A local grocery store has a markdown shelf I love to check out as I never know what I’ll find. Often, there’s nothing of interest, but on occasion I find great deals. Sometimes the discounted items are things I need (handiwipes and baking chocolate are two recent finds). Other times I find something I didn’t know I needed until I found it. Case in point: tortilla flour.

just add water for tortillas

For a mere $2.00, this 4-pound bag of “flour tortilla mix” beckoned. Its ingredient list named flour, shortening, sweetener, salt, and leavening. According to the recipe on the bag (written in Spanish as well as English), I’d only need to add 1/2 cup water to 2 cups of the mix to make eight tortillas. For two bucks, I couldn’t go wrong.

I made the tortillas last night and loved the process and results. It was easy enough and so satisfying to end up with tortillas that far surpassed those sold in supermarket plastic bags. Fresh is definitely best.

After mixing in water, I kneaded the dough briefly, then covered it to rise much like bread dough. After 15 minutes of rise time, the dough was divided into eight sections which were rolled into 1/8-inch-thick rounds. My “rounds” are always approximate (you should see my pie crusts–yikes), but I rolled my eight tortillas and “fried” them on a dry griddle for the recommended 1 1/2 minutes on each side.

ready to roll

rolled flat

on the griddle

The tortillas were so very good, especially warm off the griddle. Although I think of this experiment as making tortillas from scratch, you could argue that I used a shortcut as I started with a mix (just add water!). All the same, it was a fun–and easy–project and the results were fresh and delicious. My $2.00 was well spent.

finished tortillas