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 pre-heat 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.
