From Scratch: ::Homemade Flour Tortillas::

One day, I'll look elsewhere for recipes than The Pioneer Woman. One day. I am such a lier. Ha!

I just love her site so much; I honestly go to it at least once a day. I have always wanted to make homemade tortillas and I found a recipe on her site for them; which is one sign that you know they are good. Here is my little disclaimer: once you make homemade flour tortillas you won't ever want store bought ones again. Honestly. The recipe is super easy with few ingredients. As far as "frying" the tortillas, it is pretty simple. The only "hard" part is getting the heat at the right temperature...your first few tortillas are just practice runs for your heat. At first, you may get a little frusterated and feel like they won't turn out. Don't worry, I think I went through about 3-4 tortillas before I got the heat right.
Here is a quick story before we get to the recipe....
So, when I was in high school I worked at our small town grocery store and butcher shop; Weber Meats & Grocery. The best and most fun job I've ever had. Anyways, there was this lady (who happened to be the "lunch lady") who would buy lard. She was the only one who I ever sold it to. I would always think things to myself when I would ring her up, like, "People actually buy this and use it?"....."Gross!!!!"...."What is she going to make with it? Ugh, I don't think I even want to know?!" I'm pretty sure she was just buying it to make doughnuts, but I'm not 100% forsure. Anyways, low and behold, lard is an ingredient in this recipe. When I bought it and went through the check-out line I thought "I wonder she's thinking about this lard I'm about to buy?...."
Enjoy!

::Homemade Flour Tortillas::

2-½ cups All-purpose Flour
2-½ teaspoons Baking Powder
1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
½ cups Lard Or Vegetable Shortening
2 Tablespoons (additional) Lard Or Vegetable Shortening
1 cup Hot Water

Preparation Instructions:

Combine flour, baking powder and salt in a large wooden bowl. Stir together.
Add spoonfuls of lard or shortening (use 1/2 cup PLUS 2 tablespoons), then use a pastry cutter to combine the ingredients. Cut mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs.
Slowly pour in hot water, stirring to bring mixture together. Lightly knead dough 30 to 40 times, or until it becomes a cohesive ball of dough and is less sticky. Cover with a tea towel and allow dough to rest for at least an hour.
Roll into ping pong size balls, place on a tray, cover with a tea towel, and allow to rest for another 20 to 30 minutes.
When you’re ready to make the tortillas, head a dark or cast iron griddle to medium/medium-high heat. One by one, roll out balls of dough until very, very thin. Throw tortillas (one by one) onto the griddle. Cook on each side for 20 to 30 seconds, removing while tortillas are still soft but slightly brown in spots. Remove and stack tortillas, and cover with a towel to keep warm. Serve immediately or allow to cool before storing tortillas in a container. To warm, nuke tortillas in the microwave, or wrap in foil and warm in the oven.

Helpful tips:
* Make sure the water you pour in is very warm.
* Allow the dough to rest, both after kneading and after forming into balls.
* Roll out very thin.
* Get the heat right on your stove: Too hot, and the tortilla will burn in spots. Not hot enough, and the tortilla will begin to crisp before you can get it to brown. I get my stove between medium and medium high heat; that seems to do the trick.
* Use a dark griddle or cast iron skillet to brown the tortillas.
* Cook just long enough to lightly brown the tortilla in spots; don’t cook too long or tortillas will crisp. You want them to be soft and pliable when you serve them.
* Finally: Have fun! And enjoy them. They’re absolutely scrumptious.

Recipe and tips from The Pioneer Woman

The stars of the show!

The Pioneer Woman used a wood bowl. I used glass cause I didn't have a wood one.

Adding the baking powder.

Salt...

...and lard. I can't believe I actually just said that.

Measure it out and then place by spoon fulls into the bowl.

Then, using a pastry cutter or two forks blend until it resembles course crumbs. I'm always intimidated by this part in a recipe.

Course crumbs.

Close up.

Hot water. Don't worry, I do dishes, I just used the same measuring cup that I used for the lard.

I mixed it up a bit with the spoon...

I then barely floured my clean counter and kneaded it for a while until it came together. Then, place in a bowl and cover with a dish towel and let sit about an hour.

I know this isn't a part of the tortilla recipe but I'm just showing what I did to make the meat part for when I made fajitas with the homemade tortillas.

I used some round steak.

The dough came together nice after it had sat for an hour.

Roll into little balls, about the size of ping pong balls and let sit again.

Cover with a towel.

Roll out very thin, dont worry they won't be perfectly round. I should say, they don't have to be!

Fry each side for only about 20-30 seconds. Then flip.

Another close up. This hasn't been fliped yet.

The heat should be high enough where there is brown spots after about 20-30 seconds. If it takes alot longer than that the tortilla will get crispy.

I placed a dish towel on the bottom and then a piece of wax paper over that, then started the pile of tortillas. On top of the tortillas I put another piece of wax paper and then a dish towel on top.