Tortilla de harina (Flour tortilla)

While this is a relatively quick and super easy endeavor, and tortillas are pretty much a staple in my kitchen (with mine and Jo’s deep love of spicy tex-mex), I hesitate to call this SOP since I realize there are times when tortillas from scratch are just a step past above and beyond – such as when making a huge feast. Why create extra work for yourself when you’re making other, more time consuming food items? So even though I feel homemade tortillas are 1000-fold better than store-bought…I also realize not everyone can make (or have) the time to do so. But here is a recipe that can become standard in the repertoire when wanting to give yourself the treat of scratch tortillas! I can’t remember the website I found the recipe, but I did make the note that it was adapted from The Border Cookbook by Cheryl Alters Jamison and Bill Jamison (disclaimer: I make no endorsement of this cookbook, as I’ve never seen it or perused the recipes in it..so it could very well be a non-vegan friendly book). To make things even more complex, I’ve adapted the recipe from the website from which I found it (making the recipe here a double adaptation of the original) – I altered the flours by using 1/2 C oat and reducing the all-purpose to 1.5 C instead of using all 2 C all-purpose; and the natural vegan alteration of using hemp milk in place of regular milk. This recipe makes approximately 8 tortillas.

Ingredients:

1.5 C all-purpose flour
1/2 C oat flour
1.5 tsp of baking powder
1 tsp of salt
2 tsp of canola oil
3/4 C of warm hemp milk

Directions:

1. In a small saucepan, warm the hemp milk on low. Mix together the flour, baking powder, salt and oil in a bowl. Slowly add the warm milk.
2. Stir until a loose, sticky ball is formed.
3. Knead for two minutes on a floured surface. Dough should be firm and soft (not tough or sticky).
Place dough in a bowl and cover with a damp cloth or plastic wrap for 20 minutes.
4. After the dough has rested, break off eight sections, roll them into balls in your hands, place on a plate (make sure they aren’t touching) and then cover balls with damp cloth or plastic wrap for 10 minutes. (letting the dough rest will reduce the elasticity of the dough allowing for easier rolling and shaping).

5. After dough has rested, one at a time place a dough ball on a floured surface, pat it out into a four-inch circle, and then roll with a rolling pin from the center until it’s thin and about eight inches in diameter – just like a pie crust. Don’t over work the dough, or it’ll be stiff. Keep rolled-out tortillas covered until ready to cook.

6. In a dry iron skillet or comal heated on high, cook the tortilla about thirty seconds on each side – so don’t walk away! It should start to puff and bubble (as seen below) a bit when it’s done and ready to flip – you want the skillet hot hot hot!

7. Keep cooked tortillas covered wrapped in a napkin or foil in a warm oven until ready to eat. Can be reheated in a dry iron skillet, over your gas-burner flame or in the oven wrapped in foil.

Note: While you probably won’t have any leftovers, you can store in the fridge tightly wrapped in foil or plastic for a day or so.

Happy Baking!