The gluten free flour tortillas from GFOAS Bakes Bread have long been not just a favorite of mine to eat, but a relief, to be honest. I just adore soft tacos, enchiladas, and just wraps. Way back before my husband and I were married, much less had children, we lived in Manhattan and there was this tiny little counter-style restaurant that sold just the very best wraps. My favorite was a vegetarian wrap, packed with every sort of julienned vegetable and the best hummus I ever tasted—before or since. If I thought I couldn’t ever have that again, just because I eat gluten free in solidarity with my sweet gluten free son, I could of course live a happy life. We’re not talking life or death, clearly. But it would nag at me. It’s that nagging feeling, that I wish I could enjoy something again, or share it with my son, that motivates me to develop gluten free recipes of all kinds. If I feel that way, maybe you do, too. So the next step in my love of wraps and enchiladas and burritos and everything in between is, of course, these soft Paleo flour tortillas. I’d tried and failed spectacularly in the past, but finally … eureka!
They’re soft and they bend … and they even freeze and defrost beautifully. Imagine that!
I don’t ever expect to roll them quite as thin as I can their rice flour-based counterpart, but it doesn’t matter one bit. They still bend. The dough is, indeed, a bit more delicate. Just follow my instructions carefully, use the proper ingredients (you must use the proper type of blanched almond flour and tapioca starch!), and don’t overthink the whole business. I promise they will turn out.
See for yourself, friends. Just because we’re gluten free, and now just because you’re Paleo, doesn’t mean you can’t have it all!
1 1/4 cups (140 g) blanched almond flour*
1 1/2 cups (180 g) tapioca starch/flour**, plus more for sprinkling
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons (24 g) nonhydrogenated vegetable shortening, melted and cooled
2 egg whites (60 g), at room temperature
3/8 to 1/2 cup (3 to 4 fluid ounces) warm water
*I recommend using Honeyville brand or Nuts.com brand for a finely ground, blanched almond flour (not almond meal).
**I only recommend buying tapioca starch/flour from Nuts.com or Authentic Foods. Bob’s Red Mill tapioca starch is of inconsistent quality. Do not buy tapioca starch/flour from the Asian food store as it is frequently contaminated.
Make the dough. In a large bowl, place the almond flour, tapioca starch/flour, salt and baking soda, and whisk to combine well. Create a well in the center of the dry ingredients, and add the melted shortening, egg whites and 3 fluid ounces warm water, mixing to combine after each addition. The dough should come together and be thick but relatively soft. Add more water by the teaspoonful, if necessary to bring the dough together. Press the dough into a disk, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and allow it to sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes, and up to 1 day.
Divide the dough. When the dough is ready to handle, heat a cast iron skillet or tortilla pan over medium-low heat until hot. Divide the dough into 6 pieces, about 80 grams each, and roll each into a ball. Remove one piece of dough to shape at a time, and cover the others with plastic wrap or a tea towel to prevent them from drying out.
Shape and cook the tortillas. Onto a flat surface sprinkled lightly with tapioca starch/flour, place one ball of dough. Sprinkle the top of the dough generously with more tapioca starch/flour and roll the dough out with a rolling pin, moving it frequently, into an approximate round about 7 or 8 inches in diameter. Using a 6-inch cake cutter or the lid of a pot about the same size, cut out a proper 6-inch round. Remove the scraps and set them aside. Carefully slide a metal spatula under the round of dough on all edges to free it from the surface. If any portion of the dough tears, simply press it back together with your fingers. Again using the metal spatula, carefully lift the round of dough to the hot skillet, and place the dough on the skillet. Allow the tortilla to cook until bubbles form on the underside (about 1 minute). Using a wide, flat spatula, flip the tortilla over and continue to cook on the other side until set (less than a minute). Remove the tortilla from the skillet and wrap in a tea towel to keep warm.
Return to the raw dough, gather the scraps from the first ball and combine them with the second ball of dough. Repeat the process. Eventually (perhaps after the third ball), you will be able to make extra tortillas using scraps. You should have 8 tortillas total (sometimes I even get 9).
Serving/Storing. Keep the tortillas covered until ready to use. You can refresh them before serving by placing them in a hot skillet for about 10 seconds on each side. Cooled tortillas can also be stacked and wrapped tightly in freezer-safe wrap, then frozen for at least a month. Defrost on the counter or in the refrigerator overnight, and refresh in a hot skillet before serving.
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