Friday, August 1, 2008

Whole oat tortillas and oat crackers

I made some oat tortillas the other day, and enjoyed them better than the wheat flour ones that I and my husband eat from the store. They're pleasantly wholesome and slightly sweet. Too bad my toddler, who enjoyed making them with me, didn't want to try them! We made crackers out of the same recipe, which we cut out into cookie-cutter shapes. That was fun for my little girl. She, however, didn't try these either, even with sugar sprinkled on top! I and my 10 month old have been enjoying them! Hopefully your toddler will, too. My daughter will probably try them at some point. I'm confident she'll like them!

The recipe is from "Feeding Your Allergic Child," by Elisa Meyer. I paraphrased the instructions, including my own explanations or adaptations.

2 cups oat flour (I use whole oat grouts, and grind them into flour with my wheat mill. You can also use rolled oats and grind them in a blender)

1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2-3/4 cup warm water(original recipe says cold water, but warm works much better for me!)

Mix dry ingredients. Add water slowly and mix evenly with a fork til moistened. Gather dough into a ball, adding more water if needed. For pliable tortillas, I've found it's important for the balls to be moist(not sticky once kneaded, though). Knead well. Split into 8 sections, then form balls with each section. Cover for 10 min. You may want to cover with moist towel to keep them moist.

Shape into tortillas 7 - 8 inches diameter. Cook on hot griddle or medium-high heat frying pan(heat these first), for 1 -2 min per side. Stack on plate and cover with a dish towel. Serve warm. These will toughen quickly when reheated.

To make tortilla chips, cut into triangles and deep fry.

To make crackers, use 1/2 cup oat flour, 1/2 cup rice flour, 1 tablespoon shortening, and 1/4 cup to 1/3 cup water or more. Roll dough and cut out shapes. Spread layer of vegetable or coconut oil on baking sheet. Place cookie shapes onto baking sheet, brush with oil, then sprinkle with cinnamon-sugar. Bake at 375 until golden brown on bottom(maybe 15 min). Watch the crackers, I didn't time how long they took for me, and I didn't use instructions for the crackers. This was something I just decided to do when I adapted the tortilla recipe to include shortening and rice flour, and was going to deep fry cookie cutter shapes for my toddler. I watched each shape melt away into the oil in the frying pan! That's when I decided just to bake them as crackers. It worked great! It makes a crisp cracker that dissolves easily for my 10 month baby. I enjoy them too! I do see on the internet that some cracker recipes have the dough rolled out on the baking sheet, then baked 325 for 20 minutes, then scored into rectangles, then baked again for 20 minutes. That would be easier than shapes. (But not as fun!) Perhaps you might poke the dough with a fork, too. I'll edit this post if I try this and find what works best! I know there are recipes in some cookbooks I just returned to the library. Also online.

6 comments:

Sam said...

Awesome, thank you! I was looking for a recipe for oat tortillas, or whole grain tortillas since I watched an episode on Top Chef, and saw one of the chefs make 'em.

Thank you!

Anonymous said...

Me too! I saw those oat flour carnitas tacos on top chef and immediately wanted to try them, or at least an adaptation of them! Is really all you need the oat flour, water, and salt?

homebaker said...

All this recipe calls for is oat flour, water, and salt. Nice and simple, and I like the wholesome flavor. It's not a perfect recipe as far as pliability goes. Of course I'm always interested if someone learns of the recipe or ingredients they had on Top Chef!

homebaker said...

Ok- I received a comment from "milkshake" which gives a link to "a past winner recreating the winning Pork tacos on oat tortillas..." I appreciate the link. However, I found that this recipe is wheat-based, so I won't be posting it on this blog.

Thanks again for the info, "milkshake." If anyone sees any Top Chef recipes that don't have wheat flour at all, let me know! And you know I might go back to that video and get some ideas of how to adapt my oat recipe in some way.

homebaker said...

Hooray! This tortilla recipe can yield pliable, flexible tortillas! The trick was to use warm water instead of cold. It makes such a difference! Notice the change I made in the recipe.

I've been making these tortillas more often now, and am so excited at how well they handle. I'm getting better at rolling them out thin, too!

homebaker said...

Another thing that helps pliability is to make sure your dough is moist enough. Right now I've been covering the dough with a moist towel while it sits, then covering the tortillas with a moist towel when they go on the plate. I do hesitate that this might cool the warm tortillas down, though. The tortillas should at least be covered with a towel, though, whether dry or moist.