Pita recipe

I based my recipe pretty closely off this one, with some changes

300 g flour* (about 2 1/2 cups), plus more for kneading
2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp yeast**
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 cup warm water (about 105F)

* At least 225 g of this needs to be good, high quality white bread flour, as it has the protein necessary to get a nice chewy texture. The rest can be whatever flavored flour you want (I used 75g of whole wheat flour, but you could use rye too). Don’t get TOO crazy with it, but you’ve got options. If you want traditional “white” pita, just use all bread flour.

** If you’re using active dry yeast, you need to mix it with the warm water and let it sit for about 5 minutes first. If you’re using instant (bread machine or RapidRise) yeast, just mix it in like the recipe says

In a large mixing bowl, put about a third of the flour, the salt, and the sugar, and mix to combine. If you’re using instant yeast, add it too. Add the oil and water (that has the yeast in it, if you’re using active dry). Stir with a wooden spoon till you’ve got a nice batter. Add flour a quarter cup at a time till you’ve got a nice shaggy ball. See the original recipe link for a picture. Turn it out on a floured work surface.

Knead for 6 - 10 minutes, adding flour as necessary to keep the dough ball from sticking to the board. Keep it as moist as possible — while this bread does have yeast in it, it’s just for flavor, and the pita gets its rise from steam, so you want the dough as moist as possible while still workable. Once the dough is smooth and elastic, form it into a disc and cut into 8 equal pieces and shape them into balls. Place them under a damp towel and allow to rest for 20 - 30 minutes. They won’t rise in this time frame, but don’t worry. They don’t need to.

While the dough is resting, preheat your oven to 500 F, and move a rack to the lowest position. Get out an aluminum half sheet pan. If you don’t have one, create a double-thickness length of tin foil about 15 x 20 inches.

Once the dough has rested, take each dough ball and pound it flat, and, with a rolling pin, roll it into a disc about 6 inches in diameter and 3/16” thick. The thickness is important — you want it pretty damn thin. You’ll probably need to flour the board a tiny bit to keep them from sticking.

If you’re using the half sheet pan, turn it upside down. Place each dough disc on the bottom of the pan (or tin foil), with no more than 4 per pan. Place in the oven for about 6 minutes. If you did everything perfectly, each one will puff up beautifully, giving you the pockets that pita is so known for. If they don’t puff up, though … it’s not the end of the world. You’ll never have 100% of your pitas puff properly. Take the unpuffed ones, cut them up, toss with oil and seasoning, and put in a 350 oven for 10 or 15 minutes for fresh pita chips. Or you know, like the original recipe says, stuff them down your gullet and pretend they never existed.