Thursday, March 8, 2012

Homemade Pita Bread


 1 Tbsp yeast
1 Tbsp honey
2 1/2 cup warm water
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp olive oil
6-7 cups whole wheat flour (you could probably use white flour, I've never tried, but you'd probably need more of it since wheat flour sucks up moisture better.)

Dissolve yeast and honey in water in a large bowl (or if you're using a mixer, just put it in the mixer bowl, less dishes that way); let stand until bubbly (10ish minutes). Add salt, oil, and 6 cups of flour. Knead 5-10 minutes, adding additional flour if needed. Let rise for 1 hour or until double in bulk. Punch down; divide into 20 equal portions (I usually only divide into 16 because then the pitas are bigger). Roll each portion into a ball; roll out into circles on floured or greased surface so that they are 1/4 an inch thick. Place onto greased baking sheet; let rise for 30 to 45 minutes, then turn over. Bake at 450 degrees for 8-10 minutes, turning halfway through (I usually don't turn them, and they are fine). Pitas should be puffed in the middle and only slightly browned. To keep them soft, place inside paper bag to cool, or eat them warm.

Whenever I make these, I usually double the recipe (I'd triple it if I could, but I think my bread mixer might die if I did) and then I freeze what we don't use that day. These freeze great. Just wrap them individually in tin foil and put them in the freezer. The next time you want some just pop them in the oven, still wrapped, at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. And they come out just as good as fresh baked.

1 comment:

Esther said...

These look great-will definitely have to try them; thanks for sharing!