Homemade Pita

I was spoiled by soft and spongy pita bread in Greece a few years ago and swore that I would never eat store-bought pita again.  Little did I know that I would be making freshly baked bread on a weekly basis a few years later.  I've gotta say, this pita bread was probably one of the most exciting bread recipes I've made so far.  When I was looking at recipes, I read that you shouldn't be upset (or surprised) if not all of your pita breads puff up.  With this in mind, I was mentally prepared for them to not really puff up at all.  When I opened the oven half way through baking and saw that they had puffed WAY up, I let out a little scream of excitement.  Just look at that amazing pita pocket!  Perfect for stuffing with some delicious foods.  Check out the recipe for the pita below:

Total Time: 1 hour 15- 1 hour 30 minutes

Servings: 6 large pitas

Ingredients:

3 cups flour

1 tsp salt

1 1/4 cups warm water

1 tbs instant yeast

Instructions:

1. Combine water, yeast, salt and 1 1/2 cups of flour in a large bowl and mix until it forms a soft, batter-like consistency.  Continue to add flour until the dough starts to come together.
2. Knead for 8-9 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic.
3. Divide the dough into 6 equal pieces and roll them into a ball shape.  Lightly cover the balls of dough and let them rest for 10-15 minutes.
4. Roll each dough ball into circular shape, about 1/4 inch thick.  Let the pita rounds rest, lightly covered by a clean towel for 30-40 minutes, until they are slightly puffed.
5. While the pita dough is resting, preheat the oven to 425 F.  
6. Gently flip your pitas onto large baking sheets and bake for 10 minutes, until they are starting to brown very lightly on top and have puffed several inches high.

Here's a side view of the amazing pita puff!