Tortillas - Warm Cozy Flat Bread

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When I was a kid I always looked forward to left over tortillas. When I was very little our neighbor Mara shared them with my Mom. She did not use a recipe, so Mom watched and estimated amounts coming up with this recipe.

My Mom always made a mountain of these.  I remember very fondly lifting the lid on her stock pot the next morning (if I got up early and beat my brother to them) and scoring a tortilla.  I'd grab a glass of unsweetened grape juice and breakfast was born.  Bite of tortilla, sip of juice.  Strange I know, but Mmmm!  I can still taste it.

Flour Tortillas
6 cups all purpose flour
1 tbsp table salt
1 tbsp baking powder
1 cup shortening
2 1/4 cups water

First stir the dry ingredients together in a large bowl.
Next add the shortening and water.
Stir in mixer until a dough begins to form. Scrape the bowl and mix until a soft dough is formed and well mixed.  The dough should be tacky and soft.  Not dry and not too wet.  (Touch the dough with your knuckle.  It should feel tacky, but not come off on your knuckle when touched.) 
Begin by forming the dough into golf ball sized pieces or larger. (Keep the bowl of dough covered as you work.) Roll the balls with a rolling pin attempting to keep the rounds as round as possible. I use my marble rolling pin for this job.


Toss the tortillas onto a hot griddle. (But not too hot.)
Turn when the bubbles on the underside start to brown. Then cook on the second side until it is speckled and brown.
Hold the tortillas in a large dutch oven line with paper toweling. Lay another towel over the top of the stack and put the lid on the pan.

These griddles are available at Walmart for under 16.00.