Simple Flour Tortillas ($0.03 each)

$0.03 each     89% savings     save $97.30 yearly

Saying that my family eats a lot of tortillas is a HUGE understatement.

We love our enchiladas, burritos, soft tacos, quesadillas, and wraps... the girls will even eat tortillas plain-jane for a snack. They can be baked into a healthier version of the store-bought tortilla chips, or buttered, sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar and baked into a whole new realm of deliciousness, and the list goes on... 

Homemade tortillas? Can't beat 'em. They are absolutely delicious! (Even substituting shortening for lard which would up their YUM-factor ten-fold... yes, LARD.) If you go through even a fraction of the tortillas my family does, this recipe will definitely save you a pretty penny and no where on the list of ingredients will you find any kind of "dextrose," or "amylase" or "cellulose gum," like you would in the pre-packaged variety... although you could try replacing the shortening with lard... yes, LARD.

After doing my comparison of homemade vs. store-bought, I came up with a hypothesis: The tortilla-making factories are adding gold flecks to their mix along with the "cellulose gum," because currently, a package of 10 soft taco-sized tortillas costs about 90% more than what it would cost YOU to make them at home.

I'm telling you. 

Gold flecks.

You could put your kids through college... or eat store-bought tortillas. (Okay, I'm kidding... but seriously...)

This recipe puts the packaged tortillas to shame.

Simple Flour Tortillas
Printable Version

*yields approx. 40 soft taco-sized tortillas

(Note: This recipe is easily doubled or halved.  I usually mix together all the dry ingredients, then make about 2 cups worth of the dry mixture into tortillas, and save the other half of the dry ingredients in a gallon ziplock bag to use another day.  As with many of my recipes, I added some of my own home-ground whole wheat to to the mix to make the tortillas pictured above.)

INGREDIENTS

8 cups flour (up to half whole wheat)
1 tablespoon salt
2 tablespoon baking powder
1 cup shortening
2 1/2 cups HOT water (not boiling, but hot enough to melt the shortening)

DIRECTIONS

Combine flour, salt, and baking powder in a large mixing bowl. Mix well. Cut in the shortening with a pastry cutter, fork, or your hands. (I use my hands)

Make a well in the center of the mix, and slowly add the hot water, mixing until you have a soft dough that pulls away from the edges of the bowl when you knead it, and is only very slightly sticky.

Knead the dough until it becomes smooth and elastic. (A couple minutes should do it)

Cover and let it rest for at least 10 minutes.

Pre-heat a griddle or skillet on medium-high heat. Temperature might take some time to get right... not hot enough = crispy, un-pliable tortillas. Too hot, and the middle won't get cooked before your tortilla turns black. Medium-high is about right on my griddle for the first couple tortillas, then I end up turning it down closer to medium heat.
 
Pinch off golf ball-sized balls of dough, place on a clean, very lightly floured surface, and roll them as thin as you can... cardstock paper thin. It takes a few tries to make them evenly round, so don't get frustrated. They taste amazing no matter the shape.

Place the thin tortilla dough on the pre-heated griddle. Watch it shrink up and thicken up and cook till multiple bubbles appear on the surface, and a little browning occurs underneath. It will depend on the temperature of your griddle, but 10 seconds is about right. Flip it over and cook the other side. Avoid over-cooking them, or they'll become dry, and brittle particularly around the edges. There is a learning curve to this, so don't be dismayed if a couple of your tortillas have black spots. Adjust the heat/cook time as necessary.

Place cooked tortillas on a plate and cover with a dish towel to keep the moisture locked in.

Serve warm. Store cooled tortillas wrapped in plastic in the refrigerator or freezer for longer keeping.

~ The Savings ~

Cost Breakdown:

25 lb all-purpose flour - $6.78 = 94.5 cups = $0.071/cup = $0.568 

12 oz baking powder – $1.69 = 70.875tsp = $0.024/tsp = $0.144 

26 oz. salt – $.42 = 122.75 tsp = $0.003/tsp = $0.009 

48 oz. vegetable shortening - $4.28 = 227 T = $0.019/T = $0.304

Total recipe cost = $1.03

Per tortilla = $0.03

The Contender: 

10 ct. Mission Soft Taco Flour Tortillas= $2.69 

Per tortilla = $0.27

Savings:  89%

"Over a Year" Scenario: 

Simple Flour Tortilla recipe 10 times = $10.30

buy equivalent Mission Soft Taco Flour Tortillas = $107.60 

*Money saved annually: $97.30