Homemade Tortillas

One of my favorite characters in DELETED is Abuelita, who is loosely based off a friend’s grandma. Abuelita’s love language is food. No matter the crisis she’s whipping up something good to eat. At more than one pivotal moment in the book, she is rolling out her homemade tortillas.
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.I thought I’d share her recipe with you. It IS a bit extra to make homemade tortillas but they are so yummy. And a pretty handy skill whenever you can’t find decent tortillas. But I warn you, once you’ve had homemade tortillas it’s hard to go back.
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Handmade Flour Tortillas
Makes 16

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup cold vegetable shortening (Crisco) cut in small pieces
1 cup warm water

Mix dry ingredients together. Cut in shortening until the biggest pieces are pea sized. Mix in the water. (I do all of this in my KithenAid mixer with the paddle attachment.) Knead the dough until smooth. Portion the dough into 16 equal pieces and shape into a ball. Cover dough with plastic wrap and let rest for at least 30 minutes and up to 2 hours.(Letting the dough sit for at least 30 minutes is the most important step.) Roll the dough out to a 9-10 inch circle. It does not need to be perfect.

Cook on a hot skillet until bubbles form about 45-60 seconds, and flip over with a fork and cook about the same time. Serve with taco fixings, as quesadilla or hot with butter.

Pro tip: You can freeze tortilla balls for up to a month. I take them out of the freezer the morning I plan to cook them.