flavorful and tender flour tortillas made with rendered bacon fat
Course Bread, Side Dish
Cuisine cast iron, Mexican
Prep Time 5minutes
Cook Time 2minutes
Resting time 30minutes
Total Time 7minutes
Servings 16tortillas
Ingredients
3cupsall purpose flour
1teaspoonbaking powder
1/2teaspoondiamond kosher saltor to taste, this depends on how salty your bacon fat is
1/3cupbacon fat at refrigerator temperature
1cupor perhaps just a little bit more warm water
Instructions
mixing and resting
in a large bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt
using your hands or a pastry cutter add the bacon fat and cut into the flour mixture until slightly crumbly and throughly integrated
add the warm water and knead until smooth and elastic (if you grow tired of kneading, cover the dough with plastic wrap and let rest for ten or fifteen minutes before continuing)
divide the dough into 16 roughly equal sized balls, cover with plastic wrap for another twenty minutes (if counter space is at a premium I put the balls back into the mixing bowl and cover them there, the dough is dry enough that sticking rarely occurs)
roll out the tortillas
on a lightly floured surface roll out the balls into 6”-8” rounds. keep the balls and rolled out tortillas covered as you work. lightly floured uncooked tortillas can be stacked but I’ve noticed if the stack gets higher than four or five they start to stick together.
cook the tortillas
heat a large cast iron skillet or griddle over medium to medium high heat (make sure the pan is hot before you put the tortillas in or they wont puff up)
Griddle the tortilla, turning once, until browned in spots and pliable, about 30 seconds per side. Wrap the tortilla in a towel and repeat with the remaining balls of dough.
eat the tortillas
best fresh or once cooled tortillas can be put in a plastic bag and stored overnight.
Notes
some recipes call for a rest while the dough is still in one ball, others call for the rest to happen after dividing the dough. I usually do both, especially if the dough is resisting becoming smooth, a little rest and both the dough and I are more relaxed.