Friday, August 8, 2008

Pitas

While looking at some meal plans on Monday I happened to come across a recipe for homemade pitas. After venturing into the world of making my own tortillas I thought that this recipe looked a lot easier. The recipe found at fresh loaf was put into simple steps with lots of pictures making pitas look flawless to make. Plus what I really liked about this recipe is that there are a lot of comments and reviews about the success of this recipe. With just 6 basic ingredients that can always be found in my cupboards it wasn't long before this recipe was up on my meal plan for the week.

I did make an alteration to the recipe so here are my tips for making great homemade pitas

Recipe
3 cups flour (1 cup 7 grain flour and 2 cups white)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 Tablespoon sugar
2 1/4 tsp traditional yeast
1 1/4 cups water, roughly at room temperature
2 tablespoons vegetable oil

I used tradition yeast so I followed the instructions on the package mixing together 2 1/4 tsp of yeast with 1/4 cup of water and a sprinkle of sugar. I let that sit for about 10 minutes. Then I added the rest of the ingredients. (I am not sure if that is what you are suppose to do when you are working with tradition yeast or if you pour the yeast into the other ingredients, if anyone knows could you let me know). When I turned the dough out onto a floured surface I made sure my hands where floured as well and that I had lots of extra flour close by because the dough seemed very sticky. It took me a little while to get it the elastic consistency you want it to be. After the dough doubled in size (90 minutes or so) I punched it down and divided it into 10 balls.



Well the dough was resting I placed my pizza stone in the oven and preheated it to 400 degrees. This is an important step because it is the high heat the makes the pita fluff and separate the way you want them to. The dough was very easy to roll out...although I didn't always get a perfect circle.

Once you have your circle simply place the dough onto the hot stone and bake for 3 minutes. This is what will happen after approximately 2 minutes in the oven.


Remove from oven after 3 minutes (some of mine I baked for 4 or 5 for a more crispy pita) and place on a cooling rack.


I found that by the 4th pita they weren't fluffing as much so I decided to let the oven heat up again by leaving it for 5 minutes. Then I thought since the back of my oven gets the hottest that I would try to place the pita more towards the back of the stone. This worked out very well and ensured all my pitas were fluffy.

So here is the final product; 10 delicious homemade pitas.


They split apart nicely and we have been enjoying them everyday. I like mine warmed up and stuffed with peanut butter or almond butter. Last night we enjoyed them with our Mexican meal.



Now if any one has advice on how to store these that would be great. Right now I have them in the refrigerator but I think that I will try to freeze some.

4 comments:

Unknown said...

Look great! I make tortillas and never pitas. I am venturing into the world of sprouted grains and wanted to have sprouted grain pitas. Wish me luck. As far as yeast goes the traditional yeast needs to be proofed with warm water and sugar (always need sugar to activate) If it bubbles up and makes a froth it is active, if not the yeast is dead. With traditional yeast normally there is always a double rise. MEaning you let the whole dough rise once and then punch down then form whaever you are making. If you didn't do this that could be the problem. Instant yeast skips the two step process and makes things like pitas and some rolls easier to make. I personally use traditional yeast for everything except the days I am lazy and use my breadmaker for a last minute loaf.
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Unknown said...

Oh, I am so trying this!!!
Thanks for the post! Can't wait to have fresh ones in our house!!!
Now if I can just set aside some kid free time to try it out.....

Geniève said...

Wow Katie! You are definitely a queen in the kitchen :)

Tracey said...

Thanks for the recipe! I will definitely have to try it! My husband makes great chili and I always eat it with nacho chips and I was looking for a healthier alternative. I was thinking pitas. I will also be adding your website to my favorites.

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