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I love anything I can put in a pita...what makes me LOVE it even more is when the pitas are homemade. The following recipe I found on Pinterestand our family is so glad that I did. You know when you eat something and love it for what it is ...but it is only just that and nothing more? Well that was Pita's for us... The only time we were ever able to taste a heavenly pita was when we would order a gyro from a little pita shop in town. We loved pitas so much that I decided to make a homemade pita recipe I found online. Although it came very close to restaurant quality it did not fully reach our taste buds like they did when we ate out. Enter in the heavenly recipe I found onAnnie's Eats and we have never looked back.
For Today's Pita Recipe you will need the following: 3 Cups Flour =1/2-3/4 more as needed. 1.5Tsp Salt ( I use our Sea Salt Shaker) 1TBSP Sugar or Honey 2+1/4Tsp Yeast 1.5 Cups Water at room temperature 2TBSP Olive Oil, Vegetable Oil Bowl Mixer (unless you are good at kneading by hand)
First place the yeast in to 1Cup of warm water to activate it. After 5 minutes has passed then toss in the 3C flour, 1.5Tsp salt and 1Tbsp sugar or honey and mix them all together. At this time you will need to put in the olive oil and 1/4 of the remaining water, mixing together as you go. If you find that your dough will not form in to a ball then feel free to add in the remaining 1/4C of water to the mix Once all your ingredients have been mixed and are holding their ball shape it is time to knead it for 10minutes. I use my old fashion bread making unit (you can see its debut in Rocket Rolls) but you can use your hands or even your electric mixer on low for the allotted 10 minutes of kneading. While the dough is mixing you can add in your extra flour a bit at a time up until you reach the extra 3/4C amount or the dough stops sticking to the sides of the bowl, whichever comes first. With our humidity I find that I have to use up all 3/4C of flour before the dough will become more tacky than sticky. When your 10 minutes of kneading is up, lightly grease a bowl with Oil and place your ball of dough inside. Make sure to fully coat the outside of the ball with oil by lightly rolling it around so as to keep your dough from sticking and getting dry. Cover your bowl with a damp towel and set aside to rise for a minimum of 90 minutes. Once your dough has doubled in size, have your little one come in with washed hands for some punching fun to release the built up gases inside the ball. Remove the ball of dough from the bowl and divide it into 8 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a ball and cover them all with your damp towel again while they rest for the next 20 minutes. You need to let your dough rest so that it becomes easier to shape for baking.
While your dough is resting preheat your oven to 450° and place your baking stone inside so that it can heat up. If you are like me and don't have a baking stone(yet) then place an upside down cookie sheet on the middle rack of your oven in its place. Once the dough has finished resting, spread a light coat of flour on to your counter and place one of the balls of dough there. Sprinkle some flour on to the top of the ball and proceed to roll it flat, making sure to constantly rotate the dough so you keep a nice round shape for baking. If you are finding that your dough is not cooperating with you, cover it back up again and leave it to sit for another 5-10 minutes before trying your hand at rolling again. Once you have all the balls rolled out you will need to leave them on a piece of parchment paper to rise for another 30-45minutes, giving them just enough time to double in thickness.
I know you thought we'd never get to this point but it is COOKING time...Yahoo!
Taking as many as will fit on your cookie sheet or baking stone place your dough disks in the oven. Now gather your little ones for some rising, puffing action...DING! 3 Minutes is up and your soft, pillowy babies are ready for consumption.
ENJOY!!
Be Brave and Try Something New Today...Come back on Monday for Part 2 of this homemade creation...where I will show you how to add some delicious fillers as seen in the picture above...I promise they will make your taste buds melt.
For now feel free to share your comments below...I would love to hear from you.
