Makes 8 pitas
3 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 Tablespoon sugar or
honey
1 packet yeast
1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cups
water, roughly at room temperature
2 tablespoons olive
oil, vegetable oil, butter, or shortening
Mix the yeast in with
the flour, salt, and sugar. Add the olive oil and 1 1/4 cup water and stir
together with a wooden spoon. All of the ingredients should form a ball. If
some of the flour will not stick to the ball, add more water [I had to add a
bit more water].
Once all of the
ingredients form a ball, place the ball on a work surface, such as a cutting
board, and knead the dough for approximately 10 minutes. If you are using an
electric mixer, mix it at low speed for 10 minutes.
When you are done
kneading the dough, place it in a bowl that has been lightly coated with oil.
Form a ball out of the dough and place it into the bowl, rolling the ball of
dough around in the bowl so that it has a light coat of oil on all sides. Cover
the bowl with plastic wrap or a damp kitchen towel and set aside to rise until
it has doubled in size, approximately 90 minutes.
When it has doubled
in size, punch the dough down to release some of the trapped gases and divide
it into 8 pieces. [I used a kitchen scale to ensure they were all about the same
size.] Roll each piece into a ball, cover the balls with a damp kitchen towel,
and let them rest for 20 minutes. This step allows the dough to relax so that
it’ll be easier to shape.
While the dough is
resting, preheat the oven to 450 degrees. 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 you are
preheating the oven. 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 and 1/4 inch thick – 6 inches
in diameter. If the dough does not stretch sufficiently you can cover it with
the damp towel and let it rest 5 to 10 minutes before trying again.
Place discs on a lightly
greased baking sheet 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 [I made 2 at a
time on my baking stone]. They should be baked through and puffy after 3
minutes. If you want your pitas to be crispy and brown you can bake them for an
additional 3 to 5 minutes, but it isn’t necessary
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