Whole Wheat Tortilla Recipe

Tortillas make me happy.

If you know me or have spent any time around here you know that more breads do. Homemade breads make me especially happy. I know it’s easy to buy tortillas in the store, but have you looked at the ingredient lists for most store bought tortillas? Yowza! Who needs all those extra ingredients they put in to elongate shelf life when all you need is a handful of ingredients? Now I will admit that whole wheat tortillas purchased from a local tortillaria are hard to beat, but not everyone has the time to make a special trip to a tortillaria just to buy tortillas for dinner.

Back to why tortillas make me happy. Tortillas are great for all those meals you usually use tortillas for along with many other. Around here whole wheat tortillas are a lunch time staple too. Tortillas are very kid friendly art lunch time helping to make Chicken Salad Wraps, Peanut Butter and Jelly-dilla, Salmon Quesadillas and much, much more.

I like to make these fajita sized tortillas for soft tacos, fajitas, huevos rancheros – don’t worry Jen I’ll be sharing that recipe soon-, as a bread to accompany Black Bean Soup or Mexican Chicken Stew and as a quick starting spot for lots of other meals.

These homemade whole wheat tortillas are pillowy and thick, but soft and easy to wrap around things. They have a great nutty flavor that really adds to spicy meals and best of all they do not have that overly chewy texture of so many store bought tortillas. I make this tortillas and freeze the leftovers, pulling them from the freezer as I need them. They thaw quickly and are just as tasty as the first time around.

 
Whole Wheat Tortilla Ingredients
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup white flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
3/4 cup water, plus extra as needed

Mix whole wheat and white flour, baking soda and salt in a medium sized mixing bowl. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture. Pour the oil and water in the well.  Using hands mix ingredients into a dough. Dough should be moist and just slightly tacky. If the dough is still too dry add water a teaspoon or two at a time until it reaches a springy and elastic and not dry and stiff consistency. Roll into a ball. Let the dough ball rest in the bowl covered with a tea towel or plastic wrap for 15-30 minutes.

Divide dough into 16 equal equal sized balls and cover with the tea towel. Preheat a large cast iron skillet or a griddle to medium high heat. Working with a rolling pin roll each ball into a 7-inch circle.

Place a dough circle into heated pan to cook. The tortilla will begin to form slight bubbles when it is ready to flip over, which should take about 45 seconds. Flip the tortilla and continue to cook for about 30 seconds. Remove tortilla from pan an wrap in a tea towel to keep warm an soft

Tortillas are best when eaten fresh. They will keep for a day or two at room temperature or in the freezer for a month when wrapped in plastic wrap. To warm leftover tortillas microwave tortillas for 10-15 seconds.