+GF +SF +QP
Get into the spooky Halloween mood with these easy, baked, ghost-shaped corn tortillas! They’re gluten-free and fun for kids to make, too. They look pretty spooky stacked into a guacamole graveyard, but we think they’d be super cute on a Halloween party snack table, too. —AS
MAKES ABOUT 30 CHIPS
1 cup (120 g) blue corn masa harina
1½ cups (360 ml) warm water, divided
¼ tsp salt, divided
1 cup (120 g) white corn masa harina
Coconut oil spray
In a medium mixing bowl, place the blue corn masa harina. Stir in ¾ cup (180 ml) of the warm water and ⅛ teaspoon of the salt, mixing until completely combined. Use your hands to knead the dough until it comes completely together. If the dough seems too dry, you can add a bit of water, but you want your dough to be smooth (not sticky) and be able to form a springy ball. Cover the bowl with a wet towel for 15 to 20 minutes.
In a separate bowl, repeat the process with the white corn masa harina, remaining ¾ cup (180 ml) water and remaining ⅛ teaspoon salt and set them both aside.
Fold a piece of parchment paper long enough to cover your tortilla press. If you’re not using a tortilla press, spread parchment paper over the countertop and use a separate, smaller piece to separate the tortillas from the rolling pin.
Roll the blue and white corn masa dough into ¾- to 1-inch (2- to 2.5-cm) balls, leaving one ball each extra to use as eyes and mouths on the opposite color tortillas. Press each ball between the two sides of the parchment paper–lined tortilla press until they are about ⅛ inch (3 mm) thick. It may take you more than once, and if so, rotate the tortilla in between presses. If you are using a rolling pin, do the same thing—just be careful to use the same amount of pressure for an even roll. Once they are rolled out, apply 3 small balls of the opposite color as eyes and a mouth, and re-press. The ball will spread out, so start small. Continue this process until all the ghost faces are formed.
Using a knife or pizza cutter, cut the round, faced tortillas into a ghost shape and place a piece of parchment paper in between each ghost tortilla so they don’t stick prior to cooking.
You can either cook the tortillas as you press them or press them all and then cook them. Your choice. Either way, when you’re ready, heat a large cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat and lightly spray with coconut oil. The skillet is ready when a few beads of water dropped in the pan sizzle immediately.
Cook as many tortilla ghosts at a time as can fit in the pan (without overlapping) for 1 to 2 minutes, until the bottom is just beginning to show brown, toasted spots. Place your cooked ghosts on a paper towel–lined plate to cool while you cook the other tortillas. When you’re finished, spread the heated tortillas over a wire rack to cool completely.
While they cool, preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Bake the chips on a parchment-lined baking sheet for 8 to 10 minutes, flipping about halfway through, until they are browned and crisped up. Remove and place them back on the wire rack to cool, and then enjoy immediately or within a few hours of making. Leftover chips can be saved in an airtight container for up to 2 days and reheated in the oven to re-crisp as needed.
Note: You can make the chips bigger or smaller depending on how many you wanted and what you wanted to use them for. If you’d rather have just ghost tortillas instead of chips, you could skip the baking step and stuff them full of taco ingredients instead.
Masa FLOUR and masa HARINA are different in that masa HARINA is ground from corn kernels soaked in lime water and makes a much better and less brittle tortilla and chip. We have found masa harina for cheap at local Mexican markets and grocery stores, and, of course, online at Amazon.