After trying some hot, fresh, home baked pita you are not going to want to go back to the floppy store bought crud. Pita is easy to make and does not involve any complicate rising or shaping. It is pretty much just some pizza dough without toppings. The only tricky part is rolling the dough out. You want to make it thin, but not too thin. If it is too thin, it will not develop the puff and the pouch. I would aim for about an 1/8″. No matter what the results are damn tasty!
Pita Bread
From: King Arthur Flour
- 3 cups (12 3/4 ounces) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
- 2 teaspoons instant yeast
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1 cup (8 ounces) water
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoons King Arthur Easy-Roll Dough Improver
(Optional, but it relaxes the dough’s gluten, allowing you to roll it into pita shapes much more easily. I used a 1/2 tsp of baking powder instead)
MANUAL METHOD: In a large mixing bowl, or in the bowl of an electric mixer, combine all of the ingredients, mixing to form a shaggy dough. Knead the dough, by hand (10 minutes) or by machine (5 minutes) till it’s smooth. Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl, and allow it to rest for 1 hour; it’ll become quite puffy, though it may not double in bulk.
BREAD MACHINE METHOD: Place all of the ingredients into the pan of your machine, program the machine for Manual or Dough, and press Start. About 10 minutes before the end of the second kneading cycle, check the dough and adjust its consistency as necessary with additional flour or water; the finished dough should be soft and supple.
- Turn the dough onto a lightly oiled work surface and divide it into 8 pieces. Roll two to four of the pieces into 6-inch circles (the number of pieces depends on how many rolled-out pieces at a time can fit on your baking sheet).
- Place the circles on a lightly greased baking sheet and allow them to rest, uncovered, for 15 minutes, while you preheat your oven to 500°F. (Keep the unrolled pieces of dough covered. Roll out the next batch while the first batch bakes.)
- Place the baking sheet on the lowest rack in your oven, and bake the pitas for 5 minutes; they should puff up. (If they haven’t puffed up, wait a minute or so longer. If they still haven’t puffed, your oven isn’t hot enough; raise the heat for the next batch.) Transfer the baking sheet to your oven’s middle-to-top rack and bake for an additional 2 minutes, or until the pitas have browned.
- Remove the pitas from the oven, wrap them in a clean dish towel (this keeps them soft), and repeat with the remaining dough. Store cooled pitas in an airtight container or plastic bag.
Yield: 8 pitas.
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