What Kinds of Desserts Can You Make With Tortillas?

Tortillas are typically used for tacos and quesadillas.

From casual to gourmet, you'd be surprised how many different sweet applications tortillas can be used for. Whether you prefer corn or flour, something can be done to transform the leftover tortillas from taco night. When dessert is needed in a pinch, grab a tortilla and let your imagination take over.

On The Go

Kids will love sweet tortilla roll-ups.

For a sweet, mobile dessert, try spreading a few tablespoons of chocolate-hazelnut spread onto a flour tortilla. Add half of a sliced banana and sprinkle with a few peanuts. Roll it up and it's an easy hand-held dessert. Other fillings would work well for this technique: peanut or almond butter with jelly, cream cheese and sliced strawberries, or sliced apples topped with cinnamon sugar.

Tortilla Cups

Tortillas are low in calories and fat.

Cut flour tortillas in wedges and overlap into muffin tins. Bake them at 350 degrees F for 10 minutes and when cooled, serve ice cream inside them. Greek yogurt drizzled with honey and sprinkled with granola would be another option, as would chocolate mousse and whipped cream, or homemade pudding. Chop up leftover cups and use them to top fresh fruit.

Fried

Make a cinnamon sugar mixture by combining 1 cup white sugar and 2 tsp. cinnamon. Fry tortillas in hot oil until brown, then sprinkle the cinnamon sugar over them and serve warm. Top the fried tortillas with whipped cream or ice cream. Use leftover corn tortillas to make sweet tortilla chips. Bake or fry tortilla wedges, then dust them with sugar. Use the chips to dip into sweetened, whipped cream cheese.

Dessert Quesadillas

Pair up sweet and salty: dip tortilla chips into melted chocolate.

Use a large flour tortilla as the base for a sweet quesadilla. Spread the entire tortilla with cream cheese sweetened with a bit of sugar, leaving a small border empty. Place sliced strawberries and bananas on top of the cream cheese mixture. Sprinkle a few chocolate chips on top of the fruit. Fry the quesadilla in a little butter until the cream cheese softens and the chips begin to melt. Scatter more fruit and chocolate chips on top of the quesadilla when it's served.

References

• Taste of Home: Tortilla Dessert Cups
• Cooks.com: Fried Mexican Crispas

Resources

• Cooks.com: Fried Pies
• Paula Deen: Tortilla Dessert Wraps