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These gluten free whole grain flour tortillas have a wheaty taste and chew from added gluten free whole grains teff and sorghum, but are safely wheat-free.
When your tortillas are soft and pliable, like these gluten free whole grain tortillas are, they can easily be folded into a burrito, then wrapped up hours before dinnertime. If I wrap it in a tortilla, I can call it dinner!
If you're making burritos, it doesn't really matter what you put in them, as long as it includes cheese. It does matter what sort of tortilla you use.
Have you ever tried what some gluten-free food companies try to pass off as gluten-free tortillas, made from only brown rice? Well, we know what happens when we try to fold them.
These tortillas aren't just your everyday tortillas. They make up super fast, and they have that wheat-y taste and chew because they're fortified with whole grain flours.
Sear them in a cast iron skillet. If the skillet is hot enough, they cook in a flash—and they won't stick. If you're having a lot of trouble handling the tortillas as you attempt to get them into the skillet to cook, they're not the right consistency.
The dough should be strong and on the dry side, but not so dry that it crumbles. You have to be delicate with them, but not so much that some of them don't make it all the way to the finish line.
Gluten free whole grain flour tortillas ingredients & substitution suggestions
Happily, these tortillas are naturally dairy-free and egg-free. Here is some other ingredient information, in case you're short of gluten free ingredients or you have additional food intolerances:
Teff & sorghum flours: This combination of teff and sweet white sorghum flours provides the heartiness that you expect from a whole grain baked good. I haven’t tried replacing them with anything, and I’m afraid I don’t think either can truly be replaced with success.
If you’re dying to try a replacement and you’re willing to experiment, you can try replacing the sweet white sorghum flour with oat flour and the teff flour with rice bran. But I can’t promise anything!
Olive oil: I really like using olive oil in these tortillas, but you can use any oil you like. I've also made these tortillas with Spectrum brand non-hydrogenated vegetable shortening, like our classic gluten free tortillas, and it works great.
Gluten Free Whole Grain Flour Tortillas
Ingredients
- 1 ¾ cups (245 g) all purpose gluten free flour blend, plus more as necessary and for sprinkling (I used Better Batter; please click thru for full info on appropriate blends)
- 1 teaspoon xanthan gum, (omit if your blend already contains it)
- ¼ cup (34 g) sweet white sorghum flour
- ¼ cup (30 g) teff flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 ½ tablespoons (21 g) extra-virgin olive oil
- ⅞ cup (7 fluid ounces) water, at room temperature (plus more as necessary)
Instructions
- In a large bowl, place the all-purpose flour, xanthan gum, sorghum flour, teff flour, baking powder, and salt, and whisk to combine well. Create a well in the dry ingredients, add the oil and water and mix to combine.
- Press the dough together into a ball with your hands. It should be relatively stiff, but not so dry that it crumbles. If it’s too soft, add more all purpose flour by the tablespoon and work it into the dough. If it is too dry, add more water by the tablespoon.
- Divide the dough into 6 equal parts and roll each piece into a ball.
- Work with one piece of dough at a time, cover the rest and cover with plastic wrap to prevent them from drying out.
- Place the piece of dough on a lightly floured surface and sprinkle the top lightly with more flour. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough into a round a bit more than 1/8-inch thick (the thickness of a nickel – no thinner!).
- For neat edges, take the optional additional step of using the lid of a pot or a 6-inch round cake cutter to cut away a perfect-sized round. Gather the scraps and set them aside with the remaining pieces of dough.
- Carefully place the raw tortilla in the hot skillet.
- Allow to cook undisturbed until it begins to pull away from the pan around the edges (about 45 seconds in a hot pan).
- With a flat, wide spatula, flip the tortilla over and press it down with the spatula for about 15 seconds. This second side will not blacken or brown much.
- Remove the tortilla from the skillet and cover with a moist tea towel.
- Repeat with the remaining dough (using all the scraps, you should be able to get a total of 8 6-inch tortillas but the number will vary based upon how thinly you roll the dough), stacking the tortillas under the towel.
- Wrap the tortillas tightly in the towel until ready to use.
- They should stay pliable for a few hours wrapped in a moist towel. Refresh them in a hot, dry skillet before serving.
