Homemade flour tortillas...

Old Mother Hubbard's cupboards have been bare this past week, and so what does she do when there are no tortillas left?  Make some homemade!  I used to make flour tortillas more often when there were seven of us at home.  We went through lots of them since tacos have always been our default meal.  Do you have a default meal that you go to regularly at your house?  Let's get on with the recipe.

Homemade Flour Tortillas

4 c. flour
2 t. baking powder
1 t. salt
4 T. shortening or lard
1 c. very warm tap water

Combine dry ingredients.  Cut in shortening until crumbly, as for pie crust.  Lastly, add water, a little at a time, until the dough gathers itself into a ball.  You may need to add a bit more water.  I always do.  Knead dough on a floured cupboard 15-20 times.  Let dough rest 15 minutes.  Shape into balls about 1 1/2" round.  Flatten and roll out very thin on floured cupboard.  Place on a hot griddle.  I use a dry griddle -- an electric skillet set at 400*.  Wait for the tortilla to bubble up and the edges to curl (about 30 seconds) and turn with a spatula and fry on other side another 30 seconds or until lightly golden in spots.  Remove from heat. Continue rolling out balls and cooking them.  I can usually get 11-12 large tortillas with this recipe.  You may even like them hot from the skillet with butter & honey or cinnamon & sugar.

Start with balls approximately 1 1/2" round.  Flatten and roll out.

Roll out very thin.

Cook on a very hot griddle until tortilla bubbles up.

A nice stack of tortillas, ready to eat!