Pita
This homemade pita bread is so good, it will make you never want to buy store bought pita again!
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Rise Time: 3 hours
Cook Time: 10-15 minutes
Yield: 7 pitas
Ingredients:
330g bread flour
30g whole wheat flour
180g warm water
7g yeast
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp turbinado sugar*
2 tbsp olive oil
Directions:
To make the sponge, combine warm water, 1/2 a cup of flour from the recipe, sugar, and yeast in a bowl and mix.
Cover, and let the sponge rest for 30 minutes to an hour.
Add the rest of the flour, olive oil, and salt to the sponge.
Mix the ingredients until you have a shaggy dough.
Turn the dough out on a very lightly floured work surface and knead for a few minutes by hand until the dough is pretty smooth.*
Cover the dough again and allow it to rise for 2 hours or until it has doubled in size.
Divide dough into 7 pieces, each weighing approximately 80g.
Shape the pieces of dough into balls.
Roll the balls into round disks that are about 1/4” thick.
Cover the pitas with a lint-free tea towel and let them rise for 30 minutes. This second rise is very important because it allows the pitas to form a pocket when they are baked.
Toward the end of the second rise, preheat the oven to 450°F or 230°C. Pitas can also be cooked one at a time on the stove in a cast iron skillet, see note at bottom of the page for details.*
Gently place pitas on a baking sheet or a large cast iron skillet, and bake for 3-5 minutes on one side, or until puffed. Then gently flip the pitas and bake for 1-2 minutes on the other side. You may need to bake them in batches, so as not to crowd the pan.
Place baked pitas in a tea towel while you bake the rest.
Serve immediately or store cooled pitas at room temperature in a plastic bag for up to 3 days.
Enjoy!
Additional Notes:
*I use turbinado sugar because it is less processed, but you can substitute it with regular white sugar.
*Try not to add much additional flour while kneading, otherwise the pitas won’t turn out quite so nicely.
*To cook the pitas in a cast iron skillet on the stove, heat an empty cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Then add one pita to the pan and let it cook for 30 seconds, then flip and allow it to cook on the other side for 1-2 minutes. Flip the pita again and let it cook for an additional 1-2 minutes on the first side. The pita is done, when it has puffed up and formed a pita pocket.
