Greek Pita Bread

bayousong's Note:

This is the real Greek pita. I found this on a Greek web site. I think it was Susie's Place. This can be used for souvlaki and gyros sndwiches. If you bake this longer, you have pita pockets. The time to make includes rising.

• Total Time: 2 hrs 4 mins
• Prep Time: 2 hrs
• Cook Time: 4 mins

Ingredients:

Yield: 1 batch

• 1 ½ cups warm water
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 4 cups flour
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 ¼ teaspoons yeast

Directions:

1. Combine the yeast and sugar in a small bowl.
2. Add 1/2 cup of the warm water and let it stand for 10 minutes to proof and ferment.
3. Dissolve the salt in the remaining warm water.
4. Put the flour in a large mixing bowl, making a well in the middle and put the dissolved yeast and salt water into it.
5. With your hands, blend it into a dough. You may need a bit more or less water depending on your flour.
6. Knead the dough in the bowl with your fists for 10-15 minutes or until smooth.
7. Pour the oil over the dough and knead it again until the oil is absorbed.
8. Cover the dough in the bowl with a towel and set in a draft free area to rise to double it's bulk (1-2 hours), then punch it down and knead it again for a few minutes.
9. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
10. Cut pieces of dough, egg-size or larger, depending on the size of the pita desired.
11. Shape them into balls with your hands and roll them out over a lightly floured board or pastry cloth to 1/4" thickness.
12. Set 2 or 3 pitas on a lightly oiled cookie sheet and bake them on the lower rack 2-3 minutes each side.
13. Bake longer for pita pockets.
14. Susie's note: Pitas should be white and soft. Wrap the baked pitas in a clean towel until they are cool, then store them in plastic bags to prevent them from drying out. When you are ready to use them, heat a bit of oil in a skillet and fry them a minute or so on each side, or until golden brown. Use them immediately, because they get hard when they dry out.

Reviews

[Dr Nick]

We really enjoyed these with Pork Souvlaki though I would recommend rolling them out thinner, about 1/8th inch, for this. Thanks for posting.

[jln's mom]

I was making a test run on this recipe before I made ground beef gyros tomorrow and WOW , these are easy and perfect. My DH just stole two to go with humus. I will probably have to make a second batch for the gyros tomorrow, I know my kids will eat them once they are home from school. Thanks for sharing.This is definitely a keeper. The only thing I did differently was used my bread machine like another reviewer did and it really made this simple.