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Best Homemade Pita Bread
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Best Homemade Pita Bread

Authentic, homemade pita bread. Enjoy your own soft, light, and delicious pita bread, warm straight out of the oven with thisfoolproof recipe
Course Bread
Cuisine Mediterranean, Middle Eastern
Keyword Bread, Pita
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 16 minutes
Resting Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Servings 8 Pita Breads
Author Elena Paravantes

Ingredients

  • 1 cup (240 ml) water
  • 2 tsp sugar
  • 2 tsp dry yeast
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2 cups (240 g) all purpose flour plus 2-3 tbsp (or a combo of half all-purpose and half whole wheat)
  • 1-2 tbsp olive oil for brushing

Instructions

  • Proof the yeast: In 1 cup warm water 110-115 F (43- 46 C), dissolve the sugar, sprinkle the yeast, and mix gently. Let it sit for 10 minutes, you should see foam and small bubbles appear, that means the yeast is active, if you do not see any bubbles the yeast is past its prime. Try with new yeast.
  • In a bowl mix the flour with the salt: Once the yeast has been proofed, add it to the flour.

Prepare the dough

  • If kneading by hand: Stir with a spoon or spatula until all the ingredients have been combined and you have a piece of dough. Place the piece of dough on a floured surface, sprinkle with some flour and knead 5-6 minutes until you have smooth piece of dough. It will be smooth and a bit of sticky. Be careful not to add too much flour.
  • If you are using a mixer: Place the flour in the mixer, and then in the middle the proofed yeast-water mixture. Mix on low-medium, until the dough begins to unstick from the sides (it may still stick on the bottom). Remove and place on a floured surface and roll into a ball.

Let the Dough Rise

  • Grease a bowl with olive oil and twirl the dough around so it is lightly coated with the olive oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and then with a towel. Place it in a warm space until it doubles in size. (If it is a bit cold-you can turn on the oven at 75 Fahrenheit-30 Celsius).

Shape the dough

  • Once the dough has risen, deflate it a little and place it on a floured surface. Gather it with your hands and bring it together. Separate it in 6-8 pieces.
  • Gently knead each piece for a half a second and roll it into a ball. I place the dough on my working surface, cup my hand and cover the dough (with my hand) keeping the bottom of my palm on the surface and slowing moving my hand in circular motion).
  • Place the balls on a plate or pan, brush with a bit of olive oil and cover with a towel, let them sit for 10 minutes.
  • Pre-Heat your oven to 500 degrees F (260 C), with the pan you are using inside the oven. Make sure your oven is hot when you place the dough on the pan, the oven needs to be hot.
  • Take a dough ball (keep the others covered) and flatten the dough ball with your fingers and then with a rolling pin roll out in a 6-inch circle. Do not overly roll out your dough.

Bake the dough

  • Once you have 2 dough circles ready, place them on the hot pan and place them in the oven. Bake for 3-4 minutes, you should see them puffing up. Remove from the pan and cover with a towel. Repeat with the rest of the balls.
    If baking on the stovetop. Heat the pan for a few minutes until it is hot. Place the dough and heat for about 2 minutes on each side.

Notes

Prepare Pita Ahead, Storing and Freezing

You can make the pita dough ahead of time and store it before baking, let's see how to store.
Storing Pita Dough in the Refrigerator:
Once it has risen and shaped into balls, you can place it in freezer bags and store for about 1 week.
Storing Pita Dough in the Freezer
You can also freeze unbaked pizza dough. Once it has risen and shaped into balls, place them on a pan lined with parchment paper and freeze until solid, then remove and place in freezer bags.
-Storing Baked Pita Bread-
Refrigerator: Once it has been baked and cooled down, place pita in a Ziplock back and store in the refrigerator for up to 5-6 days, on the counter up to 3 days.
Freezer: Put the pitas in a pile, placing a piece of parchment paper between them and put them in an airtight bag. To defrost, just heat up in a toaster.

Gluten Free and Whole Wheat Pita Bread

  • For gluten free pita bread, you just substitute with gluten free flour in the place of regular flour.
  • For whole wheat pita bread, you substitute half of the flour with whole wheat flour.