Pita Bread

Total Time: 3 hrs 3 mins Preparation Time: 3 hrs Cook Time: 3 mins

Ingredients

• 3 1/2 cups bread flour (plus extra for dusting)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 packet dry active yeast
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1 1/3 cups water

Recipe

• 1 sift flour and salt together in a large bowl.
• 2 combine yeast, sugar and 1/3 cup very warm water-give a quick stir and set aside for 5 minutes to activate yeast.
• 3 make a well in the flour/salt mixture and add the yeast, 1 cup warm water and the olive oil.
• 4 gently stir to gather dough into a ball-you may need a touch more water-depending on where you live, altitude.
• 5 turn out and knead for 10 minutes.
• 6 put into a lightly greased large bowl, cover and place in a warm spot for around 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
• 7 punch down and knead to smooth.
• 8 cut dough into 12 pieces, form into rounds, roll out and place on a dusted baking sheet, cover and let rest for 45 minutes.
• 9 preheat oven to 500f degrees.
• 10 i use my large cast iron skillet for this part, so i place it in the oven and when really hot i place in two pitas and let bake for around 3 minutes-you can broil for 1 minute if you like, just to get the tops browned.
• 11 i wrap the cooked pitas in a slightly damp tea towel for a minute or two-then cool and place in plastic bags.
• 12 this process can also be done on a cooking sheet.