Homemade Flour Tortilla Shells

How to Make Your Own Flour Tortilla Shells

From start to finish, my time invested in these 16 flour tortilla shells was approximately an hour and a half. In the sense of time, was this worth the maybe $2 I saved on not purchasing them at the store ... ah, no! Will I make them again ... ah, yes! Definitely not an every time thing, but I can see myself tweaking these to make some great burritos like Pancheros. I get my inspiration from restaurants and then come home and keep working on recreating them, this is a big way we save money around here! There really is no reason you can't eat great food on a budget.

As for ingredients, these are way better for you! I used the recipe from The Cafe Sucre Farine. 

Homemade Flour Tortilla Shells

3 cups flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 cup warm water

Combine dry ingredients in mixing bowl. Using dough hook mix well. Add the oil and water. Mix at medium speed for 1 minute, scraping sides throughout. Mix for another minute or until dough forms a ball. Reduce speed to low and mix for one more minute. The dough will be smooth but fairly wet still. Turn the dough out onto a well floured work surface. Coat with flour. Divide dough into 16 equal pieces. Use the palm of your hands to form into balls and flatten slightly. Cover dough balls with towel and let them rest for 15 minutes. After rest time (this is for everybody, heehee), use a well floured rolling pin a roll dough into 6-7 inch tortilla shells. About half way through start preheating your dry, ungreased skillet to medium heat. Once all the shells are formed and your skillet is hot, cook one shell at a time. Cook for about 1 minute or until the shell begins to bubble. Flip and cook for an additional 30 seconds. You will end of with a soft shell with golden brown spots. WARNING: please do not let yourself be distracted while a shell in on the stove! ;-p Store in a sealed container at room temperature for 24 hours or refrigerate or freeze. Makes 16. 

Notice the bubbles ... it's time to flip

perfectly browned!

And no, they weren't all pretty! ;-p

This is an example of what happens when you get distracted! 

Cost Comparison - approximately $0.40 for 16 homemade shells VS. approximately $1 for 10 store bought shells