Soft Fresh Milled Flour Tortillas with Sourdough Discard
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I’m here to learn you how to make the softest and most delicious fresh milled flour tortillas with sourdough discard. This recipe is adapted from my absolute favorite recipe from Lovely Bell Bakes. She has THE BEST tortilla recipe ever… so if you don’t want to use sourdough discard, grab her recipe here (and check out the rest of her fresh milled recipes… especially the garlic knots… divine!)
Because I’m better than you.
Diving into the world of fresh milled flour can be overwhelming at first and a learning curve, but I absolutely promise you that once working with fresh flour “clicks” you won’t ever go back. The flavor, texture, and nutrition is a hard thing to give up.
AND. Milling your own flour just becomes and extra step and really isn’t a whole bunch of work added to making and baking. Honest! You might think that homemade tortillas are delicious even with dead flour, which they are, but you gotta try fresh milled tortillas with sourdough discard because they’re next level!
What wheat variety is best for tortillas?
I prefer to use a hard variety, like hard white wheat for my homemade tortillas with sourdough discard. I’ve not found a method yet that works great with the ancient grains, but I’m working on it. It’s just hard to do a bunch of testing and trial and error since einkorn can be a little pricey!
I purchase hard white wheat berries by the 50 pound bag, which I can order in locally at my Amish bulk food stores from Stutzman farms or Prairie Gold, whichever they can get. And buying 100-150 pounds at a time saves me money!
The higher protein in hard wheat varieties lends toward a more stretchy and elastic dough as opposed to a soft wheat variety. This allows to you roll the dough very thin if needed!
Let’s roll out some fresh milled flour tortillas with sourdough discard!
Equipment You Might Want
- Grain Mill
- Stand Mixer with Dough Hook
- Bench Scraper
- Tortilla Press
- Cast Iron Pan
Ingredients
- 350 g fresh milled hard white wheat flour
- 216 g hot water
- 112 g sourdough discard
- 8 g salt
- 4 g baking powder
- 61 g melted lard
Step 1: Mix the Dough
Measure out the hard white wheat berries by weight and mill them on the finest setting on your grain mill.
Add all ingredients to the bowl of your stand mixer, mixing with the dough hook just until the flour is all moistened. Shut off mixer and allow dough to rest 15 minutes to rehydrate.
After rest, knead for about 5-8 minutes, or until the dough is smooth. It should feel a little tacky when you touch it and stick to the bottom of the bowl, but not the sides. Don’t add more flour unless you absolutely have to.
Once kneaded and smooth, turn out onto a lightly flour surface and cut the ball into 12 equal pieces. Roll into tight balls, cover with a towel, and allow to rest 20 minutes.
Step 2: Make the Tortillas
While the dough rests, preheat your cast iron pan on low heat. Do NOT add oil; you want a dry pan.
After resting period, flatten tortillas using your tortilla press or a rolling pin to the size of your choosing.
Add tortillas to your hot cast iron pan one at a time, cooking about 1 minute per side, or til the top starts to bubble.
Place a tea towel centered on a plate and add the tortillas as you cook them, wrapping in the towel to keep them warm and from drying out.
To Store:
Store fresh tortillas wrapped in the towel and warm for a few hours on the counter, or in a airtight container in the refrigerator to use in about 1-2 weeks, or freeze for longer shelf life.
To use after refrigeration or freezing, warm gently in a cast iron pan to make the tortillas warm and flexible again before serving. Enjoy!
Notes:
To make this recipe with all purpose flour, start with about 100g less flour than what this recipe calls for and add until you get the right dough consistency. Since dead flour rehydrates instantly, it’s easy to tell how much to add as opposed to fresh milled, which needs time to rehydrate. Do not expect the product to be identical to fresh milled flour, though.
If you would like to ferment these sourdough tortillas, simply mix all the ingredients except the baking powder together, cover and allow to counter ferment for 2-4 hours OR fridge ferment overnight (no more than 12 hours). Fresh milled flour ferments much faster than dead flour, so don’t leave it on the counter for a very long time.
And that’s how you make fresh milled flour sourdough discard tortillas!
If you’re just starting out using fresh milled flour, be sure and check out my other fresh milled flour recipes. They’re easy and tested by ME!
Equipment
- Stand Mixer with Dough Hook
- bench scraper
- Cast Iron Pan
Ingredients
- 350 g fresh milled hard white wheat flour
- 216 g hot water
- 112 g sourdough discard
- 8 g salt
- 4 g baking powder
- 61 g melted lard
Instructions
- Measure out the hard white wheat berries by weight and mill them on the finest setting on your grain mill.
- Add all ingredients to the bowl of your stand mixer, mixing with the dough hook just until the flour is all moistened. Shut off mixer and allow dough to rest 15 minutes to rehydrate.
- After rest, knead for about 5-8 minutes, or until the dough is smooth. It should feel a little tacky when you touch it and stick to the bottom of the bowl, but not the sides. Don’t add more flour unless you absolutely have to.
- Once kneaded and smooth, turn out onto a lightly flour surface and cut the ball into 12 equal pieces. Roll into tight balls, cover with a towel, and allow to rest 20 minutes.
- Step 2: Make the Tortillas
- While the dough rests, preheat your cast iron pan on low heat. Do NOT add oil; you want a dry pan.
- After resting period, flatten tortillas using your tortilla press or a rolling pin to the size of your choosing.
- Add tortillas to your hot cast iron pan one at a time, cooking about 1 minute per side, or til the top starts to bubble.
- Place a tea towel centered on a plate and add the tortillas as you cook them, wrapping in the towel to keep them warm and from drying out.
- To Store:
- Store fresh tortillas wrapped in the towel and warm for a few hours on the counter, or in a airtight container in the refrigerator to use in about 1-2 weeks, or freeze for longer shelf life.
- To use after refrigeration or freezing, warm gently in a cast iron pan to make the tortillas warm and flexible again before serving. Enjoy!
