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A Homemade Kitchen series includes recipes that feature homemade versions of your favorite store-bought meals, snacks, treats, condiments and more. Homemade is better for your budget, body, and taste buds.
Store-bought, packaged tortillas are a sad fare. They’re flavorless, practically textureless, and often times don’t add anything to the dish unless they’re fried. Once you’ve had homemade tortillas, it’s hard to go back to the bland store-bought variety. Homemade tortillas actually taste like something on your tongue. They have a remarkable texture which makes you want to get down on your knees and thank our ancestors who first invented flatbreads.
You might also want to thank our ancestors who first utilized spelt as a flour. Although tortillas have been traditionally made with maize, spelt makes these tortillas a health food. Spelt flour is easier to digest than wheat and is a fabulous source of fiber, protein, vitamin B12 and also of manganese, niacin, thiamin, and copper. Spelt actually has four times the fiber of whole wheat flour. It also has a lovely mild, sweet, nutty flavor and can be used in place of wheat flour in many recipes. It can be found at natural food and health food stores such as Whole Foods or wherever you buy your grains in bulk.
Have I sold you on spelt yet? Now, before you think you can’t make this recipe, think again. It can be made with white whole wheat flour which might be easier to find. But if you can find spelt, I highly recommend trying it out! Your body will thank you.
-
2
cups
(8 ounces) whole spelt flour or white whole wheat flour
-
1/2
teaspoon
salt
-
3
tablespoons
(1 1/4 ounces) vegetable oil
-
1/2
cup
warm water is using spelt flour, 2/3 cup warm water if using whole wheat flour
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Combine the flour and salt in a medium mixing bowl or food processor and mix together. Add the oil and mix into the flour thoroughly. Mix in the warm water (with the machine running, if using food processor). You’ll want a dough that’s soft, the spelt or whole grain flour will absorb liquid as it sits. Once the dough is mixed, let sit, covered, for 20 minutes.
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Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface, knead it a couple of times, and pat into an even disk. Cut the dough into 10-12 pieces, and roll each piece into a ball. Cover the balls with plastic wrap or a dish towel and let them rest for 20 minutes. If you have a tortilla press, use it to flatten each ball. If you’re rolling the tortillas by hand, take one of the balls and flatten into a small disk. Using a floured rolling pin on a lightly floured work surface, roll the tortillas into a very thin, flat round about 6-8 inches in diameter.
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Heat a heavy, ungreased griddle over medium-high heat. Toss a tortilla onto the griddle and let it heat on one side for about 1 minute, until it begins to brown in spots, then use tongs to lift and flip the tortilla to bake it on other side, about 1 minute. While the first tortilla is baking, roll the second one out. Transfer the baked tortilla to a plate and toss the next tortilla onto griddle. Repeat until all tortillas are rolled and baked. You may stack the tortillas and cover them with a towel to keep them soft and warm until you’re ready to use. You may also refrigerate tortillas for up to 1 week or freeze tortillas in an airtight container for up to 2 months.
I don’t get the recipe, you say 2 cups of flour (8 oz.)
2 cups of flour equals 16 oz.
puzzled.
Hi Susan! This recipe is very old and one of the first Tessa created on this blog, and she uses grams these days for better accuracy – but 1 cup of whole wheat flour = 113 grams or 4 ounces, so for this recipe, 8 ounces of flour is accurate. Learn more about measuring flour here.
Can I use olive oil instead of vegetable oil?
Thanks
Hi Susan! We can’t say for sure as we have not tried this, but it may work just fine. Olive oil will also change the flavor as it does carry a more savory flavor, so just be aware of that, too 🙂
Hi,
Could you please advise. My tortillas came out more like a chip. They are not soft and crack when folded. If I reheat them, it is a little better, but they soon crack.
Admittedly, I used sunflower oil. What is the texture of the dough? Mine was stiff. Should the dough be moist? Next time I could try to weigh the flour. Do you have a video on the whole wheat tortilla? I saw the one for the other recipe you have.
I gave the recipe 5 stars because the flavor was lovely.
I changed the oil since I’m trying to boost nutrition for someone re diagnosed with breast cancer.
