Cooking 101 - Homemade Whole Wheat Tortillas

Now there might be those of you out there who 1.) freak out at the thought of making your own tortillas or 2.) make your own tortillas that taste better than anything on earth. Whatever. These are mine and we LOVE them! Although there is butter in them, you can use a low-fat butter but I despise Crisco and lard, so I'll pick the lesser of the evils. (Plus, Paula Deen would be upset with me if I didn't use butter...)

So here we go! These are fast, fun, and easy once you get it down!

You'll need:

A flat cast-iron griddle, if possible. They make a flat, circular griddle and if you invest in one of these babies, you'll use it for everything!!! Once it gets all seasoned up with your cooking, pancakes could not taste better on these griddles.

2 c. whole wheat flour
2 c. unbleached all-purpose flour
1 t. salt
1 stick softened butter
warm water (about 3 cups)
(makes about 15 regular sized tortillas)

Heat your griddle on medium high. Then whisk together your dry ingredients. Cut in the butter using your hands or a pastry blender until the butter is all incorporated. Pour in the warm water - about 2 cups at first and maybe an entire 3 cups, if not more. Without over-stirring, mix in the water with a fork and blend until mixture resembles bread dough. You should be able to handle the dough without it sticking to your hands. Cover with plastic wrap for at least 10 minutes.

Flour your surface & rolling pin. Pinch off a golf ball-sized piece of dough. Roll flat on the counters, flipping, rotating, and flouring your surface as necessary. You should only have to roll the dough about 10 times - until it's thin but easy to lift off and place on the griddle.

Cook tortilla on both sides for approximately 20 seconds each side.

IMPORTANT: If your griddle is hot enough, the tortilla will immediately start to brown and make little bubbles from underneath and rise up a little. If your griddle is not hot enough, your tortilla will sit there flat and will cook slowly - you don't want that. If your griddle is too hot, the tortilla will burn quickly, leaving black spots and will possibly stick to the pan. Let it cool off and try some more.

THEN: Keep the tortillas moist. Let them rest on a plate, covered with plastic wrap. As you get more tortillas on your stack, they soften each other with the steam.