Tortillas. Homemade ones.

I finally did it today. Made homemade tortillas. It's been something I keep reading/hearing from time and to time and it's been on my mental list to try for quite a while. So today, when I was making the filling for burritos, I decided I might as well give it a try.

I love soft tortillas for tacos, but Luke isn't crazy about the lime taste that's usually in them and prefers hard shells. But for things such as mexican casseroles and enchiladas, soft tortillas shells just work better! Plus we discovered this mexican restaurant that is only a few blocks from our house that makes their own homemade tortillas. Oh my--words can't describe how scrumptious they are!

I used Pioneer Woman's recipe for flour tortillas. Love her recipes. Love her photoshop actions. Just plain love her site. Ok....moving on....

It's really simple; only five ingredients. But I just couldn't handle using lard. At one point mom started buying/using lard instead of crisco and my first baking attempt with it just wasn't great. One of these days I might try it again, but for now I'm sticking with crisco.

 I made the dough and let it rest an hour. So far so good.

Then I formed small ping pong size balls and let them rest for about 30 minutes. Still ok.

Now to flatten them and cook them. First I discovered that my shaped balls were a little too small. I usually like 8" round tortillas and ping pong size balls only make 5" circles.

I heated my pan and started browning.

There were a few that had some unexpected bubbles! ;)

It worked really well! I was surprised how easy they were to make and how good they tasted--just the tortilla itself. I've yet to eat them with something, but so far, I'm impressed. The only disadvantage is that they do take a little bit of time. By the time I cut in shortening into the flour mixture, let the dough sit an hour, form balls and allow them to sit. Then flatten and brown each one, it does take some time. Granted, some of it is just sitting time, but considering that I can usually buy flour tortillas for under $1 for 10, I'm not sure it's always worth it.

But if Luke likes them and they taste better for tacos, casseroles and enchiladas, I might just have to continue making more! And most likely, the more I make, the quicker the process will be!

All in all, it was a "to-do" on my list definitely worth attempting! And the results were certainly worth it!