Flour Tortillas with Bacon Fat
These flour tortillas with bacon fat are homemade with just flour, bacon drippings, butter, buttermilk, baking powder, and salt. And they turn out extraordinarily soft, supple, and ever so slightly smoky. Not to mention frugal. We think you can understand why we're swooning.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons bacon drippings
- 2 tablespoons (1 oz) unsalted butter
- 2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for the work surface
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 3/4 cup buttermilk, either low-fat or full-fat
Instructions
- Combine the bacon drippings and butter in a pot and cook over medium-low heat until both are melted. Remove from the heat.
- In a bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Pour in the melted fat mixture and stir with a fork or pastry blender until the flour mixture is crumbly. Pour in the buttermilk and stir until a soft, sticky dough forms.
- Plop the dough on a lightly floured surface and knead, using lightly floured hands if the dough is sticky, until the dough is firm and smooth, about 2 minutes.
- Cover the dough and let it rest at room temperature for an hour.
- Divide the dough into 8 pieces and roll each piece into a ball. Working with 1 portion of dough at a time, place it on a lightly floured surface, pat it out into a 4-inch circle using your hands, and then roll it with a palote or rolling pin, from the center out and rotating it 1/4 turn each time you roll, until the tortilla is thin and about 8 inches in diameter. Keep the rolled-out tortillas covered, side by side, until you’re ready to cook.
☞ TESTER TIP: To save time, it helps to get into the rhythm of having a tortilla cook in the skillet as you’re rolling out another.
- In a dry cast-iron skillet heated over medium-high heat, cook each tortilla for 30 seconds on one side, flip it, and then cook for 1 minute on the other side. It should start to puff a bit. Flip it again and cook for 30 more seconds. You may need to turn down the heat a notch if the skillet seems to be cooking the tortillas too quickly.
- Toss the cooked tortilla on a plate and cover it with a cloth until you’re ready to eat.
Nutrition
Serving: 1tortilla | Calories: 186kcal | Carbohydrates: 25g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 14mg | Sodium: 129mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g