Homemade Corn Tortillas

I know... why bother with homemade corn tortillas when it's so much easier to buy the ones in the bag? First off, if you've never had a fresh corn tortilla before, you really don't know what you're missing. In terms of flavor and freshness, there's really no comparison. 

Also, with a lot of the bagged tortillas, there's preservatives, there's fillers, and other junk to keep them lasting longer on store shelves. And who wants any of that?

I'm not making any promises, but give these guys a shot and you might have a hard time going back to the bagged ones. They just might be the best tortillas you've ever had.

Homemade Corn Tortillas

No promises, but once you try homemade corn tortillas it will be hard to back to the bagged ones.

Yield: 8 tortillas

Ingredients

  • 1 cup masa harina

  • 2/3 cup warm water, plus a little extra

  • Pinch of salt


Instructions

  1. Add masa harina to a large bowl. Add a pinch of salt and pour in a little more than ⅔ of a cup of warm water. Mix with your hands until it comes together. The dough should feel like play-dough - slightly tacky to the touch, and light for it size. Not at all dry and crumbly. If it does feel dry, splash your fingers with some water and keep mixing. Repeat until it feels just right.

  2. Cover it up with some plastic wrap and let it sit at room temperature for at least a half-hour. This will give the dough a chance to come together and get more elastic.

  3. Pinch off about a ping-pong ball sized amount of dough. Roll it in your hands into a nice little ball. Place in the middle of a tortilla press lined with wax paper trimmed to size. You can also use parchment paper, or even plastic shopping bags.

  4. Press them in the tortilla press. Open it up and rotate the tortilla ¼ turn and press it again.

  5. Carefully peel away the wax paper from both sides and place into a large skillet that’s been heating over medium-high heat for 5 minutes. Cook for about 1 minute on each side, until they’re slightly browned and look cooked through. Wrap the cooked tortillas in a towel to keep them warm.

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