Flour Tortillas

I was amazed at how simple these are! They take a while, but it is well worth it. This recipe makes approximately 8 tortillas. If I need to stretch them out, or if I am making chips, and the tortillas need to be thin, I can make twelve. If I need more than that, I double it.

2 cups flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

2 tsp oil

3/4 cups milk

Start the milk warming. I measure it into a bowl, and then put the bowl into  bigger container filled with hot water. Once the milk is warm, mix together flour, baking powder, salt, and oil. Slowly add the warm milk. Stir until a loose sticky ball is formed. 

Knead for 2 minutes on a floured surface. Dough should be firm and soft. ( Kind of contradictory isn't it? What I mean is that you should be able to press a finger into the dough, but it should bounce back when you release your finger. ) 

Place dough into a container, and cover with a damp cloth or plastic wrap for 20 minutes.

After the dough has rested, break off eight sections, roll them into balls, place them on a plate, ( make sure they aren't touching )  and then cover balls with a damp cloth or plastic wrap for 10 minutes. ( If you don't let the dough rest, it will be like elastic and won't roll out to the proper thickness and shape. )

After the dough has rested, one at a time place a dough ball on a floured surface, pat it out in a four inch circle, then roll with a rolling pin until it is 8-9 inches in diameter. Don't overwork the dough or it will be stiff. 

In an iron skillet heated on medium, cook the tortillas. It should start to puff a bit when it is done. The first one takes the longest, and then they take about thirty seconds on each side. 

Keep tortillas in a ziploc wrapped in paper towels, in the fridge. You can reheat them in the skillet again if you have leftovers.