This Easy Pita Bread has ruined me for the store-bought variety forever. I don’t have a ton of experience baking bread from scratch and it’s an area of my kitchen abilities that I’ve been wanting to improve upon for a while. Since making a few batches of these pretzels and making homemade pizza dough more often, I’m getting more comfortable with the process of allowing enough time for homemade dough to rise and also kneading the dough both with my KitchenAid mixer and by hand. There is something relaxing about the whole process. But I’m still just at the beginning…
In the meantime, this easy pita bread is essentially like making individual pizzas without the toppings. The thinness of the dough allows the steam to do its work and puff-up the top of the dough, allowing for the pocket you are used to seeing in a pita round. They look rustic, and the pocket is not exact like in a store brand, but I promise the taste more than makes up for uniformity.
Again, I looked to Annie’s Eats for my initial recipe and she blogged the recipe from Brown Eyed Baker. I used my pitas for falafel “gyros”. My falafel was a simple boxed mix made by Fantastic Foods that you add water to, then saute the patties in olive oil. I combined the falafel patties with some caramelized grape tomatoes and onions, feta cheese and a quick tzatziki sauce. Other than allowing time for the dough to rise, this was actually a quick and simple dinner and my whole family loved it.
Easy Pita Bread
Ingredients
- 3 c. all-purpose flour + 1/2 - 3/4 c. as needed
- 1 1/2 t. salt
- 1 T. sugar
- 1 packet instant yeast
- 1 1/4 c. water room temperature
- 2 T. olive oil
Instructions
- In the bowl of your stand mixer, whisk together the flour, salt, sugar and yeast. Attach the bowl to your mixer fitted with the dough hook. Add the olive oil to the water, then pour the mixture slowly into the flour mixture with the mixer running on low speed.
- Allow the dough hook to knead the mixture on low speed for about 8 minutes. I added the extra flour, 1 tablespoon at a time until the dough began to pull away from the sides of the bowl. Turn off the mixer and dump the dough onto a lightly floured counter. Sprinkle more flour on top of the dough and knead by hand for 2-3 more minutes. I had to add a little more flour at this stage to keep it from sticking to the counter. Do not be afraid to add a little more flour as the dough was very forgiving.
- Place the dough ball into a lightly oiled bowl, turning the dough so all sides are covered with the oil. Cover bowl with a towel and allow dough to rise until doubled in size, about 2 hours.
- Lightly press down dough in the bowl to release the air, place dough on the counter and using a knife or bench scraper to cut, divide the dough into eight equal portions. Roll each portion into a ball and cover the balls with a clean, damp kitchen towel to let them rest for about 20 minutes, which allows the dough to be shaped more easily.
- While dough is resting, preheat oven to 450 degrees and place a pizza stone or inverted sheet pan on the middle rack of the oven, this will the surface you bake your pitas on.
- Lightly flour the counter again and working one at a time, lightly flour each dough ball and use a rolling pin to roll each into a 6-inch circle. Place each round of dough on sheet pans lined with parchment paper or silpat baking mats (I was able to fit four rounds on each of my sheet pans) and allow to rise, uncovered for 30-45 minutes, until each is barely doubled in thickness.
- Open the oven and place two pitas at a time onto your baking surface. They should be baked through and puffy in 3-5 minutes. Use a spatula to remove and continue the process until all pitas are baked.
Notes
KirstenNB says
Love the Pita Bread recipe! Your step-by-step directions make this an easy recipe to use!
Today I made my second batch and made a few alterations. I used half all-purpose/half whole wheat flour and added 1 Tbs Italian Seasoning. It’s delish!
I shared a photo of it on my blog, and linked back to your recipe. Come on over and check it out… http://goo.gl/TupidX
foodtasticmom says
Hey Kirsten! So happy the recipe worked well for you. I’m glad the substitution of half whole wheat flour was a success… I’m a fan of using whole grains whenever possible. This was my very first attempt at pita as well, so I just followed the original recipe with all white flour. I think next time I’ll try it your way. Thanks so much for the link back to my post!
Joanna says
Hi, is it possible to make your pitta bread without using sugar? I want to try a sugar (and sugar substitute) free diet, it would be great to know if it works without it.
foodtasticmom says
Joanna, I think it should be just fine. It’s only a tablespoon, and while I haven’t tested it specifically without it, I don’t think that amount should affect measurements on anything else. Let me know how it turns out!
Joanna says
Great, thank you! 🙂
thriftedfinds says
Found this pita recipe on Pinterest and made some. It’s sooo good and easy! My whole family loved it. I’m about to make it again. Thanks for sharing!
Ricardo says
Great recipe! Thanks.
foodtasticmom says
You’re welcome! Thanks for the positive comment.