Homemade pita

The first thing you do is dissolve 2 1/4 teaspoons yeast and 1 tablespoon of sugar in 1 cup of warm water.  Wait about 10 minutes or so for it to bubble up.



Add the yeast to 4 cups of flour, 2 tablespoons of olive oil, and 1 teaspoon salt.


The original recipe says to knead the dough with a dough hook for about 10 minutes.  Now, I am one of those unfortunate people who don't have a stand mixer.  I keep hoping that someday I'll win one of my fellow bloggers' giveaways, but until that day I'll have to do without.  So, I pretended my hand was a dough hook and dove in!



As you can see, my dough is dry.  That's why you add another 1/2 cup water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the dough forms a slightly sticky ball.  Like this...



To rise, pour a little olive oil into a large bowl, and roll the dough in the oil until it's got a nice coating (see above).  Cover and let it rise until doubled (allow 1 1/2 to 2 hours).  

There are two different ways to shape the bread.  One way is to divide the dough into 8-10 portions and roll out individually.  But, the blog I read suggested rolling out the dough and using a bowl to cut out rounds.  I decided to try this method...it intrigued me.


I liked this method!  My pita ended up very, very round.  The only problem was that I found the scraps incredibly hard to roll back out.  And they didn't puff as well.  Next time I think I might just get a cookie cutter and make fun pita shapes out of the scraps.  Imagine dipping hummus with a little snowman...fun!

Let the dough rounds rise for a few minutes (10-15) while you preheat the oven to 500 degrees.  But, here's the trick to making this bread.  You need to put the cookie sheets in the oven while you preheat it.  You want your cookie sheet to be 500 degrees when you put the pita on...that's what gives the pita it's pocket.

So, once your oven and your cookie sheet are preheated, pull the cookie sheet out and quickly put pita rounds on it.  Put it back in the oven for about 3-6 minutes until all of the pita have puffed up and formed pockets.  Keep doing this until all of your pita have been cooked.


That's it!  It's incredible!  Only six ingredients, a few hours of rising (that don't require my undivided attention), and then six minutes in the oven!  I love it...


These taste as good as they look.  So far, I've had mine with egg, hashbrowns, and salsa stuffed inside...yum!  And, my favorite, a seasoned chicken and peppers pita...doubly delicious!


Homemade Pita

2 1/4 t yeast
1 1/2 C warm water
1 T sugar
4 C flour (I used all-purpose)
1-2 T olive oil
1 t salt

Dissolve yeast and sugar in 1 cup of warm water. Allow to bubble up. Add to flour, olive oil, and salt in bowl of mixer. Knead with dough hook for 10 minutes. Add additional water, tablespoon by tablespoon, until dough forms a slightly sticky ball.  Place dough in large bowl coated with olive oil; roll dough in oil until coated.  Cover and let rise until doubled.

Shape bread into 10 rounds (5-6 inches across).  Allow to rise for another 10-15 minutes.  Preheat oven to 500 degrees with cookie sheets inside.  Place dough on hot cookie sheets and bake at 500 degrees for 3-6 minutes, or until pita have puffed.

Note: These go stale pretty quickly, so the best way to store them is in in a bag in the freezer. You can reheat them for 20 seconds in the microwave after spritzing with a little water.

Nutrition: 213 cal, 3g fat, 0g sat fat, 0mg cholesterol, 235mg sodium, 40g carbs, 2g fiber, 1g sugar, 6g protein, 0% vit. A, 0% vit. C, 1% calcium, 14% iron.