Homemade Pita Bread

There's a foot of snow outside my front door and the kids have the day off from school. How to keep them busy and out of trouble? Bake something!! And I recently discovered that homemade pita bread is easy, fun, and delicious. If you need a great activity to do with your kids (or by yourself!) on this snowy day, give this simple recipe a try.

What You Need:

1 tablespoon yeast

1-1/2 cups warm water

1 teaspoon salt

3 to 3-1/2 cups flour

That's it! Flour, salt, yeast, and water. 

Start by putting about 1-1/2 cups of the flour in a large mixing bowl. Set aside the remaining flour to add during kneading. Add the salt and yeast - keep them on separate sides of the bowl! This is a trick I learned from master breadmaker Paul Hollywood, to prevent the salt from retarding the action of the yeast. 

Add the water and mix. I used the bread hooks of my hand mixer, but you could also use regular beaters, or a stand mixer. You'll be mostly kneading by hand once the mixture gets thick. 

Gradually add some of the remaining flour until the dough forms a ball and starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl. Save the excess flour to use during hand kneading. At this point you can start kneading by hand in the bowl. This allows you to incorporate the flour more easily, and keeps your kneading board clean for the final kneading steps.

When most of the flour is incorporated, toss the dough onto a floured board (I used some of the remaining flour) and knead for 8-9 minutes, working in as much of the remaining flour as needed, until dough is smooth and elastic.

Divide the dough into 6 even portions. I formed the ball of dough into a rough rectangle and divided it into six relatively even strips using this cool Pampered Chef tool. I don't know what it's called or what it's for, but it's very handy for dividing dough. You can also use a sharp knife. 

Form the dough into balls. I found that patting them into shape worked better than rolling between my hands. Basically, gently squash the corners until they're rounded. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment and lay out the six dough balls, then cover with a light towel and allow to rest at room temperature for about 15 minutes. 

The dough won't have risen especially noticeably. That's okay. 

Press each ball into a flat disk, about 1/4" thick. It's important to keep the dough evenly thick. I found that stretching it like a pizza tended to result in a thicker edge, but pressing with fingertips gave a fairly even result. Place the disks back onto the parchment, cover, and allow to rest at room temperature for another 30-40 minutes. While they're resting, preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

Again, they won't really rise noticeably, and that's okay. When they're ready to bake, line another rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper, and flip two of the disks (using a spatula, or gently peeling with your fingers) onto the parchment so the dry top side is now on the bottom. Spritz lightly with water, or - as I did - dab the top of the dough with a damp paper towel. 

Bake, two at a time, for 10 minutes, until just barely beginning to brown and nicely puffed. Do not overbake! Occasionally one might fail to puff, but call it a flatbread and it'll still be delicious. 

Use a sharp knife (or the above unnamed baking tool) to cut the pita in half and you'll see that cool pocket! 

The pitas are most delicious when served warm with a little butter tucked into the pocket, or fill with your favorite sandwich filling. Enjoy!