Homemade Pita

Homemade Pita Bread via Kitchenaid Stand Mixer

Ingredients
2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
1 cup warm water
1 cup flour

1 1/2 Tbsp olive oil
1 1/4 tsp salt
1 3/4 cup flour

8 drizzles of olive oil for frying

Never made pita bread before. Never even considered making pita bread before. Who knew it was so super easy! There are a lot of steps and its homemade bread so it'll take time, but it's oh so worth it! And you get to use your beautiful new tangerine KitchenAid Mixer! WooooWhooo!

Add 1 cup flour, yeast and water in stand mixer bowl. Use the whisk to mix - you'll probably have to scrape the sides to get the flour to combine but this is a super quick step - just get it all mixed together.  

Let sit for about 15 minutes. It will rise a little and be bubbly.

Replace the whisk with the dough hook. Add 1 1/2 Tbsp olive oil, salt and 1 3/4 cup flour. Mix at low speed until soft but will be a little sticky. (If dough sticks too much to the sides add a little flour to get it to combine off the sides.)

Knead for 5-6 minutes on low speed. Dough will be a little sticky and might even be stuck to the bottom of the bowl. Trust the process. It is a little sticky just not wet. After the allotted kneading time dump the dough into a greased bowl, turning to coat all sides of the dough. 

You're an accomplished bread maker so you have already worked on creating that warm spot to allow your dough to rise. Cover the bowl with a clean, damp cloth (or flour sack towel) and let rise in its toasty location for 2 hours. Dough should be doubled.

Lightly flour your surface and lightly pat out the dough to around 1 inch thick. Cut into 8 pieces. Form each piece into a ball by tucking the dough under the bottom of your round ball. Cover and let it be for 30 minutes.

Using a little flour, pat the balls out to thin circles of dough (1/4 inch). Let them rest again while you get your cast iron skillet warmed up and ready.  Medium-high heat and drizzle of olive oil between each piece frying. Pick up your dough in such a way that you cradle the edges to keep your nice round pieces and lay in hot pan. Dough will puff and blister. A few minutes on either side is all you need - you're just wanting it to brown and cook. Flip and brown. Stack on a plate to cool.

So good!

Go ahead and make yourself some pita pizza and try to go back to store bought pita bread. Nope! Yum!