I have a confession to make. I’ve been slipping off the gluten free wagon for awhile and I need to get back on it. Perhaps it was finding a gluten free supplement that did me in. I slowly became dependent on it and then I guess my tolerance built up… or so I thought. Lately I’m noticing more and more how symptoms are creeping back and I need to be more mindful. Gah… But the good thing is, I have much more confidence now in working with gluten free recipes than I ever did before. One of my favorites which beats any store bought version are these Homemade Flour Tortillas Gluten Free [GF]. You’re only 5 basic pantry staples away from having flour tortillas better than any purchased version.
A few years ago, 2009 to be exact, I made these homemade whole wheat tortillas. I was thrilled because that was when I was trying to incorporate more whole grain and whole wheat flour into my diet.
Fast forward two years, I had to learn how to adapt to a gluten free diet when I realized I had an intolerance to gluten. I was doing really well with my gluten free diet for over a year or so. I lost weight, felt great and looked great. Then I found a gluten free supplement.
I placed a false safety net around the supplement just so I could justify eating all those gluten laden foods again – sometimes not in moderation. Needless to say, I need to take a step back from the supplement and get back on track. I’m going to make a better effort in keeping my gluten free diet and staying away from the supplements. Phew. It feels good to type this out lol.
So anyway, back to this recipe… over the weekend I hosted and taught a ‘On the Border Fiesta Brunch’ and one of the things on our menu were homemade tortillas. The recipe is ridiculously easy and I realized making my own gluten free tortillas was much more easy and more cost effective.
The recipe is something anyone can make – even your kids! – and you can make the tortillas then freeze them if you’d like. Once you make tortillas from scratch (especially knowing how easy and economical they are), you may never buy them again since they taste so much better!
Homemade Flour Tortillas [Gluten Free]
recipe adapted from AllRecipes
Homemade Flour Tortillas Ingredients
- 4 cups flour [all purpose or gluten free flour blend*]
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 2 tablespoons Crisco shortening
- 1 ½ cups water
Homemade Flour Tortillas Recipe Instructions
- Whisk the flour, salt, and baking powder together in a mixing bowl.
- Mix in the shortening with your fingers until the flour resembles cornmeal.
- Add the water and mix until the dough comes together; place on a lightly floured surface and knead a few minutes until smooth and elastic.
- Divide the dough into 24 equal pieces and roll each piece into a ball.
- Preheat a large skillet over medium-high heat.
- Use a well-floured rolling pin to roll a dough ball into a thin, round tortilla.
- Place into the hot skillet, and cook until bubbly and golden; flip and continue cooking until golden on the other side.
- Place the cooked tortilla in a tortilla warmer; continue rolling and cooking the remaining dough.
*Gluten free flour blend: This is the best combination for my personal uses and has never failed me. I purchased a majority of the ingredients at an Asian market (at less than $.99/lb) and the other ingredients marked were Bob Red Mill brand. Cornstarch was Argo brand.
- 300 grams superfine brown rice flour (Bob’s Red Mill)
- 250 grams sweet rice flour (Asian market)
- 150 grams tapioca flour (Asian market)
- 100 grams sorghum flour (Bob’s Red Mill)
- 100 grams potato starch (Asian market)
- 100 grams cornstarch (Argo brand)
- Whisk together the above flours and store in an air tight container.
- To use, measure out 140 grams for every cup called for in your favorite baking recipe (NOT yeast bread recipes.)
- Add 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum for every cup used in the recipe as well to help with texture and binding.
Voila! You can bake gluten free with confidence!
Seems easy enough, I have never to thought to make my own. Thanks for the idea!
Thanks for sharing the recipe. I would love to try it myself at home.
I had no idea they were that easy to make!
Wow! I always purchase mine…never thought it would be this easy. Great blog!
Oh my goodness! How delicious! Thanks for sharing!
This is something I have really wanted to learn to make as a Celiac and it's always seemed really time-consuming. Thanks for making it seem easy!
I love the gluten-free aspects of your blog. I eat gluten, but like to play around with gluten-free too.
OMG i want to try these now! They sound delicious! thank you so much for sharing!!
I didn't know the recipe was that simple either–at least the ingredients make it looks that way. My husband's the chef in our family. I'd love to have him give it a try!
oh thank you, I am constantly buying this, nice to know this is easy to make!
I have to try these. You made it look easier than I thought it would be
I tried these and had disasterous results. Brittle. Tough. Did not roll well. Has anyone actually tried this recipe?
Anonymous – I'm sorry yours did not come out well. Adding more water will allow the dough to come together better and roll out easier. After the tortillas have been removed from a griddle, placing them in a tortilla warmer or with a slightly damp tea towel will allow them to steam and soften, rather than being tender and brittle. The recipe above was actually made in a class I recently taught and we used both all purpose flour and GF flour blend. You can view pictures of our event along with us making this recipe here via our Facebook page — https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.730220597004129.1073741836.140421415984053&type=3
Other than adding more water, this recipe made excellent tortillas. My celiac husband and daughter finally got to enjoy eating flour tortillas again. Thank you for sharing this recipe.
Other than having to add more water, these came out perfect. My celiac husband and daughter were finally able to enjoy flour tortillas again!
Where do you find gluten free flour blend? or is this a blend you made? Thank you
Anonymous – I've added the recipe for the gluten free flour blend I use… but you can use a store bought version if you prefer. They are fairly readily available at most national supermarket chains.
Any substitute for shortening? Thanks
Anonymous – you can sub Crisco vegetable, lard, margarine or butter for the shortening.
Loving this! I fell off the gluten free wagon and am going to get healthy. It's tough to make most recipes without flour — love your blend as a substitute. Thanks!
THANK YOU. I have been missing Flour tortillas something fierce. It was a staple in our house growing up to make them with my mother and sisters. I was super bummed about them and had 5 or so different blogs that had recipes that didn't look anything like a flour tortilla. Then I found yours.
From making many many dozens of regular tortillas i knew what I was looking for. When making Flour tortillas you always go by feel and look of the dough with regards to how much water you add. My mother says 1 1/2 cups – 2 cups usually will work for the amount of flour. I used 1 1/2 and it worked well. I also subbed out the crisco….and used Coconut oil for my first try. Not melted but pressed coconut oil (healthier options!!!) The flour blend feels close to regular flour (though a tad grainier). Everything worked well – the shine and everything seemed very familiar.
The only place it failed to mirror regular gluten tortillas was in rolling out. I struggled and have ideas on how it could work better. maybe roll out between two greased (with more coconut oil or pam) wax paper sheets that you can flip onto a griddle. Yes they came off the griddle hard but i always put mine in aluminum foil wrapped in a tea towel to keep warm while I continue to cook the others.
It's taste is so close I'm not sure I could tell the difference (aside from the adverse effects of gluten on my body). Cheers and THANK YOU SO MUCH for sharing!
Hi there, I am also gluten sensitive and was actually wondering what supplement it was you mentioned in this post. id be interested to try it!
@Bethany – the gluten supplement is Glutenease [http://www.enzymedica.com/store/GlutenEase]
can I make these and freeze them? I cook for my sister and her children so she can have GF meals in the freezer.
I do not understand the grams measurements for use of your gluten free flour can you help with that please.
@Anonymous – you will need to use a scale to measure and weigh the ingredients. Grams is a measurement that is reflected on most, if not all metric scales.
when you made these, did you add xanthan gum to the flour blend?