto the flour ball. This takes a lot more force than a tortilla press, but it can work in the same manner. 
  • Use the warm tortillas within a few hours for best results, or refrigerate up to three (3) days.

Notes

Using the plastic freezer bag seems to work best when it comes to preventing the dough from sticking to the press surface. I'm trying to minimize my use of plastic, so I have a freezer bag that I reuse for making tortillas. Plastic wrap doesn't work as well since it bunches up too easily. If you want to avoid plastic all together, you could try flouring your press surfaces, just be sure to not over flour.