Saturday, March 29, 2025

Soft & Pliable Corn Tortillas 🌮 {New} Plus: Truly Splendid Cookies, Simple White Bean Salad & More

Nearly 20 years ago, I had my first taste of really good corn tortillas. I was in San Francisco for a wedding, and after a morning a run — those were the days! — Ben and I stumbled upon the Ferry Building Farmers Market and specifically the Primavera stand, where a very long line suggested maybe we should hop in it.

We did, and about 30 minutes later, we were eating the best chilaquiles — maybe the best meal — of our lives. To this day, I cannot visit San Francisco (if I'm there on a Saturday morning) without stopping by the Primavera stand, which without fail continues to have the longest line at the market and which continues to serve the most delicious chilaquiles on the planet.

Upon returning from that wedding 20 years ago, still dreaming about the texture and flavor of the tortillas in those chilaquiles, I began researching how to make really good corn tortillas at home. I learned that the secret was to use fresh masa, which produces tortillas with deep corn flavor and a pleasing texture.

But as I researched how to make masa, I quickly became discouraged by the process, which requires soaking dried corn in a lime solution, then grinding it into a dough. The alternative would be to find fresh masa, an equally discouraging prospect, or masa harina, a readily available finely ground flour that requires only water to "activate."

Over the years, I've stuck to making flour tortillas at home, either these or these, because I had never been that happy with the tortillas I made from masa harina. But a few years ago, I received a few bags of Masienda masa harina in the mail, and I realized perhaps the masa harina I had been using was part of the problem.

Following the recipe on the back of the Masienda bag, I got to work, and while it took some trial and error to get right, I finally was able to make a corn tortilla that actually tasted like corn and didn't have the texture of soggy cardboard. Today, I use Bob's Red Mill masa harina, which I can find at nearly all of my local grocery stores, and I find the tortillas to be equally delicious as those made with the Masienda masa harina.

Friends, the recipe in this post is simple, requiring only three ingredients and just a little bit of time. Once your tortilla dough is made, you can crank out a dozen homemade tortillas in less than 15 minutes. We've been enjoying these with breakfast tacos as well as simple fish tacos, which I should write about soon. Stay tuned!

Soft Corn Tortillas

PS: A favorite and very fast meal to make with your homemade corn tortillas:

A plate of crispy potatoes, egg, and cheese on tortillas.

Review of the Week

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

"I legitimately never leave a review, BUT these cookies should win a Nobel prize! Sweet, yet salty, full of texture and nutty notes!! —truly splendid cookie and always in my rotation of cookies of the cookie jar!"

— Chloe

PS: Soft and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies: