Homemade Pita Bread

Submitted by loveleesmile

"I hate store bought pitas--especially when I have been spoiled by my friend who makes home made pitas. Found this pretty good recipe at Food and Wine."

 

• Ready In: 2hrs 15mins
• Ingredients: 6
• Yields: 16 pitas

ingredients

• 3⁄4 cup warm water
• 1.5 (3 3/8 teaspoon) envelopes active dry yeast
• 6 cups bread flour
• 1 1⁄2 teaspoons salt
• 1 1⁄2 cups warm milk
• extra virgin olive oil, for the bowl

directions

1. Set a pizza stone on the bottom rack of the oven and preheat the oven to 500°. In a bowl, combine the water and yeast and let stand until foamy, about 10 minutes.
2. In a food processor, pulse the flour with the salt. With the machine on, pour in the yeast mixture and then the warm milk and process until the dough forms a ball. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead it a few times. Form the dough into a ball. Lightly oil a bowl with olive oil. Transfer the dough to the bowl and turn to coat; cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.
3. Lightly dust a work surface with flour. Punch down the dough and cut it in half. Cut each half into 8 pieces and roll them into balls, then flatten into 6-inch rounds. Arrange the rounds on the work surface or on floured baking sheets; cover with plastic wrap. Let rise until puffy, 25 minutes.
4. Using a lightly floured pizza peel, slide 4 of the rounds onto the hot pizza stone at a time and bake for about 5 minutes, until the pitas puff up. Serve hot or wrap in foil to keep warm.
5. The flattened, unbaked pita rounds can be frozen for up to 1 month. Let thaw completely, then let rest at room temperature for 20 minutes before baking.