Advice on getting my arepas to "puff"?

I just made arepas for the 2nd time ever. Here's the abbreviated version of the recipe I used:

1 cup masarepa
1.5 cups hot water
pinch salt

Mix together dough. Knead, then let set 5 minutes. Roll in to balls and flatten into 1/2" by 3" disks. Fry on a griddle until crusted lightly on both sides, about 6 minutes per side. Finish by baking in a 350F oven for 15min.

These were decent enough, but they didn't "puff" up like I'm used to tortillas doing. As a result, they were pretty dense, and were hard to split so that I could stuff them. They were definitely more dense and fragile than I'm used to restaurant arepas being.

I'm wondering what I can do to make them a bit more airy and easier to split, while still sticking to a traditional recipe.

hotter griddle?
more time on griddle?
make sure they don't cool before baking step (they did)?
this is just what arepas are like?

Advice?

baking cornmeal

Best Answer

Hmmm...

You can try baking powder. Personally, I am not used to puffy arepas, they are usually dense, and different totally from tortillas; but if you want to try, it would go better with baking powder than with yeast.

Try to precook them in the oven (low - mid) before putting them in the 'budare' / griddle.

Sumito Estevez is a well-known venezuelan chef, I would suggest you to check this one.

http://elgourmet.com/receta/tres-desayunos-arepa-granola-y-omelette