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Tortilla Time—A Tasty Treat
Hola, young culinary artists and aspiring chefs! Today, we invite you to join us on a mouthwatering journey as we learn the age-old craft of making tortillas from scratch. We will roll up our sleeves, dust our hands with flour, and unlock the secrets to creating these delectable, versatile flatbreads that have been a staple in many cuisines for centuries.
Making tortillas isn’t just about mixing ingredients; it’s a delightful process that combines tradition, skill, and a pinch of love. So, grab your aprons, gather your ingredients, and let’s dive into the delightful world of tortillas.
Get ready to knead, press, and savor the satisfaction of creating homemade tortillas that will elevate your meals to new heights. Let’s embark on a culinary adventure as we learn the art of making tortillas together, one delicious batch at a time.
Tortillas (pronounced tor-tea-yas, tor-tea-ya sing.) are easy to make and they taste good. You can cook them in a dry skillet, bake them in the oven at 350⁰, or on an open flame. Whichever way you cook them, for safety reasons always make sure you have an adult, or other grown up, in the kitchen with you during the cooking stage.
When you are done, you want your tortilla to be soft and tender, with just a little bit of “chew.” You can make and serve them in under one hour. And the more you practice making them, the faster you will become getting them onto your plate and into your stomach.
If you want, you can make the dough the day before and allow it to rest in the fridge overnight. Just make sure you take it out of the refrigerator the next day to warm up some. The dough is easier to flatten when it isn’t ice cold.
You make tortillas with five simple ingredients: flour, baking powder, salt, a fat (butter, lard, shortening, or vegetable oil), and hot water. Usually you just use unbleached, all-purpose flour. However, you can use half a mixture of white whole wheat flour and all-purpose white flour; or all gluten-free flour if you prefer. If you are a vegan, you will want to use the vegetable oil for your fat.
It only takes about fifteen minutes to prepare the dough and a few minutes to cook the flattened patties in the skillet. If you decide to bake them in the oven, then bake them for twenty to twenty-five minutes.
To make 8 tortillas, you need:
2 ½ cups of unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
¼ cup of fat (lard, shortening, or butter) [Note: if using oil, add the ¼ cup of oil to the hot water]
¾ cup of hot water (110⁰ – 120⁰)—add more water if needed
- Add the dry ingredients together and crumble the fat into the dry mixture.
- Add the liquid (hot water; or hot water and vegetable oil.)
- Use a fork, mixer with a dough hook, or a dough whisk to bring the dough together into a shaggy mass.
- Add additional water by the tablespoon until there are no dry powdery bits in the bottom of the bowl. The dough should hold together when squeezed.
- Knead gently. (Roll it gently into a ball until it looks smooth.)
- Let the dough rest for ½ hour.
- Divide into 8 balls and flatten with your hand or a tortilla press.
- Cook until done.
And there you have it! Eight delicious and tasty tortillas to enjoy!
AIME
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Butter and Tortillas
Want to make a fun snack? How about making your own tortilla and slathering it with homemade butter? Here’s how:
BUTTER:
Butter only needs one ingredient: heavy whipping cream. You will also need a glass jar with a tight lid. You can use a clean, dry baby jar, or a canning jar with a lid and ring.
No matter what size jar you use, only fill it up halfway with the cream.
Tighten the lid securely and start to shake it as hard as you can for as long as you can. It might take over ten minutes to separate into butter and buttermilk (the liquid left over), so it helps to have some friends over so you can trade off shaking. Maybe set a timer and challenge your friends make up silly words to a song while you shake, shake, shake. Dancing helps!
It might not look like anything is happening for a while, but soon enough you will see a lump forming in the liquid. Keep shaking until there is a clear separation of butter and liquid.
Once the separation has happened, pour off the liquid (or save it for another recipe that calls for buttermilk, like biscuits!). You can mush in a little salt to the butter, so it has more taste.
Now it’s time to make tortillas!
TORTILLA:
Ingredients:
2 cups masa harina (a special corn flour)
½ tsp. salt
1 ¼ cups warm water
In a medium bowl, stir the masa and salt together. Then pour the warm water in and stir until it is mixed and smooth. Cover your dough with plastic wrap and set it aside for about 30 minutes.
Take the dough and divide it into 12 pieces and roll them into balls.
This part needs someone who is safe to use and supervise the stove.
Heat a cast iron skillet until it is very hot. Take one dough ball at a time and flatten it out with your hands, pressing the heel of your hand in a circle so the dough looks like a tortilla.
Cook them one at a time for 1 to 2 minutes on each side. The edges should be a little brown. Do this one by one, keeping the warm tortillas folded in a cotton dish towel.
