Pinteractive: Homemade Pitas

This is my Pinteractive post for the week.  Click on the badge over there ------> to go to Nanette's blog and see all the Pinteractive posts!

I actually have my next couple of Mondays planned.  I blame jesser.  I've started following her food pins, and there are so many good ones!  When I saw this recipe for pitas, I decided that I needed to try them.  And, I had a recipe pinned from my cousin's wife for a chicken in pita that looks lovely.  Combine the 2, and there's a couple of weeks of Pinteractive done.

I love making bread, but usually use the bread machine to do so.  While the recipe calls for stirring and rising, I decided to try the bread machine instead.  90 minutes to completed dough, and the adventure of rolling and baking!

I present to you now Homemade Pita Bread, via Jesser's pins:

Ingredients:

1 cup warm water
2 teaspoons active dry  yeast
2 1/2 - 3 cups flour
2 teaspoons salt
1-2 teaspoons olive oil

Method:

1.  Mix the water and yeast together and let sit for about five minutes until the yeast is dissolved. Add 2 1/2 cups of the flour (saving the last half cup for kneading), salt, and olive oil. Stir until a shaggy dough is formed.
2.  Sprinkle a little of the extra flour onto a clean work surface and turn out the dough. Knead the dough for about 10 minutes total, until the dough is smooth and elastic.
3.  Clean the bowl used to mix the dough and grease it with a little olive oil. Set the dough in the bowl and turn it until it's coated with oil. Cover with a clean dishcloth and let the dough rise until it's doubled in bulk, 1 - 2 hours.
4.  Pre-heat the oven to 450°. If you have a baking stone, put it in the oven to heat. If you don't have a baking stone, place a large baking sheet on the middle rack to heat.
Gently deflate the dough and turn it out onto a lightly floured work surface. Divide the dough into 8 equal pieces and gently flatten each piece with your hand. Sprinkle the pieces with a little more flour and then cover them with a kitchen towel until you're ready to bake them.
5.  Using a floured rolling pin, roll one of the pieces into a circle 8-9 inches wide and about a quarter inch thick. Make sure the dough isn't sticking to the counter and sprinkle both the dough and the counter with a little flour if it is. Roll out as many pitas as will fit in your oven at once.
6.  Place the rolled-out pitas directly on the baking stone or baking sheets and bake for about 3 minutes. It is most effective to lay the pita flat on the palm of your hand and then flip it over onto the baking stone. The pita will start to puff up and is done when it has fully ballooned.

From The Kitchn

I read 4 or 5 recipes for pitas, and they were all basically the same.  There was a little deviation in terms of baking temp and amount of flour.  I used the higher amount of flour (3 cups), and put everything in the bread machine.
I also rolled out the 8 pitas with flour, and stacked them, before flipping the stack to bake the longest resting ones first.
You know what the most fun part of this was? The baking!  I sat with the tongs in front of the oven door on a stool and took pictures!

Here is a pita, first put in the oven.  I highly recommend the palm flip technique.  It totally worked for me.

So, then the bread starts to bubble.  Eventually, one monster bubble takes over until you have a balloon in the oven.  When you have a balloon, it's done.  Mine didn't really brown, but I found with the first one I waited and it was tough.

Here's a finished pita, deflating on the top of the stove.











These were lovely.  Chewy, wicked fresh, and a perfect foil to the gyros.  Thanks Pinterest!!