100 % Whole Wheat Tortillas

(makes approx. 20 10” or 25 8” tortillas)

Please read notes at the end of the recipe

(If you have never made tortillas before, try making ½ of this recipe at first to get the feel of the dough and of pressing.) 

Open your Chef Pro electric tortilla press and turn it on to heat up on the "high" setting.

Ingredients:
6 cups whole wheat flour (divided into 4 cups and 2 cups)
2 tsp. salt
½tsp. baking powder
2 teaspoons lecithin (optional - see note below)
2 cups warm water
½ cup oil (olive,vegetable,canola.coconut...)

Mixing: 
In a large bowl, combine 4 cups of flour, salt, baking powder, and lecithin and mix well. Make a depressed center in the flour mixture,  pour in oil and water and mix. Mix in 1½ cups of the remaining flour, and then only enough additional flour to form a very slightly sticky dough.

With floured fingers, shape the dough into golf-ball sized balls, or smaller for an 8-inch press. If you have a helper, they can begin pressing right away. Otherwise, make all your balls and place them on a flat surface and cover them with plastic wrap to keep them from drying out as you press.  Dough balls should sag a little as they are waiting to be pressed.

Pressing tortillas:
Place a ball slightly off-center in the press (a little closer to the hinged side).  Close the press and push down hard on the handle one time (you will likely hear a squealing sound as steam escapes around the edges).  Immediately lift the pressing handle and raise the lid to release steam pressure.  You'll see that your ball has spread very thin and filled the full circle of your press.  Gently close the lid and allow the tortilla to cook for 10 seconds, then turn it over with a non-metal spatula, close the lid, and cook for 10 more seconds on side two. Move tortilla onto a cooling rack and press the next.

If the edges of your tortilla shatter slightly, press and release more quickly next time.

We suggest making a half batch of tortillas your first time so that you get the feel of a "slightly sticky dough" that you can shape with floured hands and press easily.  If your tortillas don't press thin (1/8" thick or thinner), your dough is too dry. Add less flour next time.  

Cooking time:
We like our tortillas soft and pliable. You can cook them as long as you like to achieve the consistency you like - even as crispy as a tostada, if desired.

Storage:
We cool the tortillas on wire cooling racks as we press, beginning to stack them as they are no longer warm. We place stacks on a small dinner plate and slip the plate with 12-20 tortillas into a gallon zip-lock bag. These can be stored in the fridge or frozen for later use.

If you are preparing tortillas to eat warm right away, keep them in a tortilla warmer or wrap them in a thick clean kitchen towel.

Sweet tortillas:
Add 2 tablespoons sugar and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon to flour. Serve with fruit and powdered sugar, top with honey and serve warm, or serve with ice cream and your favorite topping. Crisp fry your sweet tortilla for a special touch. 

NOTES:

Ingredients:

Whole Wheat Flour - We grind fresh flour in an electric grain mill using any combination of hard red (Bronze Chief) and hard white (Prairie Gold) wheats. You can use store-bought whole wheat flour or any combination of whole wheat and all purpose flour that you have on hand - just watch your final step of adding water so that you don't get dough that is too stiff or dry.

Salt - We use unrefined sea salt since this is a desirable food additive that is healthy to consume, unlike modern refined table salt. You can use whatever salt you have - refined, iodized, kosher, etc.

Baking Powder - We use baking powder that is aluminum-free, since aluminum has been implicated in development of Alzheimer’s.

Lecithin - This is a soy product that can be granulated or powder-like in consistency. It is a dough softener. We also use it in bread recipes. It is available from health food/whole foods stores or natural food co-ops. You can make tortillas without it, but we like how soft and flexible it makes our tortillas.

Oil - We learned to make tortillas with olive oil. You may prefer a lighter oil flavor. Coconut oil and red palm oil do not denature when cooked, so they are very healthy choices, if your budget allows.