Homemade Flour Tortillas
Making tortillas from scratch is a process of feel. The goal is a soft, pliable dough that feels like Play-Doh; this texture comes from working lard into the flour, which is the traditional fat for a reason. Resting the dough is the most important step where you do nothing; it's what relaxes the gluten and makes the dough easy to roll out paper-thin.
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups AP flour plus more for dusting
- 1 1/2 tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/3 cup lard or vegetable shortening cold and cut into small pieces
- 1 cup warm water ~105F
- 1 tsp white vinegar
Method
- Whisk flour, salt, and baking powder in large bowl.
- Rub cold lard into flour mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs.
- Mix warm water and vinegar, add to flour mixture, stir with fork until shaggy dough forms.
- Knead dough on floured surface 5 minutes until smooth and elastic.
- Cover and rest dough 30-60 minutes.
- Divide dough into 12 equal balls, keep covered.
- Roll each ball on floured surface into thin 8-inch round.
- Heat cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat.
- Cook tortillas 30-45 seconds until bubbled, flip, cook 15-30 seconds until spotted.
- Stack cooked tortillas under kitchen towel.
Notes
Serve immediately for best results.
Tortillas should be thin enough to see through before cooking.