Whole Wheat Tortillas

Have you ever been to those mexican restaurants that make their own tortillas?? If you haven't, you haven't lived. I only go to those specific places, because I love fresh tortillas. After eating at our favorite tex-mex restaurant several nights a week, breaking the bank, and becoming best friends with everyone from the waiter to the manager (because they saw us on a daily basis), I decided I would try to make these at home!... and am I glad I did. These are crazy good. I'm talking words can't describe how good.

...It almost reminds me of biscuits... just because the ingredients are very similar.

Make your dough, and knead for a couple of minutes, and then roll out the dough, and cut into individual pieces. You could try to do it equally... but I mean, who wants the same size tortilla shells?? Not me!

Next, roll each piece into a ball...

Then, with a rolling pin, flatten them out, trying to evenly distribute the dough.

After that, you cook them on a griddle or in a skillet for about 30 seconds on each side, and your done! I used a cast iron skillet for mine, but that's just the southerner coming out in me.

Although I used whole wheat pastry flour for this, I have also used all purpose flour as well, and you could split it up... half whole wheat, half all purpose. I've done all of the above, and they all turned out great!

I hope you like it!

Whole Wheat Tortillas
*makes 12 tortillas

2 3/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour (or all purpose), plus extra for rolling the tortillas
2 1/2 tablespoons Crisco
2 1/2 tablespoons room temperature butter
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup tepid water

Combine the flour, crisco, and butter in a large mixing bowl working the the crisco and butter into the flour with a fork until completely incorporated. Make sure there are no lumps of butter in the mixture.

Next, dissolve the salt in with the water, and begin pouring over the dry mixture. Incorporate slowly, adding a little bit of water at a time until the mixture is completely moistened and becomes a doughy texture.

Then, roll it out onto a floured surface and knead for about a minute, just until the dough becomes smooth. Next roll out the dough until it is about 1/2 inch, to 1 inch thick, and cut dough into 12 smaller pieces, and roll each piece into a ball.

At this point, let the dough rest for 30 minutes.

On a floured surface, begin to roll out your balls of dough, trying to evenly distribute dough.

Lay the dough in a hot griddle or cast iron skillet, and cook for about 30-40 seconds on each side.

*Be careful not to overcook the tortillas. If you do, they won't bend properly.