No-Sodium Flour Tortillas

One of the main sources of hidden sodium, as it turns out, is bread products. A typical slice of bread can contain up to 230 mg of sodium!

There is a local bakery, Sticklings, which makes low-sodium, organic bread products. They're even available in grocery stores now, which is fantastic. But what I couldn't (and still can't) find, is a substitute for tortillas.

We lived without them for a couple of years, but I was feeling like we were eating a lot of the same-old meals and I desperately wanted fajitas. Thus, I went searching for how to make tortillas. My first stop, of course, was this excellent website for recipes: "Low Sodium Cooking: Showing You How to Give Up Sodium Without Giving Up Your Life".  
And here I found a recipe for no-sodium tortillas. I assumed that it would be difficult, but it's really pretty simple!

 Ingredients:

2 cups flour (I've used all white, and half-white, half-whole wheat)

1 tsp. baking powder
1 tbsp. shortening
1/2 cup warm water (plus more)

A short list of ingredients:

Note that my baking powder looks funny. That's because it's Baking Powder Substitute (you might be surprised how much sodium is in regular baking powder -- 75 mg in 1/4 tsp = 900 mg in a tbsp!) from The Healthy Heart Market. 

I've made these a few times now, with varying degrees of success. The first attempt, I used all white (unbleached, all-purpose) flour, and they turned out great. The second time, I used mostly whole-wheat, some white flour, and again, they were good. The next time, I accidentally used baking soda instead of powder (whoops!), and they turned out pretty hard. This time, I doubled the batch to make larger tortillas. They were slightly more difficult to roll to the right thickness, but a slightly more easy-to-use size.

Directions:
Stir flour and baking powder together.
Cut in shortening until it resembles cornmeal.
Add 1/2 cup of water and mix until dough forms a ball (it took a lot more than 1/2 a cup of water for me this time; perhaps because I used half whole-wheat flour).
Add more water, 1 tbsp at a time, if needed.
Let dough rest 15 minutes.
Divide into 12 portions and make balls (I doubled the batch, and only made 12 balls -- my husband requested larger tortillas this time).

Roll each ball into a 7-inch round (or larger, if using a double batch. I roll it as thinly as I possibly can (this takes a surprising amount of arm strength!).
Trim uneven edges (you can see from my photos that I skipped this step -- my husband is not that fussy about how his food looks).
Cook in ungreased skillet (I've used a regular, non-stick frying pan) over medium heat about 1.5 minutes per side, or until lightly browned. 

 Here's how I know it's time to flip:

(It's kind of hard to see, but big puffy bubbles form  in the tortilla. That's when it's time to flip.)

And here are the finished products! Not bad...

Note: My husband requested his tortillas be warmed, so I popped them into the microwave. BIG mistake! Nothing hardens a bread product quite like 30 seconds in the microwave. Next time, I'll try the oven.