Monday was Cinco de Mayo and we celebrated by eating some delicious homemade tortillas. Have you ever noticed all the junk that's in most tortillas you find at the store? Even the "whole wheat" versions seem to contain hydrogenated oil, along with plenty of other crud.
I've made tortillas in the past in order to try and kick the crud out - first with white flour and shortening (yes, super-crud, but at the time, it seemed like this was the way you had to go to create a tortilla, period)...then moving on to whole wheat and butter...and this time with coconut oil. I feel I've hit upon the perfect recipe for a delicious version more in line with the way we like to eat.
The best thing about these is how easy they are to make.
Not quick, mind you, but easy. This is the type of thing to make while you're doing something else that you can easily pause and come back to. The dough is simple to mix up and the process involves a lot of letting it sit around before you start cooking anything. Cooking them takes forever. For-ev-er. (Is the voice of "Squints" stuck in your head now? You're welcome. Love that movie!)
Like I said, despite the fact that it takes forever to cook them, they don't need much attention. You stick one on the griddle for a couple of minutes, walk by and flip it, come back and do it again with another. They're very forgiving, too, if you, say, start making homemade churros in the meantime and then realize you need to grind some wheat first and then by the time you're done with that, you've totally forgotten the tortilla sizzling away in the pan. That never happens. {grin}
Seriously, don't be scared. Go make a batch yourself!
What You Need:
2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour, plus about another cup
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder (learn how to make your own here)
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1/2 cup coconut oil
1 cup hot water
What You Do:
1. Mix 2 1/2 cups flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl.
2. Add in the coconut oil and combine until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs:
3. Pour in the hot water and mix until a dough ball is formed. You might need to add some more flour, try a 1/4 of a cup at a time. I wound up adding another cup total before the dough would stay together. Don't add too much, though, or your tortilla dough won't be stretchy enough. You can always add a bit more later.
4. Cover the bowl and let it all rest for an hour.
5. Break the dough into 16 balls. Cover it again and let it rest an addition half hour.
6. Use a tortilla press (this makes the job SO much easier - get a great one here)
or roll the dough out to desired thickness.7. Heat a pan on medium-high heat (I saved energy by using my electric skillet set at 350 degrees - this is the one we use & it's awesome
) and cook one tortilla at a time for a minute or two on each side. You'll just want to play with the timing of this, based on how soft and browned you want your tortilla. If you cook it too long and it gets too stiff, don't worry, because you can easily microwave it later for a couple of seconds to soften it back up a bit.
8. Keep cooked tortillas warm in a tortilla basket (find one here)
or just a plate with a towel over it.
We filled ours with lentils, brown rice cooked in leftover whey from our last batch of yogurt, green olives, guacamole, kimchi (we get a giant bag of it, throw it in the Ninja
to chop it up, then use it instead of salsa - delicious and healthy!), and then topped the whole mess off with some shredded cheddar. Yeah, I know, the cheese wasn't too healthy, but we love cheese...
They were seriously delicious. And by delicious, I mean I ate all eight of mine right then and there. And then ate the four that my restraint-showing-husband left for himself the next day for my lunch, instead. (Sorry, sweetie!)
Guess I'd better go make some more...
Are you daunted by the thought of making your own tortillas? Don't be! It's fun and way easier than you'd expect. Plus, the homemade versions are so much tastier than the crud from the store. Let me know what you think - leave a comment or email me at lisahealy (at) outlook (dot) com.
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