Why does my tortilla dough never come together?
I have tried making tortillas 4 or 5 times now, always following a trusted recipe exactly and weighing my ingredients out accurately to the gram (King Arthur, Preppy Kitchen, Serious Eats). I've tried butter, lard, and oil as the fat. And each time I try, the dough never gets to the consistency shown in the videos. It stays as a paste that never develops any gluten strength no matter how much I knead it or let it rest. I suspect it's because the first step in every recipe is to work the fat directly to the flour to make a sandy mixture, which I know will inhibit gluten formation. Every recipe I see always starts with this step though. Should I ignore the recipe and try kneading with just flour and water for a while, then adding the fat later like you would with brioche?