Quick & Easy Pita Bread

• Baking & Spices

  • 165 g All-purpose flour
  • 2 1/2 tsp Quick or instant yeast
  • 1 tsp Salt
  • 325 g Wholewheat flour

• Oils & Vinegars

  • 1 tbsp Olive oil

• Other

  • Around 405 mls (1 & 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons of lukewarm water

Found on avirtualvegan.com

Description

Ingredients

• 325g (2 cups) wholewheat flour (strong wholemeal in the UK)
• 165g (1 cup) all purpose flour (strong white flour in the UK)
• 2.5 teaspoons (or one sachet) of quick or instant yeast
• 1 teaspoon salt (optional - see recipe notes)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil (optional - see recipe notes)
• Around 405 mls (1 & 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons) of lukewarm water

Directions

• Add all the dry ingredients to a large bowl, making sure to keep the salt on the opposite side to the yeast.
• Add the olive oil and enough of the water to make a firm dough. I used 405 mls of water. You might not need all of it or you might need a few drops more. It depends on the flour you are using, humidity etc.
• Stir well with a spatula until the flour is absorbed and you have a shaggy dough.
• If the mixture looks a little dry add a few more drops of water very gradually.
• Scrape your mixture onto a clean and dry surface. If you think you will find kneading like this difficult then grease your surface and your hands with some olive oil. This will make it easier to handle. Try not to use more flour to knead on or add more flour during the process. If you do you risk your pita bread becoming dense and tough.
• Start kneading. If you are not experienced in kneading dough I recommend you watch a video of how to knead to help perfect your technique. You will need to knead for 7 - 10 minutes. Your dough will start out a little bit sticky but the more you knead the smoother and less sticky it will become. The dough is firm so quite hard to knead. That is normal. Keep going until it feels smooth and when it is in a ball shape and you squeeze it together on each side, it bounces slowly back to shape when you let go.
• Divide your dough into 8 pieces.
• Roll each piece out into a circle or oval shape about 3mm thick.
• Place on a lightly floured baking sheet (you will probably need 2 baking sheets ) and cover gently with clean, damp dish towels.
• Leave to rest for 30 minutes.
• Preheat your oven to 500 degrees F whilst you are waiting.
• After 30 minutes uncover your pitas and gently flip each one over. You will need to peel them off the tray but this should be pretty easy to do because of the flour underneath.
• Place into the hot oven and watch through the door (its entertaining ;o)
• Bake for 5 - 6 minutes. They will have puffed up nicely but not be coloured at all.
• When you remove from the oven they may feel a little hard but cover with a dish towel and leave to cool and they will soften up.