When you are limited to the ingredients you can use, due to having food allergies or intolerances the #1 most important thing to learn to do, is to think outside the box.
Think about each ingredient that you CAN have and look beyond what you know its uses are. For example- flax seeds are often used as an egg replacer. Why? Because they have amazing binding properties. If you have ever added some “flax” eggs to any gluten free dough (be it cookies, pie crust etc.) you probably noticed that the dough held together really nicely. Recipe development is nothing more than taking that knowledge and playing around with it in a different setting.
Tortillas (in my mind) should be nice and soft, easy to bend and wrap. I was never a fan of those dry hard corn ones that broke into a million pieces. I had a hunch that flax would give me this flexible texture that I was looking for. I was very pleased with my results.
These Tortillas I must admit are great, but a little different than any grain based variety. They are a little less chewy. Aside from this they get a nice crust in the skillet and are extremely easy to work with. In the future I may play with the recipe and turn them into flax tortillas chips. Considering that these are free of almost every allergen I was really happy with them. Happier when I got the stamp of approval from my husband. This base recipe is a little on the bland side which you may like depending on what you plan to use as your filling. I have given a number of spice suggestions- feel free to mix and match the spices to whatever meal you have in mind.
I would also like to encourage you to use this recipe as a starting point. Try adding in other flours alongside the flax meal. Get a feel for the general process and have some fun! The Coconut Flour in this recipe is used to add a little varying texture. I mention in the directions below that the dough should be elastic, somewhat moist but not sticky. Different flours will change the dough. If your dough is a little dry add a bit of water, if its too wet add a bit more flax or other flour. Just remember that the dough always needs to remain somewhat stretchy or else the tortillas in the end will not be flexible.
Making Flax Meal is simple. I use my blender. I don’t have a fancy Blendtec or Vitamix- just an average blender and it does the job. A coffee grinder will also work great too. Golden or regular flax seeds can be used! I love using Shiloh Farm’s Golden Flax Seeds.
Flax Tortillas
1/4 Cup Flax Meal + 6 TBS Hot water
1 Cup Flax Meal
2 TBS Coconut Flour (My favorite brand is NutsOnline.com)
* I suggest adding at least 1 tsp of sea salt to the dough*
Additional Spice Ideas: Chili Flakes, Pepper, Chili Powder, Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, Curry, Fennel, Cilantro, Chives, Cinnamon etc.
- In a small bowl combine the 1/4 cup flax meal and hot water. Mix to create thick goopy ”flax eggs”.
- Add the “flax eggs” to a larger bowl with the additional cup of flax meal and Coconut Flour. Also add in any spices that you would like to use.
- Mix with a spoon and then use your hands to kneed the thick dough. Eventually it will not be sticky, but should be elastic and hold together nicely. If you feel your dough is too dry run your fingers under some water and add moisture to the dough with your hands.
- Divide the dough into 8 balls. Roll each ball out between two sheets of parchment paper as thin as you can get the dough. * Optional: If you would like your tortillas to have a perfectly circular shape use the top of a bowl or a large cookie cutter to cut each tortillas into a perfect round.*
- Preheat a skillet to medium high. Lightly Oil. Once hot place a tortilla in and cook 30-40 seconds and then flip cooking the second side for an additional 30-40 seconds. Remove and continue with the rest of the pile. Making sure to re-oil the skillet as needed. *Please note: the longer you cook these the more crispy they become. If you prefer your tortillas soft and malleable do not cook them longer than the time I have provided*
- Serve warm!
*All recipes and text on this site are the original creations and property of Brittany Angell. If you make a recipe from this website and would like to share it, this may be done by sharing photo’s and including a direct link to this website. Duplication of recipe text, or “adaptions” containing less than 4 major changes to the recipe is strictly forbidden *
{ 56 comments… read them below or add one }
Yum!!! Can’t wait to try these! I agree … it is important to focus on what you CAN have, not what you caanot have! Thank you!
Thanks so much I can’t wait to try these out on Thurs!!! I always love how you think outside the box!!!
I don’t know how you do it but I sure am glad you do!
