Saturday, May 16, 2009

homemade pita bread



If I would have know how easy it was to make pita bread, I would have started long ago. I LOVE pita bread and go through a bag of the Aladdin's ones per week. I eat them toasted with a salad, or fill with peppers & onions & oregano for a quick lunch. These though, these are worth the effort of making especially when you get to taste one fresh from the oven, perhaps dipped in hummus? Delicious.


Homemade Pita Bread
1 tablespoon yeast
1 ¼ cup warm water
1 teaspoon salt
3- 3 ½ cups whole wheat flour
sea salt to taste

Dissolve yeast in water for about 5 minutes in the bowl of an electric mixer. Add salt and 1 ½ cups flour and with the dough hook, beat to make a batter. Add additional flour until a rough, shaggy mass is formed. Knead 8 minutes until dough is smooth and elastic. Add more flour if it is too sticky.

Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface and divide into six pieces for large pitas or ten for smaller. Form dough into balls, then flatten with a rolling pin into ¼ inch thick discs. Try and keep an even thickness as this is what helps them ‘puff’. Sprinkle with sea salt.



Let rest on the floured surface 30-40 minutes until slightly puffed.

Preheat oven to 425F.With a large spatula, flip the rounds of dough upside down on to a baking sheet. Bake 10-15 minutes until light golden. Stick around for the first five minutes of baking when the pitas perform their magic and puff up from flat pancakes to proud, four inch high pitas.
These store for up to two days well wrapped or frozen for three weeks.

recipe adapted from this site

2 comments:

Amanda said...

So cool! I had no idea it was this easy to make whole-wheat pita. I'll have to try it!

sarah said...

I know - I love when i realize how easy storebought necessities are to make! I just finished my second batch tonight as the first batch only lasted a few days!