Pita Bread - Pitta Bread

Homemade Pita Bread (in British English, pitta bread) is so much better than store-bought and really doesn't take much active time once you get your moves down. I especially like it with just a little whole wheat flour (as in my recipe below), but I was out so just used all unbleached all-purpose flour this time. Still delicious!

Having made it both in the oven and on the stovetop, I get the best results with the oven. But if you've never made pita bread, try it both ways; you might get your best results with the stovetop. One way I've not tried, and plan to next time, is to bake them six at a time on a preheated heavy-duty sheet pan.

Mr. Delightful likes pita bread sandwiches, but not the sandwiches I made today! He refuses to eat "mushy" foods like baba ghanoush or hummus. I put a schmear of hummus on both sides of the pockets and filled them with thinly sliced tomatoes and cucumbers and shredded carrot. Love it!

And I made a wonderful discovery today! Besides being out of whole wheat flour, I was out of tahini; so I decided to try my hummus with peanut butter (organic natural - the kind you have to stir - peanut butter), and it worked! Do you like to try substitutions or would you drag your lazy carcass out to the shops to get the proper ingredients?!

Pita Bread - Pitta Bread

(Makes 12)

2 3/4 cups (13.75 ounces/390 grams) unbleached all-purpose flour 

3/4 cup (3.75 ounces/106 grams) whole wheat flour 

1 1/2 teaspoons sugar 

1 1/2 teaspoons salt 

2 teaspoons (0.25 ounce/7 grams) instant yeast 

1 to 1 1/4 cups (8 to 10 fluid ounces/237 to 296 ml) water, room temperature 

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 

1 In large bowl, stir together the two* flours, removing 1/4 cup of the unbleached flour to use for kneading. Stir in sugar, salt and instant yeast. With dough whisk or spoon, stir in the oil and 1 cup of the water until thoroughly combined, gradually adding more water only if needed. Stir for a minute. The dough should be "shaggy," soft but not too wet. 

* The batch photographed was made with all unbleached flour because I was out of whole wheat. 

2 Turn dough out onto lightly floured (from the reserved 1/4 cup) surface, and knead for 8 to 10 minutes, adding only enough flour to keep dough from being "too" sticky. It should be sticky, but not sticky enough to come off on your hands or the counter. 

3 Put into a lightly oiled bowl (I use a 2-quart glass measure so that I can measure the rise), cover and refrigerate overnight. 

Note: The long, slow rise not only makes the bread more flavorful, this timing allows you to make the dough on a busy weeknight. Example: Make the dough Friday evening, refrigerate it overnight, bake the pitas the next day or evening (taking the dough out of the refrigerator about 3 hours before you plan to bake the pitas). 

4 Bring dough to room temperature (about 1 1/2 to 2 hours), knead lightly just a few strokes, divide into 12 equal pieces. I actually weigh the dough and divide the weight by 12 (which came to about 70 grams, or about 2.5 ounces). If you're not as obsessive as I am, you might just eyeball it.

5 Roll each piece into a smooth ball, place fairly close together on your countertop and cover with a damp tea towel or an overturned bowl; allow to rest for 10 minutes. 

6 Meanwhile, move oven rack to lowest position. Place a pizza stone, cast iron pizza pan or griddle or a heavy-duty baking sheet in the oven, and preheat to 475F/245C/Gas9 for 30 minutes. 

7 Roll dough balls out on a lightly floured surface to rounds about 3/16 inch (or 1/2 cm) thick (about 6 to 7 inches/15 to 18 cm in diameter), making sure they are evenly thick all over. Cover with a damp tea towel and leave for 20 minutes. 

8 Quickly place as many pitas as will fit on the hot stone, keeping the oven open as short a time as possible. Cook until they puff up, about a minute; flip with tongs or spatula and cook about another minute. Loosely wrap in a tea towel while you continue to cook pitas. 

Note: The pitas should be soft, not crisp, and pale, with only a few brown speckles. Keeping them covered will keep them soft as well as warm. 

9 Serve, covered, in napkin-lined basket. Or let cool completely, wrapped in tea towel, before wrapping and freezing.