The art making of gluten free bread as always alluded me and unfortunately most of my attempts have ended in complete and utter disaster; so recently I’ve been trying to come of up with easy bread recipes to try and tackle my fear of making gluten free bread.

After a bit of thinking I thought that flatbreads would be a good place to start as they don’t need rise, eliminating many potential problems you find getting  gluten free bread to work – starting with flatbreads definitely made me feel much less daunted!

After a bit of research I decided to trying gluten free Tortilas after reading about an ingredient  called Masa Harina, a gluten free flour which is used in Mexico and South America to make Corn Tortillas.

Masa Harina is a type of cornflour, but it is very different from the cornflour you can buy in supermarkets here in the UK.

Masa Harina is made from corn kernels which have been soaked in limewater, this helps the corn to soften before it is ground into flour. As a result this flour can be made into a dough which is very malleable and easy to handle – Ideal for Tortillas!

So far, so good – the only problem is that Masa Harina is quite difficult to find here in the UK as it’s not readily available in supermarkets. I picked some up for £2.60 on my most recent trip to Borough Market, from Cool Chile Co who sell Mexican cooking supplies – good news for all you fellow Londoners, but if you live outside of London your best bet is to buy it online.

Making these Tortillas is incredibly simple – all you need to do is mix the flour with some water and a pinch of salt, then knead it into a dough.

I don’t own a Tortilla press so I rolled the dough into small balls and used a heavy pan to flatten them into round discs before frying them lightly on each side.

The Tortillas were strong enough to hold their filling and didn’t begin to disintegrate on contact with hot food, they were also pliable enough to be folded up properly.

I was very impressed with my first attempt at homemade Tortillas and was so happy to be able to try out an authentic and traditional way of making them without the stress of having to adapt the recipe to be gluten free!

They tasted amazing and I will definitely be making these again (despite the fact that getting hold of Masa Harina is a little difficult) because now I’ve tasted these these, I don’t think I could ever go back to shop bought!

Gluten Free Corn Tortillas Recipe
(Makes approximately 12 small Tortillas or 6 large Tortillas)

Gluten Free/Dairy Free/Egg Free

Ingredients:
150g Masa Harina (I used Co Chile Co Masa Harina Flour)
100ml cold water
Pinch of Salt

Method:

1. In a large mixing bowl, mix the flour, salt and water until it comes together to form a soft dough that is not sticky or overly dry.
2. If the dough is too dry, add slightly more water or if it’s too wet add more flour.
3. Cover the dough and refrigerate for 10 – 15 minutes.
4. Roll the dough out into 15 smalls balls (if you are making small tortillas) or 8 large balls.
5. Use a Tortilla press to shape the the dough into flat discs. If you don’t own a tortilla press, place a ball of dough in-between two sheets of plastic wrap and use a heavy pan or plate to flatten them into shape.
6. Place a lightly oiled frying pan over a high heat.
7. Fry each Tortilla for about a minute on each side, then wrap them in a tea towel to stay warm until serving.