In a mixing bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, baking powder, and salt until well combined.
Add the vegetable oil or melted butter to the dry ingredients and mix until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
Slowly add warm water, a little at a time, while stirring the mixture with a spoon or your hands until a dough forms. You may not need to use all of the water.
Once the dough comes together, knead it on a lightly floured surface for about 2-3 minutes until it becomes smooth and elastic.
Divide the dough into 8 equal portions and shape each portion into a ball.
On a lightly floured surface, roll out each dough ball into a thin circle, about 15-20 centimeters in diameter.
Heat a skillet or griddle over medium-high heat.
Place a rolled-out tortilla onto the hot skillet and cook for about 30-60 seconds on each side, or until lightly browned and bubbles start to form.
Remove the cooked tortilla from the skillet and keep warm in a clean kitchen towel while cooking the remaining tortillas.
Serve the freshly made flour tortillas warm with your favorite fillings or toppings.
Also, if I plan to freeze do I freeze it after cooking? or before cooking when they're flat? or round dough balls?
I wanted to find a recipe by weight (in grams, not cups, tsp, etc.)
And most I found were in cups.
2 1/2 cups (300g) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour, plus additional as needed
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1/4 cup of any one of the following: 4 tablespoons butter, room temperature (57g), shortening (48g), lard (57g), or vegetable oil (50g)
7/8 to 1 cup (200g to 227g) water, hot, (about 110°F to 120°F)
I found this but I don't know how much tsp of baking powder would be
N.B. I'm a bit drunk. I did make flour tortillas about two hours ago though.
My math could be wrong (see above) but that is 72% hydration which is just below Focaccia territory.
What I did: flour, pinch of salt, pork belly fat (30 grams at a guess), mix with a Danish whisk until crumbs form, very slowly add water until it comes together. No measurement for that because there are many variables.
Knead by hand for around 5 minutes. You should see small pockets of fat, but also some gluten development. It's kind of a variation on a rough puff pastry in that regard, but it needs to be smooth. Wrap tightly and put in a cool place, fridge, next to my heart, wherever.
Ball it, let it rest a few minutes to relax the gluten, then use a tortilla press, a flat plate, or roll it. Depending on how much gluten development there is you may need to re press/ roll.
I never use baking powder, the steam is enough to leaven it sufficiently for a tortilla.
Letting it rest both relaxes the gluten and helps the flour hydrate. This helps keep the dough from being gritty and makes it easier to form with less snapback (greater extensibility).
I'm too big to fit in a microwave and remvoing my heart from my body seems imprudent.
I've had success with this recipe, which is in grams. I just made a baker's % out of it and mostly use that now for flour tortillas since the recipe made more than I wanted.