Freshly Milled Whole Wheat Tortillas

Maybe this sounds a little… ambitious?

Unnecessary?

Overachieving?

But if you can make pancakes, you can make tortillas. 

And really, this was always the way of it, women making their tortillas with their hands, until at some point, it wasn’t. 

So why bother?

We modern women are consumers of packaged, stacked, uniformly round, shelf-stable and suspiciously soft tortillas. At least I was, until it occurred to me to read the ingredients… “palm and or soybean oil, calcium propionate, fumaric acid, mono- and diglycerides, sodium metabisulphite”… just to name a few. 

So I took a shot at the homemade thing. 

But there were so many steps, a “rest time”?, types of grains, the added effort and dirty dishes, is it really worth it?

…what is metabisulphite?

I’m here to say, it’s not so hard. In fact, it’s not hard at all. And they’re actually really, really good! 

These whole wheat tortillas are soft and bendy and smell like warm olive oil and a baker’s oven. Even the irregularities are a welcomed aesthetic against the monotony of uniformity.

In fact, since making the switch to these whole wheat tortillas, I once reverted to the store-bought kind and was surprised by the apathetic blandness they contributed to my enchiladas; a wet blanket at my fiesta.

A note about the wheat

I use a hard wheat for my tortillas, be it hard white or hard red or a mixture of both. You’ll want a hard wheat, AKA a high protein wheat, because wheat protein is gluten, and gluten means the dough is a stretchy and elastic and able to hold a bubble.

And in tortillas, bubbles and stretchy are good things. 

While this recipe does focus on gluten development (achieved through kneading the dough causing a “web” of structure to form), it does not depend on leveling. There are no specific fermenting, proofing or rising times to constrain your schedule. The only time requiring element is the *rest*, which I’ll talk about momentarily.

The How To

This recipe is my adaptation from Sue Becker’s as detailed in The Essential Home-Ground Flour Book. 

I won’t lie, at first it’s a little tricky as you get the technique down, but if you persevere through a few tortilla-making sessions, you’ll be as savvy as a flap jack flipper. 

Simply grind your wheat and add in the bit of salt and baking powder. In the standing mixer, add a cup of warm water and the olive oil. Now combine everything into the mixer and allow the dough to knead on low for for a minute or so, until a dough ball forms. Turn off the mixer and let the dough rest for a while, at least 10 minutes. 

Of course you could do this by hand too. And we would all admire you from a distance.

Resting & Soaking

“Resting” allows the flour to soak up all of the moisture, which makes all the difference when it comes to working with freshly milled whole wheat doughs. It becomes much more compliant. It’s nearly the same as dealing toddler who’s had a nap and a drink vs. a one who hasn’t. 

When your dough has rested for at least 10 minutes (or longer is just fine) and is feeling particularly amicable, turn the mixer on low again and let it spin for a few minutes or until the dough looks entirely smooth and consistent. It should seem elastic and soft and prefer to stick to itself in one large form rather than to the sides of the bowl.

If it’s too wet, feel free to throw little spoonfuls of flour in until it looks right. On the other hand, if the dough is too dry, that’s a bigger problem. A dry dough will make cantankerous little tortillas that are brittle and apt to crack. Make sure your dough is well hydrated. 

Here mine is pillowy and stretchy while not sticking to the sides. I was able to pull it out of the bowl with little fuss. Not to brag.

Now for the fun part

On your biggest cutting board, or directly on your clean countertop, drizzle some olive. Rub a little oil on your hands and on to your rolling pin as well. 

If you’re using a griddle or a pan, you’ll want that nice and toasty before you slap down a tortilla, so go ahead and turn on the heat (about medium). I personally use my flat top range like a griddle, and it works great. No one has stopped me, so, I’m going to keep doing it. 

Go ahead and use as much olive oil as needed to accomplish the shaping of the tortillas. It will only add to the flavor and it will prevent you from saying bad words in front of children.

To form the tortillas, you’ll push down the little dough ball with your fingers, and then roll out the tortilla, first one way, then another, and then pick it up and gently pull it until you’re satisfied with the thinness. Most importantly, make sure the thinness is consistent. It’s easy to end up with a sheer middle and fat edges, which leads to cracking centers in your tacos. 

Lay it on the heat in whatever fashion you find works for you. Wait until it begins to bubble up and becomes more opaque than glossy and then flip! Wait until it begins to puff again, and it’s done. Move it to the rack and repeat.

I can typically get into a rhythm of rolling out the next tortilla while the previous one is on the stove, and then doing a swap out, and repeating. 

And just like that, you’re done!

Now go make something really good with them, like shrimp tacos or cheesy enchiladas or black beans & rice chicken wraps.

And if there’s extra, make some Buñuelos!