Gluten Free Friday: Tortillas Take 2

Hubs requested Mexican for his birthday–which means home burrito bar.  Which means, obviously flour tortillas, which are a no no.  I had tried this recipe for tortillas from Gluten Free Cooking School, which had a lovely flavor but kind of tore apart on me, and required a LOT more rice flour than I liked to actually roll out.  Since then, I made the discovery of tortilla presses (thank you Food Network and Guy Fieri for giving me the idea).  I promptly ordered one for this dinner.  I did a bit more research and came across this recipe from I Am Gluten Free, which actually used some olive oil (GFCS did not) and decided to try it.  The flavor was marvelous but they were not at all pliable.  We saved them to use for quesedillas or as a nice flat bread (it would be great with hummus).  But I didn’t give up!  I decided to take aspects of BOTH recipes and come up with MY OWN.  The end result was pliable.  Not nearly so much as a regular flour tortilla, but functional and good flavor.  They HAVE to be used either immediately or reheated between moist paper towels to regain some pliability.

Ingredients:

Directions:

  1. Mix together the flour, salt, and xanthan gum.
  2. Add the olive oil and stir until crumbly.
  3. Add half a cup of the hot water and keep stirring until the dough comes together into a ball.
  4. Keep adding water, 1 tablespoon at a time until dough becomes moist and pliable.
  5. Divide into 6-8 balls (we like bigger tortillas, so I get 6 out of this recipe) and cover with a damp towel.
  6. Heat your large skillet or griddle over medium.  I did NOT use any additional oil or cooking spray in the skillet.
  7. Meanwhile take a large ziplock storage bag, cut off the zipper part and cut down 2 sides (so that it’s one long piece that folds once).
  8. Drape this inside your tortilla press and spray with cooking spray.
  9. Put a ball in there, fold the top of the bag over, and press.  SQUISH!  I admit, this is fun and kind of therapeutic.
  10. Carefully peel the plastic from the tortilla (not the other way around, or it will tear) and lay in your heated skillet.
  11. Cook for approximately 1 minute.  DON’T overcook or it’ll get toasty and not pliant!
  12. Flip and cook another 30-45 seconds.
  13. Remove to a plate and cover with another damp towel.
  14. Repeat with remaining tortillas.
  15. Serve immediately or allow to cool and then freeze with wax paper between each tortilla.  Or obviously you could pop them in the fridge if you plan to use them soon.

Printable version.

2 thoughts on “Gluten Free Friday: Tortillas Take 2

  1. Wow, kudos for making tortillas from scratch. I usually get brown rice tortillas from Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods, though I’ve seen corn ones w/o flour too. I use them a lot for making grilled sandwiches (if you can call them that) because I like them better than the sliced gluten-free bread you can find at the store.

    1. The nearest Trader Joes is 4 hours and the nearest Whole Foods is about 3, so we don’t really have much in the way of pre-made options around here. I’ve discovered, though, that mostly the premade stuff is pretty gross. The things you can make at home with the right ingredients are a million times better.

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