Home-Made Corn and Whole Wheat Flour Tortilla

Tortillas are the foundation upon which many delicious Mexican dishes are made. They are readily available at any supermarket, and I bet many home cooks never consider making them from scratch when preparing burritos, enchiladas and the like. That's unfortunate, since the ingredients and process of making tortillas are both incredibly simple.

If you are fortunate enough to have a specialty Mexican market nearby as we do, you can purchase the masa dough freshly made and ready to press or roll out. But this time I wanted to make a healthier version using whole wheat flour. The texture of the tortilla looks very similar to paratha, or Indian flat bread, but the rolling part is much easier, especially if you have a tortilla dough press. The tortilla comes out perfectly each time in a nice round disk.

Tortilla Press picture

Ingredients

Yields: 16 mini tortillas

2 cups masa harina (corn masa flour)
1 cup bread flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons oil
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
3/4 teaspoon sea salt (or regular salt)
1-1/2 to 2-1/2 cups water, as needed
1-1/2 tablespoons shortening, cold

Directions

Heat the water. Using a thermometer, the temperature should be between 105°F to 120°F. Lightly oil the bowl of your food processor with a silicone brush. Combine all the flours, baking soda, cream of tartar, shortening, salt. Add the warm water gradually until the tortilla dough is formed and when the dough doesn't stick to the sides of the mixer bowl. Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled large bowl, add the oil and knead the dough for several minutes as you would for pizza dough. Cover with a towel, place the bowl in a warm area and let it stand for 30 minutes. The dough should be soft, smooth and slightly sticky. Make 16 small dough balls (about 1 ounce each) and place one dough ball in the tortilla press, (see tips), one ball at a time.

In a hot, un-greased cast-iron skillet, place the tortillas, one at a time. Cook each side for about 1 minute. The tortilla should be warm, soft and flexible. Repeat with the remaining dough rounds.

You can fill and eat the tortilla immediately. If not, you can re-heat each tortilla in a skillet for about 20 to 30 seconds on each side when ready to eat.

Stay tuned for tomorrow's recipe, when I put the fresh tortillas to good use.

Home-made tortilla recipe

Tips

I used bread flour for its higher gluten level. I use King Arthur bread flour.

Place a piece of plastic wrap (or parchment paper) in between each dough round before pressing so the dough doesn't stick to the tortilla press. I use the same procedure when rolling dough for tarts.

Using a tortilla press always gets a nice flat disk and I think they look more authentic with the ragged edges. If you don't own a tortilla dough press, you can always use a rolling pin.

I made about 5-inch diameter tortillas. I like to make miniature foods so people can come back for seconds., if they want them. There's also less waste, and there's something fun about bite-size portions. Just today, I served my mini-chocolate lava cake to my cousin-in-law, who's visiting from Ohio. At first, he was hesitant but after tasting one, he had a second .