Pita Bread

Pita Bread

Just another thing that is better homemade!  Great for sandwiches or dipped in hummus.

Ingredients:
3 cups flour, plus more as needed if dough is sticky
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon sugar or honey
1 packet instant yeast
1 1/4 cups water, at room temperature
2 tablespoons olive oil

Directions:
Mix the yeast in with the flour, salt, and sugar.  Add the olive oil and water and stir together.  I use my kitchen aid with the dough hook.  Once it is  mixed into a ball, knead with dough hook on low speed for about 10 minutes.  Add flour as necessary to reach a tacky but not sticky ball of dough. 
When you are done kneading the dough, place it in a bowl lightly coated with cooking spray, rolling ball of dough around until it is all coated.  Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a damp towel and let rise about 90 minutes, or until doubled in size.
When it has doubled in size, punch the dough down and divide it into 8 equal pieces.  Roll each piece into a ball, cover the balls with a damp kitchen towel and let them rest for 20 minutes. 
While the dough is resting, preheat the oven to 450*F.  If you have a baking stone, put it in the oven to preheat as well.  If you do not have a baking stone, turn a cookie sheet upside down and place it on the middle rack of the oven while it is preheating.  This will be the surface on which you bake your pitas.
After the dough has relaxed for 20 minutes, spread a light coating of flour on a work surface and place one of the balls of dough there.  Sprinkle a little bit of flour on top of the dough and use a rolling pin or your hands to stretch and flatten the dough.  you should be able to roll it out to between 1/8"-1/4" thick, 6 inches in diameter. 
Place disks on a lightly greased baking sheet or parchment paper and let rise, uncovered until barely doubled in thickness, about 30-45 minutes. 
Open the oven and place as many pitas as you can fit on the hot baking surface.  They should be baked through and puffy after 3 minutes. 


By: Annie's Eats