pita recipe of ease and joy
Because thynk2much asked for it, the recipe for pita bread that I made last night:
3 cups of bread flour (when I have both, I like to use 2 cups white bread flour, 1 cup wheat)
A healthy dollop of honey for sweetening- somewhere around a tablespoon
1 tablespoon of melted butter
1 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons yeast
then get 1 1/4 cups of water- add this slowly in. I probably didn't use more than 1 cup in the end.
Then comes kneading. The ultimate goal is to knead the dough until it's no longer sticky (this will mean adding more flour or water as needed) and is smooth and elastic.* You'll know it when you see it.
Then, I take the dough out of the mixing bowl and pour a dollop (slightly less than a tablespoon) of olive oil into the bowl. I plop the dough back in and turn it over until the dough is coated in the oil. This will keep it from sticking to the bowl as it rises.
Cover the bowl with a dishcloth (thynk2much, you may substitute a tea towel) and put it in a warmish place. BE WARY OF WARMTH- too close to a heated stove and the dough will actually start to bake- it'll get a hardened layer on the outside. Let it double in size. This will take between 1-3 hours.
Set your oven to 400 degrees. Now, the dough preparation is pretty basic after this- divide it up into balls around 2 inches in diameter, roll them out on a floured surface until they are Pretty Thin. Sprinkle flour on a baking sheet and put out the rolled-out pitas. Bake for about 5 minutes. Flip them. Bake for another 2-3. You're looking for the pitas to get slightly brown- once you see the first brown patches, you're probably fine! Then it's just personal preference for how browned you want them to be.
Now, at this point, you can either keep on baking the rest of the dough, or save it for later. We would bake some, then stick it in fridge- you may also be able to freeze dough, but I've never tried it. If it's in the fridge, you'll want to use it pretty quickly- a day or two at most, as things get pretty yeasty after awhile.
I have VERY LITTLE bread making skill, but this recipe has served me very well over the years. There's a lot of room to feel things out and make mistakes that don't ruin everything. Let me know if anything is unclear. :)
* I didn't knead it long enough last night, but it still turned out ok!
3 cups of bread flour (when I have both, I like to use 2 cups white bread flour, 1 cup wheat)
A healthy dollop of honey for sweetening- somewhere around a tablespoon
1 tablespoon of melted butter
1 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons yeast
then get 1 1/4 cups of water- add this slowly in. I probably didn't use more than 1 cup in the end.
Then comes kneading. The ultimate goal is to knead the dough until it's no longer sticky (this will mean adding more flour or water as needed) and is smooth and elastic.* You'll know it when you see it.
Then, I take the dough out of the mixing bowl and pour a dollop (slightly less than a tablespoon) of olive oil into the bowl. I plop the dough back in and turn it over until the dough is coated in the oil. This will keep it from sticking to the bowl as it rises.
Cover the bowl with a dishcloth (thynk2much, you may substitute a tea towel) and put it in a warmish place. BE WARY OF WARMTH- too close to a heated stove and the dough will actually start to bake- it'll get a hardened layer on the outside. Let it double in size. This will take between 1-3 hours.
Set your oven to 400 degrees. Now, the dough preparation is pretty basic after this- divide it up into balls around 2 inches in diameter, roll them out on a floured surface until they are Pretty Thin. Sprinkle flour on a baking sheet and put out the rolled-out pitas. Bake for about 5 minutes. Flip them. Bake for another 2-3. You're looking for the pitas to get slightly brown- once you see the first brown patches, you're probably fine! Then it's just personal preference for how browned you want them to be.
Now, at this point, you can either keep on baking the rest of the dough, or save it for later. We would bake some, then stick it in fridge- you may also be able to freeze dough, but I've never tried it. If it's in the fridge, you'll want to use it pretty quickly- a day or two at most, as things get pretty yeasty after awhile.
I have VERY LITTLE bread making skill, but this recipe has served me very well over the years. There's a lot of room to feel things out and make mistakes that don't ruin everything. Let me know if anything is unclear. :)
* I didn't knead it long enough last night, but it still turned out ok!