Thank you for any advice
Hi Deborah. While we haven’t used sunflower oil, it should be fine in this recipe. This recipe was actually created in 2011, prior to when Tessa created videos for her recipes, so unfortunately, we do not have one. I would suggest weighing the flour next time like you said, but you could also try making slightly thicker tortillas or baking for a bit less time. I hope that helps! Please let us know how it goes the next time 🙂
These really are better than the ones at the store, and they aren’t that hard to make.
Glad you enjoyed them!
Is this using 2 cups(16oz) or 1 cup (8oz) of flour?
Hi Jess! This recipe uses 2 cups of flour, or 8 ounces total. Keep in mind that different types of ingredients weigh different amounts! Please check out our article How to Measure Flour, where Tessa discusses this very topic 🙂 Hope that helps!
do you have the nutrition breakdown for this recipe? I can’t wait to make these!
thank you
Thank you, Tessa! I prepared these tortillas yesterday, and they turned out great. Delicious taste and perfect texture. I’ve tried so many healthy tortilla recipes and always failed. I’m going to follow yours from now on. 🙂
So happy these were a hit!
This was perfect for my Daniel Fast! Perfect size and everything, thank you so much for posting this recipe!
Easy recipe, quick (once you’ve done it a couple of times), and delicious! Thank you for this. Only thing I might add is that it helps to have floured hands when kneading as well as a floured surface, because at least for me, the dough stuck a bit to my hands.
I’d like to use avocado oil or olive oil. Thoughts?
I used olive oil – it worked beautifully, and the tortillas were delicious!
Is there whole grain or is wheat the same I don’t understand? I just just wanted whole grain, Thank you
I made these and wrote about them here. Thank you for sharing the recipe!
I've made whole grain spelt tortillas and always have trouble with them being too hard and brittle when I go to reheat them. I want to use them as a wrap. I've tried, olive oil, canola oil, and coconut oil. I cook them in a cast iron skillet. The tortillas look like yours, so the temp is most likely the same. Do you think it's necessary to use a lower flame to cook them.or try butter or some other oil?
I just made these last night and they are amazing!!! My husband and I decided we will never again buy tortillas! Thank you for the great recipe!
Fantastic! I'm so happy you enjoyed the recipe.
I've made these three times now with the white whole wheat flour, and they are soo delicious!! They beat store bought tortillas any day, and they have no preservatives or other weird ingredients!
That's why i love them! Glad you like them too 🙂
I just made these and they came out so good! Thanks!
It might be a silly question but… I store it in the fridge cooked or uncooked? If cooked, how do I warm it later?
Tried them this evening using spelt flour, and we absolutely loved them. MUCH better than store bought!
So glad you liked them!!
Tried them this evening using spelt flour, and we absolutely loved them. MUCH better than store bought!
I've been searching for new recipes for breads that don't require the oven since it's too hot to bake! Thanks for this 🙂
Never knew about spelt flour before thanks for that. Just wanted to point out that a Wheat Tortilla is the same thing as Indian flatbread called 'chapati' or 'roti'. Cheers.
whole wheat tortillas are my favorite. Can't wait to try this recipe!
Oh, these are very exciting! I can actually get spelt flour where I am, and this seems like the perfect way to break my 'defrost a frozen pitta bread in the toaster' habit.
-Sarah
Mmm, I love this. I make my own flour and corn tortillas because there really is no comparison but I never thought to try spelt. Awesome! Can't wait to try it 🙂
I've made tortillas before, but didn't love the recipe – the dough was tough to work with, and the result wasn't ideal. I will absolutely be making these however, because they look great! I've baked with spelt flour with fantastic results… but I didn't know it had so much more fiber than whole wheat flour. That is impressive!
Ooo I love making things at home that I would normally buy, because everything I've made so far is so much better than in stores! Can't wait to try these
can't wait to try these. so glad they don't have lard in them
I have tried making tortillas with whole wheat spelt flour mixed with maize…Well…it was just not pretty nor good at all 😀 And was soo thick and hard! But yours seem like a recipe worth trying! Even though that last attempt made me shy away from home made tortillas…
This is awesome! have a great weekend!