These whole wheat tortilla’s are soft and full of flavor. My kids love these just as much as the “white” tortillas we typically make with all purpose flour. This recipe uses six simple ingredients and makes a tortilla that tastes so much better than anything you could buy from the store.
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Ingredients
- Whole wheat – we do not have a mill at this point in our lives, as much as one would be loved! For now the best we can do is buying the flour. One day, one day we will mill our own flours 😀
- Yogurt – this helps to soften the wheat thanks to the acidity and live bacteria within it. We make our yogurt by the gallon so we put it in everything. If you aren’t a fan of sour flavors, don’t worry! These whole wheat tortilla’s do not taste sour in the slightest.
- Salt – we love Redmond’s Real Salt. It’s delicious and packed full of minerals necessary to good health. It’s also an American company so you can feel good knowing your salt isn’t coming from thousands of miles away coming into contact with who knows what along the way.
- Yeast – this is optional, we’ve made these tortillas without any leavening agent and it’s delicious no matter what. In my opinion whole wheat doughs are best when given plenty of time to rest in between working it. This is where the yeast comes in and really helps develop the flavor of the dough. If you want you can substitute baking powder instead of yeast if you are in a hurry.
- Butter – you can also use lard, tallow or avocado oil.
- Water – warm, you want it to be almost too hot for you to comfortable put your finger in it. This will help melt the butter and helps the dough to soften.
how to make whole wheat tortillas
Start by combining your dry ingredients, flour, yeast, and salt in a medium to large mixing bowl. I recommend weighing out all ingredients instead of trusting the volume measurements. It’s so easy to over pack a cup of flour. Just know if you use more flour than the amount called for, you’ll end up with a tortilla chip, not a pliable, soft tortilla. (Ask me how I know, 😅) I use this scale for all my kitchen and soap making needs.
Cut the butter into cubes (the butter should be cold, straight from the fridge), toss that into the flour mixture and mix just enough to coat the butter with flour. Then add in the yogurt and your hot water. Stir to incorporate. Using your hands is much easier than trying to mix this dough up with a wooden spoon or dough hook. If you have a stand mixer, you can use that instead. It does make dough making much quicker.
Cover and let the dough rest for about an hour. It won’t double in size during this time, there’s not enough yeast for that. But it will puff out a bit. Turn the dough out onto a clean, lightly floured work surface. Divide the dough into 10-12 equal parts. That’ll be about 68g for ten tortillas or 57g for twelve.
Shape each piece into a ball and set aside they can rest for another 15 minutes up to 2 hours covered with a damp towel. Again, the more time you give the dough to rest in between working it, the better. To make sure you have plenty of time, start the dough in the morning.
Now, finally it’s time to get to cooking! Heat an 8″ cast iron skillet on the stove over medium heat for 2-3 minutes. Then place your rolled out dough onto the cast iron. A tortilla press is amazing for getting uniform, round tortillas every time, though it is a bit of an arm workout. We love this press, though you’ll want to generously flour it every time you put another dough ball in it, or simply line it with parchment paper. You can create a vacuum with the press that no amount of muscle will be able to pry open.
You do not need a tortilla press for this recipe or any other tortilla recipe. A rolling pin is sufficient. That’s what we used for several years before we broke down and finally bought a press 🙂
Cook the tortilla for 1-2 minutes on each side. Repeat until all the tortillas are cooked. Cover the cooked whole wheat tortillas until you are ready to serve. They are best, and softest when they are still warm.
If you have any questions feel free to drop them below and I’ll try to help you out best I can. And let me know if you try this recipe! I’d love to hear how it went for you 🙂
Happy cooking! 😊
Whole Wheat Tortillas
Ingredients
Method
- Combine flour, salt, and yeast in a medium mixing bowl.
- Add cut butter to the flour mixture and stir to coat.
- Pour in warm water and yogurt. Combine. The dough will be thick and sticky.
- Cover and let the dough rest for 1-2 hours.*
- Lightly flour a clean work surface and turn the dough out onto it. Divide the dough into 10-12 equal portions.* Shape each into a ball and set aside, covered for another 15 minutes up to 2 hours.
- Heat 8" cast iron skillet over medium heat for 2-5 minutes.
- Roll or press dough out into an 8" circle. Place rolled out dough onto cast iron and cook for 1-2 minutes. Flip and cook for another 30 seconds to a minute. Repeat until all tortillas are cooked.
- Cover the cooked tortillas with a dry towel and serve warm.
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