I have been obsessing over this recipe for a few weeks now. Subliminally it haunted me to where I secretly made sure I always had ingredients awaiting their big day. The holdup was that I couldn’t find the elusive masa harina anywhere. On three separate trips to the store, I was met with empty shelves which of course made it all the more desirable. Finally, yesterday morning on a covert muffin mission, the aisles did overfloweth. Woot, I was finally in business.

2 c masa harina
1/4 c flour
2 ts baking powder
1/2 ts salt
2 tb shortening
1 1/2 c warm water
Using your hands, mix the ingredients together untill a ball is formed. Roll into 14 balls, then smash each one between two pieces of plastic to form a disc. Bake them on a low heat for about 5 minutes, just untill they firm up. Heat 1/4 cup canola oil in a pan and cook each one for about a minute on each side untill golden.

They didn’t come out exactly as planned, but they were still *delicious*. Mine turned out sort of like a mini topless version. Still sexy, just different. You can use anything you like on top, we used pork, lettuce, tomato, onion, and a little sour cream. Chris made his like little sandwiches and was simply beside himself. I couldn’t get them to ‘puff up’ and split like nature intended, but this from girl who thought gorditas were something taco bell invented ain’t bad. They had it all – salty, crispy, hot, cold… YUM.

{tags gorditas recipe}