Once upon a time, I thought that tortillas could be one of our “compromise” foods. Hubby eats a LOT of them, and I figured they can’t have that many ingredients, so I decided that they could be something that I would purchase, rather than make at home.
Until the fateful day when I merrily pushed my cart up the bread aisle and decided to glance at the ingredient list on the back of the bag before plopping them into my cart.
Boy, was I ever wrong! There is an entire paragraph of ingredients, many of them unrecognizable and hard to pronounce. Not to mention all the hydrogenated oils…
So I set out to make them at home. I found that tortillas made with white flour were fairly easy, but of course, not as nutritious, so I ventured into whole wheat. After lots of tweaking, I’ve settled on a whole wheat tortilla recipe that my family loves!
As an added bonus, these are sourdough, which makes the grains more digestible. (Have you checked out the free Soaking Grains Ebook available to subscribers yet?)
Whole Wheat Sourdough Tortillas
- 2 cups (more or less) whole wheat flour. I prefer hard white or hard red. I’ve tried spelt, but really struggled rolling them out.
- 3 Tablespoons melted coconut oil OR butter OR bacon fat. Heat it just until melted. Don’t allow it to become too hot.
- 1 t. sea salt
- 1/2 cup sourdough starter. (Does not need to be at the peak of it’s activity.)
- 1/2 cup milk or whey (water works too, but milk/whey yields a softer end result)
- Pinch of ginger and citric acid- Optional- (After reading this post at Tammy’s Recipes, I try to always add a few natural dough conditioners to my whole wheat products. It seems to help soften them. However, if you don’t have them, don’t sweat it.)
In a medium bowl, mix together the sourdough starter, milk, salt, ginger, citric acid, and melted oil.
Slowly add the flour. Depending on your flour and the moisture of your sourdough starter, you may need more or less than the two cups. Adding too much flour will result in a dry, crumbly tortilla. Not enough flour with yield a tortilla that is impossible to roll out. Find your happy medium. Use your hands to mix the dough so you can get a feel of where you are at.
Once your dough is slightly sticky, but no longer a wet mess, turn it out on a floured countertop and knead for 2-3 minutes. You don’t need to knead it as long as bread dough, you are just looking to develop enough elasticity to successfully roll it out later.
Allow to sour at room temperature for 8-10 hours or overnight.
Preheat a skillet to medium-high heat. Divide the dough into 6-8 pieces, depending on your size preferences. If the dough is hard to handle at this point, you can either coat your countertop and hands with oil or knead a little unbleached, white flour into the dough.
Roll into a thin circle and carefully transfer to the skillet.
Cook for 15-40 seconds on each side. You’ll know it’s ready to flip when bubbles appear and the edges of the tortillas look “firm”.
Transfer to a plastic bag for storage in the fridge or freezer.
These are best if eaten or frozen within a day or two. If you keep them around much longer than that, they really dry out. To reheat, place them in a warm skillet for 10-20 seconds on each side. Microwaving usually equals a rubbery tortilla, so I steer away from that.
Our favorite way to eat these is in taco or burrito form- complete with grass-fed taco meat, homemade refried beans, sour cream, and lots of shredded cheese!
And sometimes if I’m craving something sweet, I’ll heat one, spread some butter and homemade jam inside and roll it up.
What are your favorite ways to eat tortillas?
This post is a part of Real Food Wednesday, Simple Lives Thursday, Monday Mania, Traditional Tuesday
AWESOME. I am trying to avoid added-yeast breads and stick with sourdough for as much as possible, and I have an awesome fresh WW sourdough started that I’m always looking for new recipes to try with!!
Brynna recently posted..Miscarriage: Sharing, Healing, and Celebrating Even the Shortest Little Lives
Wonderful- hope you like the recipe!
I’ve tried homemade tortillas before – once – without much luck. We too eat A LOT of them. I’ll have to give your recipe a go. Do you think you can keep the dough in the fridge and just make them when you want them? Though it sounds like you can also freeze them without drying out? Thanks for sharing!
Green Bean recently posted..Tilting at Windmills
I think that you could probably mix up the dough and let the souring process slowly take place in the fridge. It might give you an extra day or so, however, I think more than that might oversour the dough and cause it not to want to roll out. Also, if you do refrigerate it, I would suggest letting it warm to room temp before attempting to roll it out. Yes, you can definitely freeze them! They might not be *quite* as fluffy and soft upon reheating, but still delish.
Awesome!! We LOVE tortillas here at my house, I can’t wait to try this!
