Sourdough Whole Wheat Tortillas (Plan for Breakfast Burritos, People!)

Spending lots of time at home continues, as does more and more bread baking--hopefully sourdough bread! I did a previous post a while back on ways to use extra sourdough starer, by making sourdough pancakes, and I hope that you get to make lots of these tasty cakes topped with your favorite summer berries right about now. But if you are looking for more recipes to use your sourdough discard and, even better, a way to get your sourdough fix without turning on your oven in the summer heat, then this recipe is perfect. I absolutely love flour tortillas and, though we usually make corn tortillas for our go-to taco shell, sometimes a soft and chewy flour tortilla is what you want.  Much like so many other foods we love, the store-bought versions of tortillas tend to be sub-par, both in quality and  ingredients, so I usually like to make my own.

While corn tortillas may make a faster weeknight dinner, flour tortillas could be the perfect weekend cooking project. You could throw together a Sunday morning breakfast burrito bar or just make up a double batch to eat throughout the week. To be sure, the extra time and effort with fermentation and rolling is so worth it.

I played around with a few versions of sourdough tortillas, tweaking until I found one we loved. If you are interested, my version is adapted from recipes on the Ashley Marie Farm and Bakery and Butter for All blogs....both of those are amazing, so go check them out! In this version of homemade flour tortillas, you get the benefits of whole wheat, full of fiber and minerals like zinc and magnesium, along with the benefits of naturally-fermented grains by making these using sourdough starter. The addition of sourdough allows fermentation of the wheat for improved nutrient bioavailability and digestibility. I do toss in some unbleached white or high extraction flour to lighten these up, making them less dense and keeping a bit of that nostalgic tortilla flavor I dream of, but feel free to use all whole wheat here (or all white if you are feeling wild).

The other ingredient that really makes these tortillas stand apart from pre-made versions is the use of lard as the fat in the recipe, while commercial flour tortillas will use refined, processed oils such as soybean or canola. Lard provides a flaky texture that crisps up nicely when griddle-cooked (think the best quesadillas ever), plus it adds awesome flavor and a healthy fat profile. It is traditional to use lard in flour tortillas, but so many people have gone away from using this amazing animal fat in their cooking that real tortillas can be hard to find these days. If you haven't used lard in your cooking, this is a great recipe to start with. Check this post out that I wrote for the Mother Earth News blog to learn how to render your own lard at home!

In addition to the lard, I added in a bit of avocado oil as well, as the liquid oil lends flexibility in the tortillas. I tried some versions with all lard but they were so ricj and flaky that they bordered on pastry-like (which was delicious, I must say). This meant they weren't as pliable as I wanted, so I swapped out a bit of lard for avocado oil; you could use other liquid oil such as olive oil, but I like the high heat tolerance of avocado oil and its neutral flavor, letting the freshly ground wheat and home-rendered lard flavors shine.

Home-rendered lard for the tortillas...this batch was made from lamb

Once you make these tasty wrappers, you can fill with whatever you like. Flour tortillas wrapped in shredded pork or sliced steak along with sauteed onions and peppers make a superb fajita, or fill with beans and cheese for a throwback burrito. My favorite has got to be soft scrambled eggs, bacon, cheese, and avocado for a killer breakfast burrito or taco, but I am sure you will find your favorite after you make these enough times!

Sourdough Whole Wheat Tortillas with Lard
Makes 12 burritos-sized or 18 taco-sized tortillas--feel free to double or triple for a mega tortilla batch!

1/2 cup bubbly, active sourdough starter
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup unbleached white flour or high-extraction flour
1 1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 cup lard
2 Tbs avocado oil
1/2 cup warm water (around 80 degrees F)

The evening before you plan to make your tortillas (or 6-8 hours prior to making them), feed your sourdough starter so that is active and ready to use in the morning.

To make your tortillas, combine the flours and sea salt in a mixing bowl and stir well to combine.

Cut in the cold lard, similarly to making a pie crust, using a fork or pastry cutter to combine the lard with the flour to create a wet sand-like texture. Be careful not to over-mix here.

Add in the active starter, avocado oil and warm water, and stir to combine. You will have a dough that is sticky and quite wet, but it will get less sticky as it ferments. Mix well to create a smooth dough, but do not knead the dough, as you want the end result to not be tough or chewy.

Place in a bowl and cover with a cloth. Let sit at room temperature for at least 8 hours, up to 12 hours. Cover the bowl with a lid and transfer the fermented dough to the fridge to cold ferment overnight, or at least 4-6 hours.

To cook the tortillas, remove from the fridge and divide into either 12 or 18 evenly-sized pieces, depending on how big you would like your tortillas to be. Roll each piece of dough into a ball and set aside.

Preheat your cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Prepare each tortilla for cooking by generously flouring your surface and rolling out a dough ball into a circle, about 1/8" thickness. Cook in the preheated skillet for 30-60 seconds per side. It should have some nice bubbles and a bit of browning when it is done cooking. Remove from the skillet and repeat with the rest of the tortillas. I like to roll one out while the other cooks, speeding up the process quite a bit.

If you plan to serve these right away, keep warm by wrapping in a tea towel or store in a tortilla warmer until ready to serve.

To store, keep in an airtight bag in the fridge, where they will stay fresh for up to a week. You can also make a larger batch and store in the freezer for longer-term storage, up to a few months.