Form the dough. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl and mix. Add the butter, and using a fork or pastry cutter, cut the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture looks like coarse sand and the butter is evenly distributed. Add half a cup of hot water and mix with a wooden spoon, adding more water if the dough is too dry. If you’re in a more humid climate, you might need less (I’m in FL and I used about 3/4 cup).
Knead the dough. Once the dough comes together into a shaggy ball, transfer to a lightly floured surface and knead for 5 minutes and the dough is smooth, adding a little more flour (or a little more water) if the dough feels too dry (or too wet). The dough should feel soft, pliable and slightly tacky (but not sticky!), kind of like play-doh.
Portion and rest. Portion the dough into either 5 or 10 equal-sized balls, depending on the size of tortillas you want to make, then flatten them each into discs. Cover and rest, unrefrigerated, for 30 minutes to an hour.
Roll ‘em out. Remove one of the discs of dough and put on a lightly floured surface, then cover the remaining discs of dough so they don’t dry out. Roll the dough out using a lightly floured rolling pin or wine bottle, rotating 45° each time (pick the dough up and rotate), until you have a 14” circle. Make sure you’re going over every part of the dough evenly so it’s the same thickness throughout. The dough will be thin, so be gentle with it.
Cook ‘em. Before moving onto the next disc of dough, cook your first one. Heat a large 15” flat-top surface (I used this cast iron pizza stone (link to product)) over medium high heat for 5 minutes, then carefully lay the dough on top, making sure the dough doesn’t bunch together anywhere. This will take some practice. You can also try rolling the dough up on the rolling pin and unrolling onto the hot surface. Cook for 30 seconds, until the underside is starting to get golden brown spots and the top is starting to bubble up, then flip and continue cooking another 15-30 seconds, again until golden brown spots form and the tortilla is puffing up. Remove from the heat immediately and place inside a clean kitchen towel. Repeat for the remaining tortillas.
Notes
Store tortillas in an airtight container or plastic bag in the fridge for up to a week. If you want to store longer, you can freeze them, either by individually wrapping the discs of dough in wax/parchment and placing them all in a sealed freezer safe bag, or by individually wrapping the cooked tortillas in plastic wrap and placing them in a sealed freezer safe bag. Frozen dough/tortillas will last several months in the freezer.
Nutrition info calculated for the larger, 14” tortillas.
I'm a big eater, a huge fan of pasta (and mac n cheese), and I'm on a mission to prove that indulgence and balance can exist well together without silly restrictions or dieting. Life's too short to eat bad food!