Jennifer recently posted..Welcome to FeedBurner
Can I use my homemade kefir in place of the sour dough starter?
Absolutely!
I just made whole wheat tortillas for the first time this past week. We loved them. Now I’ll need to try these. Thanks!!
Barefeet In The Kitchen recently posted..I’m Giving Away One Of My Favorite Things!
I can’t wait to try these! I’ve been not using my sourdough starter as much lately…too hot to bake!
One thing I love to make, I guess you’d call them tostadas. I fry the tortillas in butter on both sides then top with beans, taco meat, cheese and pico de gallo. Sour cream would be good too…I just always seem to be out when I make these! They are soooo yummy!
And, when nothing else sounds good or we’re in a hurry, we do quesadillas. I love to mix a bit of hot sauce in the sour cream and put that on top. MMMMM!
Dawn recently posted..What’s For Supper Wednesday: Tostadas de Alba
My mouth is watering Dawn- some great ideas! Mmmmmm.
Have you ever made Naan??? We like it better than tortillas, but know the packaged naan is terrible for you.
No, I’ve never tried Naan. Perhaps I should add it to my to-try list!
These look delicious and downright professional!! I am intrigued with the use of the sour dough and look forward to making a batch. I use tortillas mostly for ‘wraps’ (rolled sandwiches) instead of the typical Mexican burrito/tostada uses. I’m wondering if this recipe would make into pita-type flatbreads with a thicker roll out….or possibly a larger (and thinner) ‘lavosh’…..will give it a try and get back to you!
Julia recently posted..How to Create a Cookie Monster Cake
I think this recipe would definitely work for tha- Looking forward to hearing about your results!
Looks wonderful! We are going to so try these.
One of my superpowers? I could eat Mexican (or anything with a tortilla) every single day. Add fresh guacamole and it is golden. I will have to try these for sure.
Or, more appropriately, ask my wife to make them. She is the expert in the bread department, grinding her own grain and everything.
Making pitas is her new favorite. We love to dip them in hummus or just olive oil and herbs. And they make great mini pizza crusts, too.
I have yet to master the art of pita making. Soon… hopefully soon!
Great minds think alike! I just did a post on MY whole wheat sourdough tortilla recipe yesterday (http://thecheerfulagrarian.blogspot.com/2011/07/simple-whole-wheat-sourdough-tortillas.html)
I love your idea for rolling one up with butter and jam! We’ll have to try that sometime . . . soon . . . maybe now . . .
Must be the season for tortillas!!
Jill, is that photo of YOUR tortillas? How come mine never looks as pretty? I need to know your secret. I’m going to try your recipe soon!
Amy recently posted..Barn Hop #21
Yup, the pic is mine. Some batches are prettier than others! And, I may or may not have put all the round edges together for the photo, hehe.
These sound really yummy! Thanks for sharing the recipe.
~Lynn
Homesteading Chic recently posted..Around Our "Homestead"
Just happened upon your website looking for sourdough recipes. I look forward to trying out your tortilla recipe! I would love to receive the free grain soaking e-book. Thank you!
Do you have a good “recipe” for a sourdough starter and advice for how to keep it going?
Kristen, I hope to have a sourdough tutorial up here someday. But for now, I highly recommend the GNOWFGLINS Sourdough eCourse, (or you can just buy the eBook). I have taken then entire course and it helped me immensely.
Gosh- i don’t even know how i ended up here, but i think it was a google search for ww sourdough tortillas and your comment that your family loved these caught my eye
looking forward to searching around your site!!
Now i can’t wait to try these! my starter has been in the fridge for a week, so i need to revive it first. thanks for doing all the leg work for me!
I made these tonight and they were fabulous! I doubled the recipe using fresh ground soft spring wheat berries and olive oil for the butter, cooking them in a bit of oil too. I stuck them in my tortilla press and they were perfect. We have tried a few others but none hold a candle in texture or taste. I have one book that is the best of my best recipes and these tortillas are in it now! Thanks so much for a new treasured family favorite!
Jennifer- I just LOVE comments like this one! I am so happy that you enjoyed them, and I’m honored to be in your ‘best of the best’ book!
Blessings.
What if I don’t have a sourdough starter? What would be the best thing to do? Thanks
Hi Amanda,
I’ve only ever made this particular recipe with a starter, so I can’t quite say how to make it without one. However, I hope to post my regular ol’ tortilla recipe SOON!
Hi, Can I use yoghurt instead of sour dough?