Pita Bread

Dib's's Note:

An inexpensive recipe for pitas/pocket bread.

• Total Time: 3 hrs 3 mins
• Prep Time: 3 hrs
• Cook Time: 3 mins

Ingredients:

Yield: 12 pita br ...

• 3 ½ cups bread flour (plus extra for dusting)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 packet dry active yeast
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1 1⁄3; cups water

Directions:

1. Sift flour and salt together in a large bowl.
2. Combine yeast, sugar and 1/3 cup very warm water-give a quick stir and set aside for 5 minutes to activate yeast.
3. Make a well in the flour/salt mixture and add the yeast, 1 cup warm water and the olive oil.
4. Gently stir to gather dough into a ball-you may need a touch more water-depending on where you live, altitude.
5. Turn out and knead for 10 minutes.
6. Put into a LIGHTLY greased large bowl, cover and place in a warm spot for around 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
7. Punch down and knead to smooth.
8. Cut dough into 12 pieces, form into rounds, roll out and place on a dusted baking sheet, cover and let rest for 45 minutes.
9. Preheat oven to 500F degrees.
10. I use my large cast iron skillet for this part, so I place it in the oven and when really hot I place in two pitas and let bake for around 3 minutes-you can broil for 1 minute if you like, just to get the tops browned.
11. I wrap the cooked pitas in a slightly damp tea towel for a minute or two-then cool and place in plastic bags.
12. This process can also be done on a cooking sheet.

Reviews

[Dancer^]

These turned out wonderful, I made them last week and froze 2. They came out perfect as well. They do taste better then store bought. I will be making these often. Thank you.

[najwa]

These were good .. will make them again, they taste a lot better than store-bought pita!!

[tater]

I wish I could give you more than five stars for this recipe! These do take a little time - but they're worth every minute. I used whole wheat flour and the taste is incredible! While time consuming, they were very easy to make and 11 out of the 12 came out absolutely perfect with a great pocket. I may never buy store pitas again!