There are many food items these days that we take for granted.  Tortillas are one such item.  They’re readily available, and they probably seem like they’d be hard to make.  Well I’m here to show you how easy they can be.  To make your own tortillas, you’ll need the following:

• 2 cups of Masa Harina, which is basically dried corn dough.
• 1 1/4 cups of water, plus a little extra
• Two sheets of wax paper or plastic (a freezer bag cut apart on the seam works great)
• Something with which to flatten them.  You can pick up a tortilla press, or just use anything with a large flat bottom.
• A pan to cook them.  The best pan for this is a cast-iron skillet of some kind, but you can get away with a normal frying pan.

To start, mix 1 1/4 cup of the water with the Masa Harina.  You can mix it with a spoon or spatula, but your hands work great too! When it comes together, you want to knead it until it’s the consistency of play-doh.  If it seems too dry, add a little water.  If it seems too wet, add a little more flour.  You want to use very small increments.

When you’re happy with the dough, split it up into pieces that are about the size of golf balls.  Keep the dough that you’re not working with covered or wrapped so it doesn’t dry out.

Place a ball of dough between the two sheets of plastic of wax paper.  If you’re using a press, place the whole packet into the press.  If you’re using a pan or dish to press, then place it on the surface where you’ll be pressing.  Either way, press and hold for several seconds to let the dough spread out fully.  If the edges break apart, you might need to add more water.  If the pressed tortilla doesn’t easily peel from the plastic, then you might need to add more Masa Harina.  You will probably need to experiment a bit to get this right–especially if you’re not using a tortilla press–but you can’t really go terribly wrong.  Now that it’s pressed just peel the top sheet, and then the bottom, from the tortilla.

You’ll want to place the tortilla right into your heated pan to cook, so it doesn’t dry out.

You’re looking at about two minutes for a tortilla to cook; about a minute on each side.  A good method for cooking these is to cook the first side for 30 seconds, then flip it and cook for 60 seconds.  Then flip it again and cook for 30 seconds.  After your second flip, it will usually puff up.  It’s done!

You’ll most likely get brown spots on them, this is normal!  When both sides are cooked, remove the tortilla from the pan and wrap it in some aluminum foil.  Then grab another ball and repeat.  This recipe should yield about a dozen tortillas.  You can make more or less by changing the size of the dough balls, but make sure the pressed tortillas will fit in your pan!

These are best used right away, but can be reheated after a couple of hours as long as they are kept wrapped up.  You’ve just made your own corn tortillas, good job!