This Pita Bread is simply made with flour, yeast, sugar, salt, olive oil and just a cup of warm water. The whole process takes about 2 hours from start to finish, but when done, you'll have delicious, handmade pita bread that no store-bought version can rival.
Check if your yeast is active by stirring half of the warm water with 1 tsp active dry yeast and 1 tbsp sugar. Leave undisturbed for about 10 minutes. If the mixture bubbles and rises slightly, the yeast is good to use. Otherwise, discard and do not start the recipe until new, unexpired yeast is obtained.
Knead the dough: Next, in a mixing bowl fitted with a hook attachment, combine 2 1/2 cups of flour, 1 tsp salt, the remaining 1/2 cup warm water and the proofed yeast mixture. Knead on low-medium speed until the dough is smooth, elastic and tacky to the touch, about 10 minutes. If you have no stand mixer, you can knead the dough by hand, for about the same amount of time.
Now, oil the bowl and the dough with 1 tbsp of oil, cover with a clean kitchen towel and place in a warm (not above 100F), draft-free place. An oven with the light on is a great place for this. So is the top of the refrigerator. Allow the dough to proof for about 1-2 hours or until doubled in size.
Invert the dough onto a floured surface and divide it into 8 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a ball, then flatten into disks. Using a rolling pin, roll each pita dough disk on a floured surface to no more than 1/4 inch of thickness. Flour your surface as needed, but do not use too much.
Allow the rolled pitas to proof for about 30 minutes. After 15 minutes into proofing, preheat oven to 500F (or as hot as your oven gets) with a baking stone or a cast-iron skillet in there.
Then, quickly open the oven and gently drop one pita dough disk top side down on the baking stone or cast iron and watch it rise into a pocket, about 3 minutes. You don't need to bake both sides as this typically dries the pita out too much. For a more fluffy and moist pita, only bake on it on one side. Then, using tongs, gently remove it from the oven and cover with a tea towel.
Repeat with the rest of the dough.
Use the pita pocket to make a sandwich, or cut it into wedges and serve with your favorite dip.
Copyright © %YEAR% Let The Baking Begin