Pita Bread
Posted On 26 January 2021
Fun fact: In England it’s spelled Pitta Bread and pronounced accordingly — it’s “pit – tah.” In the US I’ve always heard it as “pea – tah.” I learned this watching the Great British Baking Show. And then I decided to try my hand at making it.
Pita Bread
Ingredients
- 165 grams warm water (~¾ cup)
- 6 grams instant yeast (1 teaspoon)
- 250 grams bread flour (2 cups)
- 5 grams kosher salt (1 teaspoon)
- 9 grams olive oil (2 teaspoons)
- 20 grams nigella seeds (optional)
Instructions
- Put the warm water in a bowl. If using instant yeast, add and move on to the next step. If using active (non instant) yeast, add to the warm water and let sit for 10-15 minutes until bubbly.
- Add the flour and salt. Mix with a spatula or spoon until a shaggy dough forms.
- Use your hand (I wear a glove) to knead the dough just until the flour is absorbed into the water and you have a sticky ball. Should take 30-60 seconds. Drizzle a little olive oil over the top, turn to coat, cover the bowl with a tea towel — or a shower cap — and move to a warm place to rise for 90 minutes or so.
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead a bit to form a ball. Divide into 6 equal pieces — each portion should weigh 71-72 grams, 75-76 grams if using the nigella seeds. Using flour to prevent sticking, ball up each portion. Cover with oiled plastic wrap and a tea towel and let rest 30 minutes.
- Put a baking stone in the oven and heat to 475°F or 450°F Convection (if your stone will take it, go higher, but then you may have issues with the parchment).
- Flatten each ball and gently roll out with a rolling pin until you have a 6" round. Do not be so aggressive with flattening to lose the air pockets. Put each round on a piece of parchment paper and let rest for 15-20 minutes.
- When the oven has heated, use a peel to put one round at a time — parchment paper and all — onto the baking stone. Should be able to do 2-3 at a time. After 5-10 minutes the bread should be lightly golden and puffed up. Remove, move to a towel-lined bowl, and close the towel to keep the heat in. Repeat with the remaining bread.
Notes
- I buy parchment paper in pre-cut sheets that fit a half-sheet-pan perfectly. Fold one of these in half lengthwise, then fold into thirds, cut along the folds and you should have six pieces that will fit these pita perfectly.
- If you don’t have a stone, you can do these one at a time in a cast iron skillet heated with the oven.
- If they don’t puff up enough, your stone or baking surface may not be hot enough. Let it heat up for 30 minutes or more to get really hot. That is, just because the oven is up to 475°F or whatever doesn’t mean the stone is.
- For the record, I’ve made these a few times and it seems that there’s always one of the six that just refuses to puff up very well.
