Have you ever tried homemade flour tortillas before? Let me just say that the taste and texture is far superior to those that come in a plastic bag at the grocery store. Those at the store honestly don’t even deserve to be called tortillas compared to the real thing. And luckily, the 
tastiness of homemade tortillas justifies the effort it takes to make them. Up until now almost all the recipes I have posted have been easy to make, but I must admit that this one is definitely an exception to the rule. I will also say that I actually tried a couple of different methods for making tortillas and this is the easy (easier) version. Please trust me when I tell you…it is worth it!
Once the dough has been made it takes me about 30 minutes to roll out and cook a dozen of these tortillas. Everyone in my family (including me) practically scarfs them down as soon as I make them, and if used as wraps they can add some variety to your lunch over typical sandwich bread. My 3-year-old’s favorite combination (which she lovingly calls a “roll up”) is to have hummus and cheese wrapped up in her tortilla. I actually love a “roll up” myself although I usually add diced tomatoes, cucumbers, or spinach to mine. My kids also just like to snack on plain tortillas too and if you have time to make a big batch then you can freeze some for later!
- 2½ cups whole-wheat flour (I used King Arthur’s white whole-wheat flour)
- ½ cup oil (I used avocado oil)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup warm water (heat in the microwave for 1 min)
- In the bowl of a heavy-duty mixer set with a dough hook, pour in the flour, oil and salt. Beat with the paddle until crumbly, about 3 to 5 minutes. Scrape the sides as needed. If your hand-held mixer comes with dough hooks those can be used as well.
- With the mixer running, gradually add the warm water and continue mixing until the dough is smooth, about 3 minutes.
- Take out the dough and divide it into 12 equal sized pieces. I do this by making the dough into a big log shape that is about 8 – 10 inches long. Then I cut it in the middle. Then I cut each of those pieces in the middle and so on until you have 12 pieces.
- Using the palms of your hand roll each piece into a round ball and flatten it out on a baking tray or board. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest at room temperature for at least 15 minutes or up to one hour.
- Heat a cast iron skillet, griddle or 12-inch skillet over med-high heat. The pan should be fairly hot before you begin cooking the tortillas.
- On a lightly floured board or counter top, use a rolling pin to turn each ball into a 8 to 10 inch flat circle (measure against your recipe if printed on a 8.5X11 sheet of paper). Be careful not to use more than a teaspoon or two of flour when rolling out each ball into a tortilla because too much excess flour will burn in the pan.
- Grease the pan with a touch of oil (or ghee) and then carefully transfer each tortilla, one at a time, to the pan and cook until puffy and slightly brown, about 30 to 45 seconds per side. Set aside on a plate to cool slightly. Eat within an hour, refrigerate or freeze.
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Any other oils that I can use?
Dea,
Lisa has a post about approved oils here: http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2011/05/14/mini-pledge-week-10-no-refined-oils/
Hope that helps
[...] I was very excited to try out my new tortilla press and cast iron skillet for making whole wheat tortillas. I did something so, so wrong. It could have been that I added too much oil, or that I let them [...]
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What’s the trick to this recipe??? I’m always up for a cooking challenge, so I set out to make this today. After adding an extra 1/2 cup of flour, I still did not have a mixture I could roll into a log and cut into 12 pieces. I had a sticky mess, the consistency of buttercream frosting! Help! What did I do wrong?? I used King Arthurs white whole wheat flour also.
Hi Nikki. Sorry your first tortilla experience was disappointing. It sounds like you might have added too much liquid? Give it another try. They are worth it.
~Amy
[...] more flavorful fillings that we’d rather have. We decided to try to make our own and found this great recipe from 100 Days of Real Food. They only have four ingredients, whole wheat flour, avocado oil, salt [...]
[...] HOWEVER, If you want to see the recipe I followed, check out 100 Days of Real Food [...]
This might be a dumb question but when I tried to make these I rolled out and flatten my dough balls and after I let them rise they stuck so bad to my counter that when I tried to pull them off they ripped ad completely lost their shape. What can I do to prevent that?
Wow! Ok – I was reluctant to try this recipe. I’m not new to making tortillas. My husband is Indian and my mother-in-law taught me to make “Roti” years ago. The traditional recipe uses white flour of course, and when I’ve tried substitution WW Flour, they’ve come out super tough. Anyway – I went for it today and am SO happy I did. These are not anywhere close to being tough. The difference is the amount of oil. This recipe calls for 1/2 cup to the tablespoon that I normally use. It makes them tender, pliable and really soft. I made a bunch and will freeze them. Thank you – I know this is a recipe I’ll use all the time!!
I really love these tortillas! I mix them by hand since I dont have a proper mixer and they still turn out great! My husband was really resistant to the changes I’ve been making to our diet but I think the everything homemade factor is quickly winning him over!