Mmmm, these sound goooood! I wodner if I can make sour cream out of goat milk. Hmmmm And I LOVE your profile picture, pretty lady!
Must. Make. Now.
And, then I must totally de-healthify them by turning them into chips. Oh yes I must.
I cooked some for more than the 30 second interval on each side and they started to get the chip texture! The longer cooking time plus a little extra oil might be all that you need to do! xo
I did a longer cook, then a cut into triangles, then a spritz of oil and a sprinkling of salt (on the first 4) and a bunch of spices and nooch (on the second four) and popped them in the oven for another 10 minutes or so at 400.
They’re okay. Both the kiddo and I started feeling a little punky tonight after running some errands. So while we had planned on eating them (with hummus, per the kiddo’s request) we wound up just putting them aside. I’ll taste again tomorrow when hopefully happier tummies will prevail.
Hope you guys feel better! Did they lack texture? That would be my only concern? I bet for chips they would be ten times better with a little flour (even the pseudo grain flours.)
Brittany this is pure genius. I love the taste of flax meal. Trying this tomorrow. Ooh, God these will be lovely with sliced, chilled avocado and mango chutney. Well done you. And thank you. x
You are way way to sweet to me!! We love the flavor of flax too! Just slightly nutty. xoxo
Going nuts over these! Woohoo. Will try tomorrow. xo
Thanks Girl! Hope you guys like them. xo
These tortillas look very tasty! I love the flavor of flax but never thought of adding it to a tortilla. What a great idea!
These look really great – and look forward to sharing with a friend who is gluten-free AND corn free. Gracious!
These look amazing! Is there any flour I could use instead of coconut and should I use more, seeing as coconut flour seems to suck more liquid than other flours?
Hi! Please re-read the post I explain all this
Can’t wait to try these; I too miss a good tortilla!! Do you think it would be possible to substitute almond flour for the coconut flour?
Haven’t tried that as I currently can’t eat nuts. If you try please let us know what kind of results you have.
I just made these for lunch and they went down a treat! Made 8 small tortillas using a press. I added a little garlic powder and salt and they were delicious. Held together really well and came out flexible.
We were told to avoid flaxseed while trying to conceive so I’ll have to wait to try these
They look so good!
That’s interesting! I’ll have to research that- I’m curious about that connection.
Wonder if chia seed or something else could work? IF I try them with something to sub for flax I will let you know.
Go for it! I haven’t worked much with chia- so I have no idea what will transpire. But I think those kinds of ecperiments are fun!
How many carbs to these flax seed tortillas have?
I don’t provide nutritional info with my recipes.. as Im not a nutritionist. Just a recipe developer. Feel free to look this up as I think there are online sources that will figure it out for you.
I didn’t have flax seed but I have chia so I used that instead. It didn’t come out right. I tried to salvage them by baking them instead. I’ll see, I hope it works that way. Would it work better with an egg? I can have eggs.
Hi! Honestly I developed this recipe for the use of flax.. Chia is very different. So I’m not surprised that they didn’t turn out.
what about using white flour in place of the coconut?
these were awesome – thank you for sharing! i made this in the food processor and let the first flax/water combo sit for a few minutes to “gel.” i also added about a tablespoon of olive oil at the end before rolling out; the mixture seemed a bit dry, and it worked perfectly!
I made some coconut flour/egg white “crepes” that turned out pretty good, but the recipe called for 16 egg whites! I’m looking for a cheaper version, and not that flax seed is cheap, but if it works, I can make one or the other depending on what I have on hand. We eat a lot of eggs in our family, and at $4/dozen, every penny counts!
I cannot wait to try! Our household has had to be gluten, dairy, and egg free for some time now and recently had to add corn to the list. We eat mexican food multiple times a week and always have tortillas on the table. This receipe should make this difficult transition a little easier. Thanks!
I’m trying this tonight. I’m visiting family so I don’t have my coconut flour with me. I subbed it with 2 Tbsp powdered pork rinds and it seemed to work okay. I’m letting them cool a bit to see what they’re like but they don’t crack and have good flavor. Oh, and I added 1-2 tsp olive oil to the dough.
