Does anyone have a short cut recipe for tamales?

It takes me about 2 days to make a christmas batch, of about 10 dozen, but can make a 1 1/2 dozen batch in one day. I would like to hear from anyone anywhere. Thank you in advance.

I found that using my tortilla press to make rounds of the masa dough for filling speeded up that process of wrapping/filling, quite a bit. I just make the rounds between plastic wrap in the press, remove the plastic & lay the rounds onto the cornhusks. It made the masa part more even in thickness.

As for the filling, I make it in the slow cooker.

Now that I live in an area without a lot of Mexicans I have to make the dough from the dried masa harina and it does take a long time to make a batch. At least I can find the dried masa, haven't yet found anywhere locally to get the fresh. The first time I went into a store here and asked for masa, the guy told me the matzoh was with the Jewish food. :eyes:

When I lived in the Bay Area there was a Mexican store/deli run by a family that had a tortilleria down the street from our office and they used to sell masa preparada, both rojo and blanco. You could order it the day before, however many pounds you needed, and then pick it up the next day. Then, once you had your filling cooked and corn husks soaked, it was just a matter of assembly. I really miss that.

I get them from the Corn Maiden tamale factory by LAX. I've tried but I can't make them any better! Mine turn out too sweet, too mushy and altogether too DIFFICULT!