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Then, add flour to a cutting board or clean counter. Once you’re done kneading, the dough should be nice and soft. If at any point you get too tired, cover your bowl and give yourself a break for 10 minutes. Once your dough is well combined, it’s time to get to kneading. Then, you can add in the rest of your ingredients, and mix until you get a shaggy dough that is evenly combined.
After 5 minutes, it will look frothy with lots of bubbles. To start, you’ll activate the yeast with warm water and sugar. Find the full recipe with measurements below. No fancy equipment or kneading is required for this recipe. In Bosnia, Croatia, Bulgaria and Serbia, the local style of pitta is known as lepinja, somun, purlenka or pitica, and is the most common bread served with barbecued food like ćevapi, pljeskavica, kebapche or grilled sausages.
Ingredients You’ll Need & How to Substitute
When baked, the dough puffs up, creating a hollow interior that can be sliced open and filled with a variety of delicious ingredients. If you’d like to go for the fluffier version, fear not, you can still use the same pita recipe and make some small adjustments. Sign up to be a Recipe Tester and join the 70,000 home cooks who test our recipes and provide our test cooks and editors with invaluable feedback. A high hydration level and a generous amount of oil help keep the pita tender, and honey adds a touch of sweetness.
Whole-Wheat Pita Bread
Pita bread (also known as Arabic bread and Syrian bread) is a yeast-leavened flatbread common in Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cuisines. Transfer the dough to a work surface, cover it with the bowl placed upside down and let it rest for 5 minutes, which will kickstart the gluten development. Pita is a type of soft, leavened flatbread that originated in the Middle East. The pitas are best eaten within 24 hours of baking. If you don't have a baking stone, bake the pitas on an overturned and preheated rimmed baking sheet.
- To keep the finished stack warm, cover with a kitchen towel and continue on.
- When it comes to pita, many know them stuffed with falafel, tahini sauce and chopped salad.
- The word pita itself, on the other hand, is used for pie in the general sense in all local languages, and is mostly used for börek or various sweet phyllo pastry dishes (with the exception of baklava which is always called that).
- I’ll walk you through everything you need to make pita bread from scratch.
- However, there is no record of the steam-puffed, two-layer "pocket pita" in the ancient texts, or in any of the medieval Arab cookbooks, and according to food historians such as Charles Perry and Gil Marks it was likely a later development.
Once you let it rest, the gluten will continue to ret, so your job will be even easier the next time you come back. You’ll need the dough until it’s nice and smooth and a bit tacky. Mix until it is well incorporated and smooth, then let it sit for around 15 minutes.
Arepas (Venezuelan Cornmeal Flatbreads)
To transfer a pita, flip it onto your hand by lifting the towel. Once the pitas are ready, carefully remove the tray. Cover it with a reusable plastic bag or a damp kitchen towel and leave to double in size for around minutes (depending on ambient temperature). Add the flour and salt and use your hands to mix everything into a rough dough. Over time, it spread throughout the Mediterranean and beyond, becoming a beloved bread in many cultures.
Druze pita is filled with labneh (thick yoghurt) and topped with olive oil and za'atar. Traditional breads in Greek cuisine are leavened loaves, such as the round καρβέλι karvéli or the oblong φραντζόλα frantzóla. Regional variations in the shape, baking technique, and toppings create distinctive styles for each region. It is best either soon after baking or on the same day, and can be served warm. Pita is traditionally served fresh from the oven (typically a wood-fired oven similar to a pizza oven). In Egypt, it is called eish baladi (عيش بلدي ʽēš baladi) or simply eish (عيش ʽēš, 'bread'), although other gyro king subtypes of "bread" are common in Egypt, such as eish fino and eish merahrah.
Originally, I cooked the pita bread on the stovetop in a hot cast iron pan and was delighted with the results. Our recipe is intended to make a pita bread with pockets. Place the first 2-3 pitas on the hot tray, return it to the oven and bake for 5-6 minutes until puffed up and just turning golden. Place the rolled pitas on a clean tea towel as you go, cover with another clean towel and leave to rise for 30 minutes.
Thick Pita Bread
One of the best things about this recipe? And the soft, pillowy results will make the whole process worth it. Watching the dough puffin the pan is extremely satisfying to say the very least.
I cook on my pizza steel, which promotes the pocket even more. Let the dough rest, and then you are ready to cook them. Your search for the perfect pita recipe has ended! The word pita itself, on the other hand, is used for pie in the general sense in all local languages, and is mostly used for börek or various sweet phyllo pastry dishes (with the exception of baklava which is always called that). The pita are then air-cooled for about 20 minutes on conveyor belts before being shipped immediately or else stored in commercial freezers kept at a temperature of −12 °C (10 °F). There is evidence from about 14,500 years ago, during the Stone Age, that the Natufian people in what is now Jordan made a kind of flatbread from wild cereal grains.
The enduring appeal of pita lies in its simplicity, versatility and the way it seamlessly integrates into various cuisines. Pita has a rich history that dates back thousands of years, making it one of the oldest known breads. It’s a versatile bread that’s perfect for stuffing and pairing with dips. When it comes to pita, many know them stuffed with falafel, tahini sauce and chopped salad. Our test kitchen teams rely on the same rigorous development process and share the same commitment to creating reliable recipes and trustworthy reviews. After quickly making the dough in the stand mixer, we shape it into balls and let them proof overnight in the refrigerator to develop complex flavor.
The photo below shows pita dough cooked in a skillet (top of the photo) and pita baked in the oven (bottom of the photo). Line a bowl with a clean towel, transfer the hot pitas inside and fold the towel over to keep them warm and soft, then repeat with the remaining dough. Recognizable by its puffy, pocket-like appearance, homemade pita bread is made from simple ingredients like flour, water, yeast, oil and salt.