Friday, July 20, 2012

Whole Wheat Tortilla Recipe



I have now eaten the Breakfast in a Jar four times this week, and I have to say that it is a definite winner.  I realized after posting it that in the recipe I posted last time, I had doubled all the ingredients except for the milk, so I've changed that so it's correct.

I had someone ask me about tortillas yesterday, so I thought I'd just post what we do for them.  Most of the time we just use corn tortillas, since they seem to be made from the whole grain, and that's got to be healthier than the white flour ones, which dissolve into a paste in my mouth.  But that's just me.  What we really like, though, are my home made whole wheat tortillas, but being that they are a bit time consuming for this large crew, and being that I don't typically start thinking about thinking about what's for dinner (no, that wasn't redundant) until around 5 or 5:30, I usually don't have time to make them before the dinner hour of 6 p.m.  When I do make them, they're always a hit, though, and now that our numbers are getting fewer I should probably do this more often.  One thing that I think is an absolute necessity for making tortillas is a tortilla warmer.  It is nothing more than a round shaped insulated container that keeps the tortillas warm and soft while you're making and serving them.  I've seen them all over at grocery stores, and they aren't expensive.  If you don't have one, but you're just dying to make tortillas, you could probably get by wrapping them in a clean dishtowel, but these warmers are definitely worth having, if you're wanting to make your own tortillas.  Here's a picture of a tortilla warmer:



They come in lots of colors and materials.  Some are very decorative and some, like the one pictured are less so, but they all do the same thing.  They can also be used for pancakes.  The one pictured doesn't actually appear to be insulate, so that may not be the most important factor, but I have two that are (meaning they have a double layer of plastic with air trapped between them), and one that isn't, and they do the same job.

Okay, enough babbling, let's get on with the recipe!  Here it is:

Whole Wheat Tortillas


2 C. whole wheat flour
1/2 t. salt
3 T. olive oil
2/3 C. warm water


Mix the flour and salt together, then add the oil and stir until blended.  Slowly add the water and stir to make a nice dough, and knead 10 or 15 times to form into a ball.  Let sit covered for about 20 minutes and divide dough into 10 or 12 smaller balls.  (I think 10 is better.)  Roll each ball out onto lightly floured surface into 6 to 8" circles, and cook on a hot griddle for about a minute on each side, until it forms bubbles, and the bubbles start turning brown.  Keep them in the tortilla warmer and serve from there.  With leftovers, you can make some delicious chips, too!  Just stack them on top of each other and cut into 8 sections, and bake on a cookie sheet at 350 for about 5 minutes, or until they start to brown and get crisp.  You need to watch them because they cook pretty fast.  You could spray a little oil on them and season them with garlic salt or other seasoning, or do like we used to do with pie crust leftovers and put cinnamon and sugar on them.

3 comments:

  1. Awesome! This looks like a very simple and doable recipe. Do you think it's worth getting a tortilla press or is the rolling just as easy?

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  2. I actually have a tortilla press that I've only used once, and it didn't work well. I've been going to try it again but just haven't. Rolling them out works well for me. I use a marble rolling pin (you know, one of three that we got as a wedding gift 100 years ago) and it's perfect for them. I think if you were going to try the press, you'd probably have to get them quite soft, but not sticky, by adjusting the water until you got it right. That's just my guess. They just wouldn't press well when I tried it. If you could get it to work, it should go somewhat faster, I'd think.
    I cook mine on a pancake griddle that holds 3 at a time (mine are pretty big), and I can only do that many, so being able to roll them out (or press them) faster isn't really a big plus, because it's really the cooking that slows you down. I did a dozen the other night in less than 15 minutes. It's when the whole family was here and I needed 4 dozen that it got time consuming. That's probably way T.M.I. for that question, but there you go. :)

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  3. I have a tortilla press and we LOVE it! I have 9 children so when we make tortillas we have to have A LOT of them (I usually assign making tortillas to a kid). We use a large electric pancake griddle too for cooking them--5 or 6 at a time. I will have to look into getting a tortilla warmer though.

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