How to make perfect homemade flour tortillas that actually stay soft

Homemade flour tortillas that stay soft have evaded me for forever; but after some experimentation and trial and error, I’ve cracked the code for super soft tasty tortillas that stay pliable using some good science and fresh milled soft wheat.

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My family is not a fan of the corn tortilla, so we’ve always bought flour tortillas for taco night. I don’t love that they usually contain seed oils and many have trashy ingredients that keep the tortillas fresh for…well, too long. I don’t want to think about that. And the non-trashy organic ones kind of taste stale and cardboardy (see my rant on pita bread for similar thoughts).

Still, I’ve continued to buy packaged tortillas because I couldn’t crack this silly flatbread. All of my attempts for years have turned out perfectly tasty tortillas but ones that turned stiff after cooling down. And since tortillas are so very flat, that’s too short of a time window for freshness. Worse still, far too many homemade tortilla recipes contain egregious amounts of fat which just make them, well, oily. I don’t want oil bread; I want a bread that stays soft.

I will struggle no more my friends. Come make proper stay soft tortillas with me.

Perfect Homemade Flour Tortillas

What makes these homemade flour tortillas work

1. The science of boiling water: Adding boiling water to part of the flour partially cooks the starches in the flour, which forms bonds between water and starch that helps the starch hold onto that water in a way that it cannot with cooler water. This in turn makes for a softer dough. The same principle is in play in the potato based dough of Moravian Sugar cake and potato garlic knots, and the cooked flour paste in buttermilk milk bread rolls.
2. Lard or other animal fat: Lard makes for more pliable dough period. This is something I’ve discovered in almost 20 years of making apple strudel, and it’s no different here. It adds flavor and flakiness in addition to the softness and pliability. If lard weirds you out (it shouldn’t, especially if you render lard at home), then use good tallow or duck fat. I made this batch with duck fat, and they’re lovely.
3. Soft wheat: the addition of soft wheat lowers the gluten content in these tortillas, making them more tender. I mill my soft wheat from soft wheat berries, but you can also use whole wheat pastry flour if you don’t have a grain mill (see my advice on milling flour at home if you’re interested in milling).

Equipment you need to make tortillas

1. Cast iron pan or griddle: a pan that gets hot and stays hot is ideal. It’s hard to beat cast iron for this. I always pull out my cast iron griddle for this since I can bake 2 tortillas at a time.
2. Rolling pin: You can anything here, but I really like my ridged lefse rolling pin. The ridges really help push out the dough efficiently. It’s not necessary though. My favorite little rolling pin I use for pita bread is just as good, but they’re both better with #3.
3. Rolling pin cover: This little sock covers over the wood on a rolling pin. When you lightly flour the cover, the dough will not stick to the surface. This keeps you from adding too much flour to your tortillas and making them floury. I’ve not tried the rolling pin cover with pita yet, but I imagine that it will help considerably in the same way.
4. Bowl scraper: a little flexible dough scraper is a fantastic tool for helping you bring the dough together. It will keep the sticky dough off your hands while allowing you to squish the lard dough and the boiling water dough together into one cohesive dough. If you don’t have one, get 3; you’ll use them every day you bake for so many things.

Tricks for getting perfect tortillas every time

1. Set up your zone: Keep a clean towel near your hot griddle. Roll out the tortillas on a counter as near to the griddle as possible. After a couple rounds of rolling and cooking tortillas, you’ll get a sense of the timing and you can roll and cook at the same time. It’s amazing how quickly you’ll develop an instinct for this.
2. Let your dough rest: Before you start rolling, ball up your portions of tortilla dough and cover them to rest. Rested dough is much easier to work with as the gluten will be relaxed enough that you can roll out the dough easily.
3. Roll 2 pieces of dough at a time: roll one piece of dough just until it starts resisting, and then do the same to the second piece of dough. By working back and forth between the dough, you’re letting the dough relax when you go to that second piece of dough. This lets the gluten in the tortilla relax enough to roll the dough thinner without it tearing or seizing up on you. We don’t make tough tortillas here!
4. Don’t overcook: Just look for a few light brown spots on both sides. If you start to see black or get dark edges, lower your heat and cook the next ones less. Overcooked tortillas will not stay as soft as the ones that are just cooked through.
5. Stack hot tortillas: just like with pita bread, stack up the finished breads in a kitchen towel. Stacking them helps them steam, which also keeps them softer longer. You can plop the stack of tortillas on a sheet tray in a 200 F oven to keep them warm before serving.

How to enjoy your homemade flour tortillas

1. Breakfast burritos: we have a breakfast burrito place near us, but most of the time I have everything on hand to make better burritos my kids love getting before their homeschool work. Now that I’ve got these tortillas ready to go, piling on homemade crispy potatoes, fresh sausage, eggs, pico de gallo, and guacamole is much more appealing than the drive through.
2. Tacos: These tortillas will make every taco filling better.
3. Freezer: Pop these in a bag and put them in the freezer for fresh tortillas any time. My daughter loves microwaving them for a few seconds and eating them with butter.

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