Homemade Tortilla Shells

I have been making my own homemade tortilla shells for well over a year now. We prefer them hands down to any store bought shell out there. They are soft and flexible. The flavor is delicious, and best of all these don't upset my stomach as some of the commercial shells have been know to do.

I started with the recipe from Hillbilly Housewife and then modified it somewhat.

My recipes is this:

4 cups flour-usually it is 3 cups AP flour and one cup of wheat (hard or soft is fine in this recipe)

1 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 cup vegetable shortening

1 1/4 cups water (usually cold or cool)

Assemble your ingredients.

Add flour, salt and baking powder together in a bowl.

Whisk that up.

Add 1/2 cup shortening.

I mix it in with my fingers until I have little pea sized balls of shortening.

Add water and mix until a dough ball forms. Lay that out on a floured surface. Knead a few times and let rest 10 minutes.

Divide dough into 12 pieces.

Roll pieces into balls.

Lightly flour your work surface. I use a wood board. Flatten your ball into a disk. Flip the disk over, so that both sides are floured.

I use a tapered rolling pin with the sloped ends and no handles. It is easier for me to work the dough with one of these. I roll and turn the disk. If it sticks to the rolling pin I flip it to the other side.

Finally, into the ungreased 10 inch cast iron skillet the shell goes. I cook it on one side until it bubbles up some and is slightly browned.

Then I flip it to the other side. You can see the brown spots on this shell. This is what I strive for. If I don't focus, they get a little more done than I may like.

As each one finishes, I put them on a plate that is covered with a kitchen towel. This keeps them plenty warm.

Enjoy your shells with your favorite taco fixings. We like meat, tomatoes, lettuce, cheese, black olives, sour cream, taco sauce (or salsa) and onions. Well, I like the onions.

Blessings,

Jennie