Pita Bread

Pita bread is usually the first thing that comes to my mind when I think of Middle Eastern food. It is always served with shish kabob, shawarma and is inseparable companion of hummus. Today pita actually has many more uses, you can roll it into wrap or stuff it with whatever you want. I like to stuff mine with mixed lettuces, tomatoes, cucumber and feta for a delicious, healthy lunch. It so widely available in any supermarket that no one even thinks about making it at home but trust me it tastes so much better than the generic type that occupies store shelves. I’m sure you easily notice the difference in taste between store brand pita and restaurant quality pita. Homemade pita bread is as good as any pita you can find in an Middle Eastern food spot.

Ingredients (8 pita breads):

2 1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 cup warm water
1/4 oz dry active yeast
1 tsp sugar
1/2 Tbsp salt
1 Tbsp olive oil

In a glass combine 1 packet active dry yeast with 1 tsp sugar and 1/3 cup warm water. Mix and leave for 15 min for the yeast to start working.

In a bowl mix together 2 1/2 cup all purpose flour with 1/2 Tbsp salt. Make a well in the middle and add yeast mixture. Start drawing flour into the yeast. Very slowly add the rest of the warm water and incorporate with the flour.

When quite uniform transfer to a floured board and start kneading for 10 minutes until it’s elastic, smooth and not sticky anymore. You might have to keep adding a bit more flour on a board while kneading.

Form a ball with your dough, pour some olive oil on your hands and coat the dough. Place the dough in a bowl, cover and leave for 1.5 to 2 hours to rise.

After that time take out the dough and divide into 8 equal parts. Form balls and put on a floured board , cover with towel and leave for another 20 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 500°F. The oven has to be very very hot before you can bake pita breads. Arrange 2 or 3 on a cookie sheet and bake 6 minutes on a bottom rack. Do not be tempted to open the oven before that time or pita breads might not get puffy.

Note: In the beginning my pita breads weren’t coming out very puffy but I’ve noticed that when I sprayed the walls of the oven with water right before putting breads inside, they we coming out puffier. Also oven should be really hot so preheat it a while before baking pitas, not just right before.

12 Responses to "Pita Bread"

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michele
August 11, 2010 at 9:54 am

Good trick about the water in the oven!
Jacob's Kitchen
August 11, 2010 at 9:56 am

I JUST watched Julia Child make homemade pita bread. I had never thought of making my own. But you and she make it seem very easy, and I am sure much more delicious than store bought. I will have to give these a try! =) Thanks for sharing!
admin
August 11, 2010 at 10:24 am

Jacob, I just read Julia Child’s recipe, next time I’ll probably try to adopt her recipe for whole wheat pita, she leaves her dough growing for 8 hours. Some people in comments claimed that they left the dough to rise overnight. Honestly I didn’t even know that you can leave the dough for so long but her recipe looks very interesting like all of her recipes.
Dana
August 11, 2010 at 10:50 am

I love fresh pita and these look so fluffy and wonderful! I wonder if this would work with whole wheat flour, too?
admin
August 11, 2010 at 11:04 am

As I said I read Julia Child’s recipe for whole wheat pita bread and she left it to rise for 8 hours, so I’m assuming it would have to be rising longer time if you wanted to do it with whole wheat flour.
May Ling Wu
August 11, 2010 at 2:15 pm

Never thought of making. Video makes it a lot easier to follow.
Evan @swEEts
August 11, 2010 at 6:45 pm

I didn’t realize it was so easy to make your own pita bread.. good to know
admin
August 11, 2010 at 7:04 pm

It is easy but might be very tricky, I made once before whole wheat pita and they didn’t puff, they were still very tasty and great to use with hummus and other dips but since there was no pocket I couldn’t stuff them.
Kim - Liv Life
August 11, 2010 at 10:51 pm

I love pita bread! We have been making it for years and I’m always amazed at how big the bread puffs. I haven’t made it in a while, I’m so glad you reminded me!
Jacob's Kitchen
August 19, 2010 at 11:08 am

Yeah the new cooking channel has been playing all of the Julia episodes, which I have just loved re watching. Her strategy for all of her breads seem to be a long rising time. (it seems especially important in her epic french bread recipe)She says that is where the flavor is really developed. I have found that recipes that call for eggs often do get a slightly fermented flavor when rising too long, even in the fridge. But without them, I often think the longer the rise the better the bread. Let us know if/when you give the whole wheat ones a try. =)
admin
August 19, 2010 at 11:13 am

Unfortunately we don’t have TV in our home so I can’t watch Julia but that’s going to change soon, next week we’re finally getting TV after contemplating for a few months should we or should we not, it’s a time stealer, but at the end TV won and I can’t wait cuz finally I’ll be able to watch cooking channels. Yay viva Food network
Caroline Foster
August 24, 2010 at 8:59 am

Thank you for posting this wonderful video. I am now inspired to make our own pita!

Caroline