Easy Whole Wheat Tortillas

This month I've been experimenting quite a bit to make more things that I normally buy at the stores, in order to cut out more of the overly processed, sugar, and preservative filled foods. One thing we use often at our house is tortillas. For tacos, burritos, wraps, pb&j "sushi"- if there aren't some tortillas somewhere in our kitchen we just might not make it through the week! But buying the healthier whole wheat choices of tortillas at the stores is just more expensive and I can't even be sure when they say "100 % whole wheat" that it really is- not to mention, they aren't always nearly as tasty as the white tortillas.

I've wanted to learn how to make some good tortillas for a long time now but haven't been able to find a recipe where the tortilla actually folds like a torilla is supposed to. And I also wanted something that wasn't an insane amount of work- I mean, I'm already going to be making dinner and I do have kids to take care of too.

Well, I finally stumbled across a home made whole wheat tortilla recipe from a blog called 100 days of real food and not only are they super easy to make, they are super delicious in my opinion! (Actually the more recipes I try from this blog the more I love it- I will have to feature some other recipes I've tried from it soon.)

I made these tortillas with a friend who doesn't eat whole wheat as often as we do and so she was a little more suspicious that they would even taste as good- and she loved them too! So if you are in need of a good and easy whole wheat tortilla recipe too- look no further! Here it is:

Whole-Wheat Tortillas

SERVES: 12 TORTILLAS

INGREDIENTS

• 2½ cups whole-wheat flour (King Arthur’s white whole-wheat flour or your favorite whole wheat flour)
• ½ cup oil (I used avocado oil)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup warm water (heat in the microwave for 1 min)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. In the bowl of a heavy-duty mixer set with a dough hook, pour in the flour, oil and salt. Beat with the paddle until crumbly, about 3 to 5 minutes. Scrape the sides as needed. If your hand-held mixer comes with dough hooks those can be used as well.
2. With the mixer running, gradually add the warm water and continue mixing until the dough is smooth, about 3 minutes.
3. Take out the dough and divide it into 12 equal sized pieces. I do this by making the dough into a big log shape that is about 8 – 10 inches long. Then I cut it in the middle. Then I cut each of those pieces in the middle and so on until you have 12 pieces.
4. Using the palms of your hand roll each piece into a round ball and flatten it out on a baking tray or board. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest at room temperature for at least 15 minutes or up to one hour.
5. Heat a cast iron skillet, griddle or 12-inch skillet over med-high heat. The pan should be fairly hot before you begin cooking the tortillas.
6. On a lightly floured board or counter top, use a rolling pin to turn each ball into a 8 to 10 inch flat circle (measure against your recipe if printed on a 8.5X11 sheet of paper). Be careful not to use more than a teaspoon or two of flour when rolling out each ball into a tortilla because too much excess flour will burn in the pan.
7. Grease the pan with a touch of oil (or  and then carefully transfer each tortilla, one at a time, to the pan and cook until puffy and slightly brown, about 30 to 45 seconds per side. Set aside on a plate to cool slightly. Eat within an hour, refrigerate or freeze.

pita bread

 *notes
 when rolling your the pita balls make sure not to make them too thin, or they will not have the pocket, they will still be good just have no pockets.  also follow the directions well do not skip steps and they should turn out amazing, mine did.

Ingredients:

• 1 package of yeast, or quick rising yeast
• 1/2 cup warm water
• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 1 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
• 1 cup lukewarm water

Preparation:

Dissolve yeast in 1/2 cup of warm water. Add sugar and stir until dissolved. Let sit for 10-15 minutes until water is frothy.

Combine flour and salt in large bowl.

Make a small depression in the middle of flour and pour yeast water in depression.

Slowly add 1 cup of warm water, and stir with wooden spoon or rubber spatula until elastic.

Place dough on floured surface and knead for 10-15 minutes. When the dough is no longer sticky and is smooth and elastic, it has been successfully kneaded.

Coat large bowl with vegetable oil and place dough in bowl. Turn dough upside down so all of the dough is coated.

Allow to sit in a warm place for about 3 hours, or until it has doubled in size.

Once doubled, roll out in a rope, and pinch off 10-12 small pieces. Place balls on floured surface. Let sit covered for 10 minutes. Preheat oven to 500 deg F. and make sure rack is at the very bottom of oven. Be sure to also preheat your baking sheet.

Roll out each ball of dough with a rolling pin into circles. Each should be about 5-6 inches across and 1/4 inch thick.

Bake each circle for 4 minutes until the bread puffs up. Turn over and bake for 2 minutes.

Remove each pita with a spatula from the baking sheet and add additional pitas for baking.

Take spatula and gently push down puff. Immediately place in storage bags.

Storing Pita Bread

Pita bread can be stored for up to a week in a pantry or bread box, and up to a month in the freezer. Be sure to use freezer bags when storing in the freezer.
I got this recipe here.