Simple Pita Bread

Simple pita bread is a treat to make at home. This reliable recipe from King Arthur Flour takes the mystery out of the process.

Let’s make a yeast risen flatbread. I love the contrast of the concept– a bread that is (relatively) flat yet its dough has been activated by yeast. Pizza, naan, and flatbreads from many cultures & traditions follow along the same lines.

I made pita bread and went with the always-reliable recipes from King Arthur Flour. I’ve made a whole wheat pita before and this was even easier– basic ingredients created a baker-friendly dough that was no problem to divide into pieces, shape into balls then roll out into circles.

Simple Pita Bread Ingredients

• yeast
• water
• sugar
• flour
• salt
• olive oil

You’ll notice that the ingredients are very similar to those for the dough in this calzone recipe. Nearly all that differs is the process of baking this yeast dough. Once you learn the basics of making yeast breads, you’ll find you are capable of making so many different homemade breads. It can be a true joy!

Steps to make Pita Bread

1. Warm the water to 110 F. Combine the warm water, yeast and sugar. Let them sit for 10 minutes.
2. Combine the yeast mixture with the flour, salt, and olive oil in a large bowl. Stir to make a shaggy dough.
3. Knead the dough until a smooth ball of dough forms. I find a stand mixer does the job perfectly.
4. Let the dough rest and rise. Coat a glass bowl with oil then turn the dough a few times to coat the ball of dough. Spray plastic wrap with baking spray and cover the bowl. Place in a warm place (or in your oven on the PROOF option if available) and let rise for 1 hour.
5. Punch the dough down and divide into 8 pieces. Shape each piece into a ball. Roll each small dough ball into a circle about 6 inches wide. Cover the dough and let it rise for at least 15 minutes.
6. Preheat the oven to 500 degrees. A hot oven is key here to the success of how your pitas puff up.
7. Put a few flattened circles of dough onto a baking sheet. I usually fit three at a time. Bake in the lower third of your oven for 7-8 minutes. The pitas will puff up beautifully.

A few more notes on baking simple pita bread:

Pita is baked at a very high temperature. I used a baking stone like this one from Amazon that had preheated for quite some time, but a baking sheet pan also does the trick. My pitas weren’t perfect by any means. Some were circular, others more creative in their roundness or lack thereof but all were considered a success to me.

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The best part of it all was that my son not only tried the bread (which is unusual at my house) but he came back for more. So happy!! I’ll be making these again soon.

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