Homemade Corn Tortillas (With Masa Harina)
Learn to make soft homemade corn tortillas from scratch! These are made with masa harina flour & are perfect for tacos.
Servings: 10 Tortillas
Equipment
- Tortilla Press
- Mixing Bowl
- Large Frying Pan
Ingredients
- 150 g Masa Harina Flour (See Notes)
- ½ tsp Table Salt
- Warm Water (See Notes)
Instructions
Tortilla Dough
- Place the masa harina flour & salt into a mixing bowl then whisk to combine.
- Add 120 grams of water water into the flour then mix with your hands to form a rough dough. If the dough seems dry or won't come together, add in more warm water, a small amount at a time.
- Knead the dough by hand (keeping it in the bowl), until smooth & no longer sticky. This will take at least 5 minutes. The dough should feel like Play-Doh!
- Cover the bowl with clingfilm (or a tea towel) then leave to rest for 20 minutes.
Dividing The Dough
- Whilst the dough is resting, cut out several squares of baking parchment. They need to be slightly larger than the width of your tortilla press. You can also use a plastic freezer bag, that has been cut in half, to make 2 sheets.
- Just before your dough has finished resting, place a large frying pan over a medium-high heat & leave to heat up whilst you shape the dough.
- Once rested, divide the dough into 10 pieces, each weighing roughly 35 grams then roll into balls & place onto a baking tray, covered with a damp towel.
Pressing
- Next, open up your tortilla press & lay a square of baking parchment on the bottom. Place a ball of dough in the middle, press it down lightly with your fingers then lay another sheet of parchment on top. Close the tortilla press & press down gently, to flatten.
- Open up the tortilla press & turn the tortilla dough 180 degrees. Close the press & press again, to flatten the tortilla to an even thickness of roughly 2mm.
Cooking
- Carefully peel the parchment from the tortilla then place into the hot frying pan. Cook for 10 seconds then flip over with a spatula. Cook for 1 minute on each side, until lightly toasted. You should see the tortilla start to puff up after the final flip.
- Transfer the cooked tortilla to a tortilla warmer or wrap in a tea towel, to keep warm.
- Repeat the cooking process with the remaining dough, making sure to let the pan heat back up properly between each tortilla. Depending on the size of your frying pan, you may be able to cook several tortillas at once.
Notes
1. Masa Harina Flour - This is a type of flour, made from dried corn that is traditionally used to make tortillas. I used white masa harina but blue or yellow can be used as well. Keep in mind that the flavours of each flour differ slightly & may need a slightly different amount of water, to hydrate. This is why we start with a smaller amount of water when making the dough.
2. Tortilla Press - Using a tortilla press is by far the easiest & quickest way of pressing the dough to the correct thickness. Tortilla presses are available to buy online! If you haven't got one, you can use a heavy skillet/pan to press the tortillas instead.
3. Water - Tortilla dough is best made with warm water. Aim for a temperature of around 38°c/100°f. To avoid adding too much water, it's best to start off why 120 grams then add in more as needed.
4. Frying - It's important that your frying pan is nice & hot before cooking the tortillas. This is key to getting the lightly charred spots on the tortillas. If the dough starts to brown too much, turn the heat down to medium.
5. Storage - Corn tortillas are best served fresh but any leftovers should be stored in an airtight container & reheated in a frying pan. Leftovers will keep for a day or two.
6. Reheating - To reheat leftover tortillas, heat a frying pan up over a medium-low heat then cook the tortillas for a minute on each side.
If you like, the tortillas can also be shallow fried in oil, until crisp. To do this, place a frying pan over a medium heat, add in a 5mm deep layer of oil then leave to get hot. Cook the tortillas for 30-45 seconds on each side then leave to drain before serving.