Pita Bread

It's been far too long since I posted, I know. Life got a little crazy--finishing up Joy School for the year, getting ready to move, starting my business, and a hundred million other things. But I've still been making lots of new recipes, so there are plenty saved up to share. I wanted to start with this pita bread because I've had it saved in my file for a long time, but anytime there's a bread recipe, I automatically think it's going to be difficult and take forever. Not so! This one is very simple--you add all of the ingredients in the first few minutes, and while there's some wait time, it's not nearly as long as you would think. And it ends up being another one of those "I can never buy these from the store again because these are SO much better homemade" recipes, which is another reason it's so nice that it's a fairly simple recipe. We made these to use with Beef and Vegetable Pitas, and wow is all I can say.

Printable Recipe

Pita Bread

from Annie's Eats

3 cups flour, plus 1/2-3/4 cup more as needed
1 ½ tsp. salt
1 tbsp. sugar or honey
1 packet instant (RapidRise) yeast (this equals 2 1/4 tsp.)
1 ¼ to 1 ½ cups water, roughly at room temperature
2 tbsp. olive oil, vegetable oil, butter or shortening 

Mix the flour, salt, sugar and yeast.

Add the olive oil and 1 ¼ cup water and stir together with a wooden spoon until it forms a ball.  If some of the flour will not stick to the ball, add more water.

Place the ball on a work surface, and knead the dough for approximately 10 minutes. If you are using an electric mixer, mix it at low speed for 10 minutes. As the dough is mixing, continue to add flour, a tablespoon or two at a time, until the dough clears the sides of the bowl and is tacky but not sticky.  (I add a significant amount of flour, so don’t be afraid to keep adding more until you reach the right consistency.)

Place the dough in a bowl that has been lightly coated with oil. Form a ball out of the dough and  roll it around so that it has a light coat of oil on all sides. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a damp towel and set aside to rise until it has doubled in size, approximately 90 minutes.

When it has doubled in size, punch the dough down to release some of the trapped gases and divide it into 8 equal pieces.  

Roll each piece into a ball, cover the balls with a damp kitchen towel, and let them rest for 20 minutes. This allows the dough to relax so that it will be easier to shape.

Spread a light coating of flour on a work surface and place one of the balls of dough there. Sprinkle a little bit of flour on top of the dough and use a rolling pin or your hands to stretch and flatten the dough. You should be able to roll it out to between ¼ – 1/8” thick – 6 inches in diameter. If the dough does not stretch sufficiently, you can cover it with the damp towel and let it rest 5-10 minutes before trying again.
 
Place discs on a lightly greased baking sheet or parchment paper and let rise, uncovered, until barely doubled in thickness, about 30-45 minutes.

While the dough is rising, preheat the oven to 450°. If you have a baking stone, put it in the oven to preheat as well. If you do not have a baking stone, turn a cookie sheet upside down and place it on the middle rack of the oven while it is preheating. This will be the surface on which you bake your pitas.

Once the dough has risen, open the oven and place as many pitas as you can fit on the hot baking surface. They should be baked through and puffy after 3 minutes. If you want your pitas to be crispy and brown you can bake them for an additional 3 to 5 minutes, but it isn’t necessary.

Makes 8 pitas