Pita Bread

Don't mind the Penguin Mug Collection in
the background!

I am starting to think that I need a section just for breads.... I will have to look into that!

Our new bread discover is homemade pita bread.  I should clarify that I like to roll mine super thin so they are more like baked naan than pita but boy are they yummy!  The reason that pita bread has that delicious pocket is that the heat at which it is baked, and the heat of the stone it is baked on, is so high that it turns the moisture in the dough to steam and causes air pockets.  Thus a pita pocket!  Now if you roll your dough to less than a quarter inch - yes it is very easy to do that - you get more of a bubbly naan like bread instead of a puffed pocket.  Both are super yummy and SUPER easy to make!

I am also going to throw out there that these can be made in a fry pan ON the stove as well!

Pita Bread

• 2 1/2 c Flour
• 2 t Salt
• 2 t Yeast
• 1 c Warm Water
• Oil for the bowl

1. Mix together your salt and flour in a large bowl.
2. Mix the yeast and water in a small bowl and let sit for about 5-10 minutes.
3. Combine the yeast water and flour mixture and stir until a dough forms.  Add a little more flour is your dough is too sticky.
4. Lightly flour a work surface (the less flour you use the better) and knead the dough for at least 5 minutes but no more than 10.  The dough will lose it's stickiness and knead up well - it isn't that hard to knead either.
5. Oil the mix bowl and place the kneaded dough ball back in the oiled bowl and roll around to oil the dough.
6. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place in a draft-free place to allow the dough to rise.
7. Once the dough has doubled in size (1-2 hours) punch it down and divide into 10 pieces.
8. Preheat your oven to 450 F and place your baking stone or baking sheet in the oven while it is preheating.
9. Roll out three of the dough pieces into circles about 1/4 inch thick.  Keep the remaining dough pieces under the plastic wrap while you are rolling out your circles.
10. Once the oven and stone are preheated place your three pita circles on the stone in the oven and bake for 3-5 minutes.  They won't stick to the stone.  If they are thick enough they will puff up like a pita, even if yours do not puff they are still DELICIOUS!!  You can top the flat pitas with sauce and cheese to make a very yummy pizza!
11. While the first three are baking roll out another three pieces of dough into circles.  Once the first three are done baking, remove them from the stone and place them on cooling racks.  Immediately place the next three circles on the stone to bake for 3-5 minutes.  Continue this until all the dough is used.
12. Store the un-eaten pitas - if there are any - in an air tight container at room temp.  I can't really tell you how long they will last seeing there have never been any left after the second day in my house.
13. ENJOY

I cannot stress how WONDERFULLY DELICIOUS and east to make these pitas are.  I have found myself making batches just to make pita chips.  They really do make a wonderful personal pizza base and at 125 calories per pita you can afford to eat it as a pizza shell.  (That is 125 calories per pita if you divide your dough into 10 pieces.)

What are you favorite things to do with pita bread?  Mine is peanut butter but that isn't really a surprise - peanut butter goes with everything!