Fine Cooking's Flour Tortillas

Total Time: 2 hrs Preparation Time: 2 hrs

Ingredients

• 9 ounces unbleached all-purpose flour, plus
• extra unbleached all-purpose flour, for kneading & rolling
• 1 teaspoon table salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 cup cold vegetable shortening (i use shortening, haven't tried lard) or 1/4 cup lard, cut into small pieces (i use shortening, haven't tried lard)
• 2/3 cup warm water

Recipe

• 1 in medium bowl, stir flour, salt & baking powder. add shortening or lard and cut into the flour with dough blender or 2 table knives until mixture resembles coarse corn meal. stir in 2/3 cup warm water with a fork until a shaggy dough forms.
• 2 turn dough out onto floured surface and knead until smooth & soft, 3 to 4 minutes, reflouring the surface as necessary. after kneading, the dough shouldn't be very sticky.
• 3 portion dough into 8 equal pieces, about 2 oz. each, and shape each piece into a ball. cover dough balls loosely with plastic and let rest on counter for at least 30 minutes and up to 2 hours.
• 4 when ready to cook tortillas, heat large (11- to 12-inch) dry cast iron skillet or griddle over medium heat until hot. working with one ball of dough at a time and keeping remaining dough balls covered, and using just enough flour to prevent sticking, roll dough into a 9- to 10-inch round shape. if not as circular as you'd like, don't worry--the tortillas will still taste great.
• 5 peel dough off of counter and lay it in the skillet or griddle. cook until tortilla bubbles & puffs and the bottom browns in spots, 45 to 60 seconds. if any gigantic bubbles form, pierce them so the tortilla will cook evenly when flipped.
• 6 flip tortilla with spatula and cook until second side gets brown in spots & any raw-looking areas become opaque, another 45 to 60 seconds. (if tortillas begin to brown too quickly or burn in spots, reduce heat to medium low.).
• 7 transfer tortilla to clean dishtowel and cover to keep warm. repeat with remaining dough, stacking & covering each tortilla after it has cooked.
• 8 to use frozen dough balls, allow them to thaw & warm to room temperature. for best results, don't let them sit out more than 30 to 60 minutes after warming to room temperature.
• 9 to reheat several frozen tortillas, wrap them in foil & heat in 350 degree f oven about 10 minutes or until warm & pliable. to reheat an individual frozen tortilla, let it thaw and then rewarm on skillet or griddle.