What about baking them?
Question for you–I’m not vegan and eat eggs so do you think I can I use an egg instead of the flax egg and get the same results?
Thanks for the recipe! I substituted a tablespoon of gelatin powder for a tablespoon of the coconut flour, to see if it would help keep the tortillas flexible. It did. Mine didn’t cook completely in the time you suggested, so I cooked them longer–quite a bit longer–until they got the little brown spots characteristic of most tortillas and started to puff up a bit. But with the gelatin, they are still quite flexible.
I just made this with real eggs. It was wonderful. Thank you!
I used arrowroot in place of the coconut because I had it on hand and it worked great! Fine salt and smoked paprika gave them a great taste, and after I cooked them once to make the tortillas I cut a few of them into quarters (chip shaped), added enough lard to coat and slightly come up the side of my skillet and re-fried them for about another minute on each side. I swear these are better than corn tortilla chips…thank you for this!!!
p.s. do you think it would work if i made a large batch and froze some of them for later use?
I think that should probably work well!
I LOVE the idea of smoked paprika! One of my favorite spices and I never thought to use it in this recipe. So glad you enjoyed them!
SO EXCITED to try these!
I think I will try to freeze one, to see how that works. I’ll let you know how it goes.
How has freezing or fridging worked with making some ahead of time?
I’ve made and frozen these with good results!
just made this with smoked paprika and chili flakes.. SOOOO GOOOD!!!! (used daiya cheese and made a quesadilla!!!!
These are AMAZING!! We have crackers now! I cut them in squares and baked them (convection oven) for about 15 minutes. This is the first recipe I have been able to follow without having to substitute an ingredient (gluten/egg/dairy/nut free) for my daughter. This is the first baked good that my husband deemed acceptable, probably because it tasted different from all the other things I have attempted!
I also added a teaspoon of olive oil because the dough seemed dry but not in a way that more water would fix. The first batch looked beautiful right up until the moment that I burned them! There were a few that were not burned to a crisp and we could tell they had promise. Of course, the next ones tasted fantastic compared to the burnt ones!!
Thank you so much for sharing your recipes. Your web site is so inspiring and informative!!
I made these tonight and they were delicious; however, mine were tiny! I have a tortilla press and couldn’t get them to flatten out to look like yours. They were thicker and very small. Any ideas on how to get them to be the size of regular tortillas. The dough definitely didn’t make 8 large ones … just 4-5 small tortillas. I want to try again though as I loved the taste.
I think using a good old fashioned rolling pin + layering the dough between two sheets of parchment may work better!
These are amazing! Thank you for putting this recipe on here !
A little awkward looking but easy and tasted great with my vegan butternut squash enchiladas (via Oh She Glows)!!
Made these without the coconut flour (didn’t have it on hand). They turned out very nice, if a little on the brittle side once they started to cool off. Flax doesn’t really taste much like corn, but the texture is about right and still tastes good. I had tacos for the first time in years, tonight.
Thank you.
I love these!! Just returned to a Paleo diet and was missing my wraps. How should these be stored?
I tried these with an egg instead of the flax egg since someone else said it worked. It did not work for me. Couldn’t get anything to resemble a tortilla even with using a rolling pin and two sheets of parchment paper – it just kept breaking apart. Like someone else, I’m also not sure how this yields 8 large tortillas – I could have maybe gotten 3 out of the volume I was working with. My dough would make good crackers though…
I followed the recipe closely and dough was very crumbly, even adding the water to my hands. I was hoping that after cooking they would improve. But there is no way these would hold up to dipping. They fell apart easily. Plus, taste was not interesting.
I have found the almond flour crackers are far tastier (especially the rosemary garlic) and can hold up to any dips.
I am going to try the tortillas made with coconut flour and egg whites next.
The dough should not have been crumbly! They probably needed more water..
I just tried the flax tortillas. I couldn’t get them to roll out without falling apart and they just crumbled. What is your secret? Thanks.
It sounds like you needed more water! If the dough is moist it holds together beautifully.
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