Starch Water Tortillas
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Ingredients
2 1/2 cups (about 350g*) flour (plus a little more for dusting)I used bread flour to add a little extra gluten back in, but I think all-purpose would also be fine for this.
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 cup of room-temperature starch water, as much excess water drained off as possible and stirredMine weighed 275g.
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup warm water (plus a little more if necessary)
Directions
1Mix flour, salt, and baking powder. Make a well and add the 1c starch liquid, 1/4c vegetable oil, and 1/2c warm water.
2Combine into a dough ball and add a little more warm water if necessary to bring together. Knead for about 5-10 minutes into a smooth ball. Let it rest for about 20-30 minutes.
3Divide the ball into 16 even portions. Coat your working surface with a little bit of flour. Roll each piece of dough in the flour, then in your hands to form a ball. Flatten each ball with your hands into about a 4 inch diameter. If stacking, use a piece of parchment paper or something to keep them from sticking to each other. I let the hand-flattened dough balls rest again for another 20-30 minutes.
4Add a little more flour to your surface if necessary and roll out each tortilla to about 7-8” diameter.
5Cook on skillet over medium-high heat (lightly greased if you prefer) on each side for a couple minutes, until golden brown on both sides.
6TIP: These reheat well in the microwave for about 30 seconds when wrapped with a damp paper towel.
*Flour weight based on the average scoop of 140g/cup measure.
More Starch Water Recipes
Vegan White Cheddar Cheese | Wheat Starch WaterBy JenThis vegan white cheddar cheese made with leftover wheat starch water from washing flour to make seitan gets its creaminess from cashews and cheddar flavor from a combination of nutritional yeast and the brine from a jar of olives. It's a hard cheese perfect for your next charcuterie board, but can also be sliced thin for sandwiches or grated onto just about anything for flavor. Vegan Flatbread | Wheat Starch WaterBy JenThese flatbreads are the perfect addition to any seitan, and they use up some of that starch water leftover from washing flour to make seitan. They're delicious plain, but you can also baste them with a garlic-infused butter for a naan-style version. Vegan Crepes | Wheat StarchBy JenTurn your leftover wheat starch from flour-washing into delicious vegan crepes! With the additions of JUST Egg (or your favorite egg replacer), plant milk and butter, plus a little extra flour, these skinny pancakes make a great breakfast. Omit the sugar and stuff with your favorite savory fillings for a tasty meal anytime. Yields about 8 crepes. Starch Water Mild Cheddar CheeseBy JenThis vegan mild cheddar made with leftover wheat starch water gets some umami from mushroom powder and Worcestershire. It's a hard cheese perfect for your next charcuterie board, but can also be sliced thin for sandwiches or grated onto just about anything for flavor. The wheat starch does not get as stretchy as tapioca or potato starch, so while this will soften it won't exactly "melt." Ingredients
2 1/2 cups (about 350g*) flour (plus a little more for dusting)I used bread flour to add a little extra gluten back in, but I think all-purpose would also be fine for this.
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 cup of room-temperature starch water, as much excess water drained off as possible and stirredMine weighed 275g.
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup warm water (plus a little more if necessary)
Directions
1Mix flour, salt, and baking powder. Make a well and add the 1c starch liquid, 1/4c vegetable oil, and 1/2c warm water.
2Combine into a dough ball and add a little more warm water if necessary to bring together. Knead for about 5-10 minutes into a smooth ball. Let it rest for about 20-30 minutes.
3Divide the ball into 16 even portions. Coat your working surface with a little bit of flour. Roll each piece of dough in the flour, then in your hands to form a ball. Flatten each ball with your hands into about a 4 inch diameter. If stacking, use a piece of parchment paper or something to keep them from sticking to each other. I let the hand-flattened dough balls rest again for another 20-30 minutes.
4Add a little more flour to your surface if necessary and roll out each tortilla to about 7-8” diameter.
5Cook on skillet over medium-high heat (lightly greased if you prefer) on each side for a couple minutes, until golden brown on both sides.
6TIP: These reheat well in the microwave for about 30 seconds when wrapped with a damp paper towel.
I created this website hoping to make it easier for people interested in seitan to be able to find, share, and rate recipes. Through both research and my own experimentation, I hope to answer some commonly asked questions in the "Learn More About Seitan" section, and you’ll find some of my own recipes here, too. Happy cooking!
wow, I love making flatbread but had no idea one could use the starch water to make them. I’m so glad you put this out there because I would have thrown my starch water away since I didn’t want to make noodles or bacon. I will definitely give this a try. Thank you so much.
Absolutely! I really enjoy making these because I’m often making shreds and they go perfectly. Hope you like them. 😊
well, I did make them. I was surprised that for the amount of flour called for, only a small amount of baking powder. They did not puff up like I’m used to with other flatbreads. I added some garlic and onion powder too. At least I have a big batch to freeze, twice as many as any other flatbread I make….I was tired. My starch flour was 2 weeks old and seemed to be on it’s way to fermenting? I could not smell anything bad (I can’t smell or taste much so had to ask my husband if he could smell anything bad) He said they were good, but I was hoping for a little more tenderness. Maybe when I reheat them they will be softer. I did the kneading in the KitchenAid my sister gifted me last week.
These tortillas are meant to be very thin and not really puff up like flat bread or naan. Recipes with the starch water can be a little finicky because everyone’s will have slightly different water content. The recipe calls for adding a little more warm water if they seem dry, you can also add a little more oil. The recipe yields 16 and they do freeze well. If you prefer thicker flatbread, there’s a recipe here for that too. It uses yeast to make them rise more. Don’t be afraid to add a little more water and/or oil to those as well. And fermented starch adds a great sourdough quality to any of the breads and works well with the cheeses for additional sharpness, too.
Thank you, I just now saw the recipe for flatbread, I will try that next time. I love being able to try this new way of cooking (I’m 75 and still love learning!!)
That’s fantastic to hear!
What is the nutritional value of the starch water and recipes made from it
It’s very difficult to determine the nutritional value of leftover wheat starch water because everyone’s ratio of water to starch will vary. You could dehydrate the wheat starch and then rehydrate it for use until you had the consistency of thick pancake batter and then you could estimate much closer based on what is already known about the nutritional value of wheat starch: https://slism.com/calorie/102031/. A guess would be that you’re left with half wheat starch/half water after letting it settle when using for recipes.
I used wholewheat for flour. Had a few issues getting the tortillas to relax with the press and rolling and resting only helped a little. Ended up with more of a pita thickness. Great flavor and I will try these again.
Interesting if the wholewheat had that effect. You could also try adding a little more water as the starch water thickness is a bit unreliable. Glad you enjoyed!