Homemade Tortillas

When I tutored a lovely lady from Guatemala, she mentioned snacking on tortillas. At the time, I thought that sounded rather lackluster as a snack because I imagined eating the tortillas I bought from the store for all our Mexican dishes. However, when I first made these homemade tortillas from Half-Baked Harvest, I immediately understood. Fresh, homemade tortillas are snack worthy. They elevate any Mexican-inspired meal from good to great. They add a lot of wow to a meal for very little effort.

In other words, if you've never tried homemade tortillas, then you should probably try these.

Homemade Tortillas
3 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. salt
5 Tbsp. salt, room temperature
1 cup hot water

In a bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Add the butter, and then pour over the hot water. Stir until a shaggy dough begins to form.

Turn the dough onto a floured counter. Use your hands to knead the dough for 1 to 2 minutes until it forms a smooth ball. Cover the bowl with a damp towel, and let it rest 10 minutes. 

Cut the dough into 12 to 14 equal wedges, and then roll each wedge into a ball. Use a rolling pin or a tortilla press to roll the dough into an 8-inch circle. Heat the skillet over medium-high heat. Add a drizzle of olive oil and then a tortilla. Cook 30 to 60 seconds, until little bubbles appear on the surface. Flip and cook another 30 seconds, or until the bottom is slightly golden. Set on a plate, and cover with a towel. Repeat with remaining dough. 

Serve warm or save for later. Keep the tortillas in an airtight container for up to 3 days or freeze for longer storage. Makes 12 to 14 tortillas. 

Cookie Cake

I’ve baked plenty of skillet chocolate chip cookies because they are so good, but this was the first time I baked one as a cookie cake frost. (I’ll be honest, most of the skillet cookies are devoured while warm because *again* they are so good!) This recipe from Cookies and Cups is a solid choice for cookie cakes.

Cookie Cake

¾ cup butter, room temperature
¾ cup brown sugar
¼ cup sugar
1 egg, plus 1 egg yolk
2 tsp. vanilla
¾ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
1 2/3 cup flour
1 ½ cups chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat a 9-inch pan with baking spray, and line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper. In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix the butter and sugars on medium for 2 minutes, scraping the bowl as needed.

Add in the eggs, vanilla, baking soda and salt. Mix for 30 seconds. Turn the mixer to low, and add in the flour until just combined. Stir in chocolate chips.

Press dough into the prepared pan, lightly wetting your hand to prevent sticking. Bake 20 to 25 minutes until the edges are set, and the top is no longer glossy. If needed, cover with foil if the edges are browning too quickly.

Cool completely before removing from the pan. Makes 1 9-inch cookie cake.

Browned Butter Cookies

I used this recipe from Cookies and Cups to make butterscotch pretzel cookies, which were amazing. I’ve also adapted it multiple times to simply be chocolate chip cookies or even salted caramel cookies. I do recommend chilling or freezing the dough to lessen the spread, which I include in my version of the recipe.

Butterscotch Pretzel Browned Butter Cookies

1 cup butter
2 ½ cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 ½ cups brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
¾ cup butterscotch chips
¾ cups chocolate chips
1 cup coarsely chopped pretzels
Flakey sea salt

Preheat oven to 350°F. In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat, and bring it to a boil. Swirl until butter becomes a deep amber color and develops a nutty fragrance. Cool 20 minutes.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and sea salt. Set aside.

Once butter has cooled, whisk in sugar, eggs and vanilla. Pour this mixture into the flour bowl, and stir gently to incorporate. Stir in chips and pretzels.

Use a 2-Tbsp. cookie scoop (or large spoon) to drop the dough 3 inches apart on a baking sheet. Chill in the fridge for 10 minutes or ideally the freezer for 10 minutes prior to baking. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until the edges are golden. (Frozen dough will take a few minutes longer to bake.) Allow the cookies to cool 2-3 minutes at least or until set, and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Top with sea salt if desired. Makes 30 small cookies (or fewer if you make them my size).

Browned Butter Blueberry Muffins

This muffin base is versatile, as I’ve used it for blueberries, raspberries and chocolate chips. It yields delicious muffins, but what I really like is that you prepare the batter at night and refrigerate overnight. This recipe from Buttermilk by Sam has been made multiple times in our house in the last couple weeks. It also works for breakfast for dinner to start the muffins in the morning before work.

Browned Butter Blueberry Muffins

1 stick butter
170 g. sugar or brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
½ tsp. sea salt
½ tsp. cinnamon
190 g. buttermilk
260 g. flour (can substitute half the flour with oat or whole wheat)
1 ¾ tsp. baking powder
150 to 200 g. blueberries or chocolate chips
Turbinado or vanilla sugar for topping

Brown the butter, by heating over medium heat until it becomes golden and nutty. Set aside to cool at least 20 minutes. Then stir in sugar and whisk well. Add in vanilla, salt, cinnamon and egg, and whisk until smooth and shiny. Whisk in buttermilk, and then add flour and baking powder, stirring just until combined. Stir in berries or chocolate chips. Refrigerate overnight.

The next morning, preheat oven to 425°F. Line your muffin tin with liners or grease extremely well (and say a prayer to the baking gods). For regular muffins, fill each with about ¼ cup batter. For jumbo muffins, divide batter among 6 muffins. Sprinkle tops with sugar.

Bake 5 minutes, and then reduce oven to 375°F. Bake another 15 to 20 minutes, until muffins are done. Cool 5 minutes before removing from the pans. Makes 6 jumbo muffins or 10 regular muffins.