Pita Bread Recipe

Preparation for Pita Dough:

• First, mix warm water, sugar, instant yeast, and ¼ cup whole wheat flour in a large mixing bowl.
• Whisk it up and then leave aside for 15 minutes till you see the mixture becomes airy and foamy on top.
• Now, add olive oil, 2½ cups all-purpose flour and salt.
• Mix everything together with a wooden spoon until combined well.
• Take out the dough onto a clean smooth work surface and use your hands to knead the dough vigorously for 5 minutes. Dough should be soft and smooth, tacky to the touch at that time.
• Apply a little olive oil inside of the mixing bowl and turn the dough to coat it a bit with the olive oil.
• Cover the mixing bowl tightly with plastic wrap and place it at a warm place like an oven for about (100˚F) for 45 minutes, or at room temperature for about 90 minutes till the dough rises to double its size.
• How to make Pita Bread in the oven
• Once the dough puffed up beautifully, gently punch down the dough.
• Transfer the dough to a clean surface, divide the dough into 8 equal pieces using a scrapper or a pizza cutter and shape them into round balls. 
• Once all of the dough balls are ready, cover them with a damp kitchen towel and let them rest for 15 minutes, which makes it easier to roll them out.
• Take a dough ball onto a work surface, sprinkle some flour and press gently into a disk with your fingertips to disperse bubbles or using a rolling pin, roll it into a circle that’s 7-8 inches wide and about ¼ inch thick.  
• While rolling, move the disk frequently to ensure that dough doesn’t stick to your counter too much. 
• Set aside the rolled disks covered with a damp kitchen towel so they don’t dry out.
• Roll similarly the rest of the dough pieces and keep them covered.
• Once all of them are rolled out, let them rest for about 10 minutes.
• Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 500˚F and place a heavy bottomed baking pan or large cast iron skillet on the middle rack to heat for at least 20 minutes, else the pita bread won’t puff completely.Do not stack pitas. Let the disks rest 10 minutes before baking and they will puff better.

To Bake Pita Bread

• Place 2-3 pieces of the rolled dough at a time in the preheated baking pan or skillet and bake at 500˚F for about 2 to 2½ minutes or until puffed. Once they are puffed, take them out from the oven.
• Transfer them to a wire rack and allow them to rest for 5 minutes by covering them with a dry kitchen towel to keep the pitas from drying out, while you are making the rest of the pitas.

How to make Pita bread in the Stovetop:

• Preheat the cast iron skillet on medium-high heat and lightly drizzle extra virgin olive oil and wipe off any excess. Lay a rolled out pita on the hot skillet for 30 seconds until you see bubbling form.
• Using a spatula, flip the pita bread and cook for about 1 minute – it will puff then flip and cook another minute until brown spots appear on the pita bread.
• Transfer on a wire rack and keep covered with a kitchen towel to keep it soft.
• Pita bread tastes best when served warm.