Flour Tortillas

Did anyone notice my "Holiday Hiatus"? Christmastime is just so darn busy! It's funny, because I made a LOT of food in the past few weeks and completely spaced on taking pictures of anything! I even made an entire Christmas dinner spread and didn't even take a single picture of the final products!
However, I did take pictures of one recipe that I made two weeks ago, even though it is far from Christmas related (at least in my home anyway.)
Flour Tortillas!
The recipe is actually from Our Best Bites but there are tortilla recipes floating all over the web if you want to find a different one. I've used this recipe quite a few times with great success. I love it because I can whip up some tortillas super fast, which means there is always something yummy on the horizon for dinner. Even when it's last minute, I can make these in 10 minutes or less, and then just fill them with whatever I have lying around- beans, cheese, leftover chicken or steak, salsa, avocados, even scrambled eggs and sausage.

Flour Tortillas
Thanks Our Best Bites
(Just a side note, my recipe is going to vary from the Our Best Bites website. Apparently, the one in the Our Best Bites cookbook is a little different from the website, and the cookbook version is the one I use.)

Ingredients:
2 1/2 Cups Flour
3/4 tsp Salt (Kosher or Sea Salt)
1/4 Cup plus 2 Tbsp Shortening
3/4-1 Cup Hot Water


**Update: I've since started using coconut oil in place of the shortening in a straight 1:1 ratio and have had great success! Make sure the oil is not in a liquid state. There is a super slight coconut flavor, but it's hardly noticeable.**

Start by adding your flour and salt to a large mixing bowl. I used my stand mixer and just whisked them together.

Next add in the shortening. Using the dough hook on the mixer, mix the shortening in until it's nice and crumbly looking. You can also use one of those pastry cutter things or a couple of forks or knifes to cut in the shortening. (My hubby was helping me. Sorry the best picture I got was one of his knuckle. Haha!)

See how it's nice and crumbly? Now you can slowly start to add the water. Start with the 3/4 Cup of Hot Water and add more if needed.

According to the cookbook, it should be about playdough consistency when it's done.

Plop that out onto your counter. Honestly, I don't even flour or grease my countertop and this dough doesn't stick to it at all.

Divide it up into 8-10 little balls. My math-deficient brain couldn't figure out how to make 10 balls, so I made 8. :)

Now roll them out as thin as you possibly can! Looks nice and round here, right?

WRONG! I am a total failure at trying to roll out circles. I never can and never will be able to. Brad helped me roll out the rest and he did a much better job than me.

Heat a nice big nonstick skillet over medium heat and then plop your tortilla right down in there. Let it go for about a minute.

Flip it over and let it go another 30-60 seconds. If you see any huge bubbles happening, just pop em with a fork.

Keep the tortillas on a plate under a kitchen towel to keep em warm while you cook up the rest.

There we go! A nice big pile of tortillas ready for fillin'!

These babies make DELICIOUS burritos. Seriously. YUM!

Serve these with Shredded Chicken, cheese, rice, beans, sour cream, and Tomatillo Salsa and you will have a super amazing dinner.
OR,  use Chicken Taco fillings inside these guys to make burritos, or even just soft tacos.
OOORRRR, serve them with Black Bean and Corn Casserole for a super filling and healthy meal!
Enjoy!