Pita bread

10Jun09

3 cups flour
1.5 tsp salt
1Tbs sugar or honey
1 packet (2Tbs) instant yeast
1 1/4 cup of water at room temp.
2Tbs vegetable oil, olive oil or melted butter

Mix flour, salt, sugar and yeast. Add oil, water and mix. The ingredients will clump, forming a ball. Flour a surface and knead for ten minutes until the dough becomes soft and elastic. Create a ball and place it in a greased bowl; let rest 90 minutes. When doubled in size, punch the dough down and divide it into 8 pieces. Roll each piece into a ball and cover them with a towel to rise for 20 minutes.
Preheate the oven to 400F, placing an overturned baking pan on the rack to heat.
Roll the dough to 1/4-1/8 in thick. When the oven is fully heated, place as many pitas as will fit on the baking pan and cook for 3 minutes. For a crunchier pita, bake 3-5 minutes longer.

The high temperature and thinly rolled dough shock the yeast, causing the pitas to form balloons in the oven while they cook. This is how the pocket is formed!



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