Pita bread
Ingredients:
- 3 cups bread flour
- 1.5 tablespoons sugar
- 1.5 teaspoons salt
- 1.5 tablespoons active dry yeast
- 2 tablespoons butter, melted
- 1.25 cups water, room temperature (75-80 deg F)
Combine the flour, salt, sugar and yeast into a large mixing bowl.
Make a well for the liquid ingredients and then add the melted butter and water.
Mix well by hand or with a stand mixer on low for 1 minute. Then knead (by hand, or with a stand mixer on low-medium using a dough hook) for 10 minutes until the dough is elastic but not sticky. Put the dough into an oiled bowl, turn once to cover the top, cover the bowl in plastic wrap and let the dough rise at room temperature for 1-1.5 hours.
When the dough has doubled in bulk, remove to a lightly floured surface and divide into eight equal pieces. Roll each piece into a ball and let rest for 20 minutes. While the dough is resting, place a baking stone or an upside-down baking sheet into an oven on the bottom rack and preheat to 450 deg F.
Roll each dough ball into a round 8 inches in diameter and about 1/8 inch thick. Spray the stone with a mist of water (or, if using a baking sheet, a mist of cooking oil) and place as many rounds onto the stone or sheet as will fit without touching each other or hanging off the edge. Bake until the rounds puff up — they will look like an oversized oyster cracker — and then cook for 30 seconds more, then remove immediately to a cooling rack. (Don’t worry, they’ll deflate unless you leave them in the oven too long.)
Repeat until all eight rounds are done. Enjoy!