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
On the tortilla in your cookbook; any tips on getting them into the skillet? When I made them they were hard ro get off the plastic wrap and even harder to slip them in the skillet. They tasted great but were lumpy and thick, more of a flatbread than a torilla.
If they are difficult to handle, try using less water, GF Baker, which should help make them less fragile. And rather than using plastic wrap, try rolling them between unbleached parchment paper as I describe in this recipe. Unfortunately, when I wrote that book, I hadn’t yet realized how useful unbleached parchment paper can be!
xoxo Nicole
It sounds like you are making them too wet, GF Baker. When they are very soft and hard to handle, that is usually the problem.
xoxo Nicole
I really love baking, but have not had much success with my own ventures into gluten-free cooking so far. You’ve given me hope that my GF recipes will not always be rubbery/ugly/strange tasting. Also, I’ve really been missing flour tortillas since I’ve stopped eating wheat. (Not that long ago, at the suggestion of numerous people. Skin=clearer, energy=better!) I’ve got to try this out! Woohoo, thank you! Also, just so you know, your testing of the different flour mixes has been really helpful.
I’m so happy the flour test was helpful to you, Stevie! It was actually a real turning point for me, too, actually. Seeing how all those different flours behaved side by side gave me really valuable insight into what is next for me in gluten-free baking. And gluten-free food should never be rubbery/ugly/strange tasting! ;)
xoxo Nicole
Oh Nicole, this is excellent! I always have Food for Life brown rice tortillas in the freezer, but I use them exclusively for quesadillas, which really dont matter all that much if they break. Now I will use your recipe..I know it will be good.
I have a flour blend that you may not have tried and I like it a lot. It is called Domata. Just wanted to call attention to it because it is one that seems to work well in recipes. I have tried the regular toll house chocolate chip cookie recipe with Domata and it was really good. Missy from SW Missouri
Hi, Missy from SW Missouri,
Be careful with Domata. It is good for some things (cookies, muffins), but not good for others. And I have never tried it in rolled out dough like these tortillas, but I’m not confident it would work well. Sorry to be the bearer of bad tidings, but I wanted to try to manage your expectations!
xoxo Nicole
Thanks so much for the info about Domata, Nicole. I have not tried it extensively..so will reserve for cookies and muffins. I need to get some more Better Batter, I had some when she first started offering it and loved it. Missy in HOT hot Missouri : )
I can just substitute better batter for the all purpose flour and xanthan gum right? I am excited to make these! Thank you!
Hi, Cynthia,
Better Batter is a high-quality all-purpose gluten-free flour. It’s what I use more often than that. Bake on!
xoxo Nicole
I think I LOVE you! Wait what am I talking about, I already knew I loved you! FYI Those brown rice tortillas have had some problems with having higher than 20 PPM gluten in them. I won’t touch them! I have been looking for a flour tortilla replacement for eternity. I really miss a good burrito. I am going to try these, as it was on my list to make this week. Thank you! xoxo
I hadn’t heard that about the brown rice tortillas, Michelle. Good to know. Not that I was buying them anyway. But, still. Good to know.
xoxo Nicole
I am here to report back that they were really tasty and EASY! We had pork verde last night and these tortillas were perfect. I do want to be able to make them thinner but I think I would need professional tortilla equipment to do that! The cooked perfectly in the cast iron. The texture of the dough was perfect. It didn’t stick to the ziploc bag and was easy to handle. The tortilla folded nicely.
After my pork verde burrito I made a quesadilla which was also very good. Yum! Thank you!
BTW, thank you for the recommendation to measure by weight. My son who is 8 loves helping me bake now. He measures everything exactly. Not a gram more or less. Very fun.
So glad, Kristi! Thanks for reporting back. I love that your son is a precise baker. It’s the best way to be!
xoxo Nikki
Hi Nicole,
I know I’m not the first reader to say it(so it must be true;), but you really read my mind! I make your gf flour tortillas ALL the time. Lately I’ve been wanting to experiment w/ using sweet sorghum and teff to make them whole grain, and now you’ve done all the experimenting for me so I don’t have to(thank you, thank you)!! I made these last night for burritos, and they turned out beautifully! They have a great “chew” to them, and look beautiful! Thank you again!
Sherry