Homemade Pita Bread
Serves 12
This homemade pita bread is so much better than store bought! Soft, puffy, and flavorful, it's just as delicious plain as it is with a topping or dip. The recipe is from the Short Stack edition Yogurt by Molly Yeh.
Ingredients
- ¾ cup warm water
- 1 package active dry yeast, 2¼ teaspoons
- 1 teaspoon plus 1 tablespoon sugar
- 3¾ cups bread flour, 469 grams, plus more for dusting
- 1½ teaspoons sea salt
- 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for the bowl
- ¾ cup whole-milk Greek yogurt
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, combine the water, yeast, and 1 teaspoon of sugar. Let the mixture sit until it’s foamy on top, about 5 minutes.
- In a large mixing bowl or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, combine the flour, salt, and remaining tablespoon sugar. Add the yeast mixture, oil, and yogurt, and mix to combine. Knead the dough, either in the stand mixer on medium speed or by hand on a clean work surface, adding more flour if needed, until it’s soft and slightly sticky, 7 to 10 minutes. Transfer the dough to an oiled bowl, cover with a towel or plastic wrap, and let rise until it’s doubled in size, about 2 hours.
- Preheat the oven to 500°F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Turn the dough out onto a clean work surface and divide it into 12 equal balls. Cover and let rise an additional 20 minutes.
- Roll the balls out into circles that are ¼ to ½-inch thick. Place them onto the baking sheets an inch apart, then bake, one sheet at a time, until they’re puffy and lightly browned on top. Begin checking at 5 minutes. We bake them for about 8 minutes, rotating the pan after the 5 minute mark if one side of the sheet is puffing up more than the other. Transfer the pitas to a wire rack to cool.
Notes
Note: These freeze really well. Molly recommends pulling them out of the oven just before they’re brown if you plan to store and reheat them. To thaw, pop them in the toaster - they’ll brown up a bit as they toast.