Pita Bread Using The Master Recipe 309834

Steps:

• For the sponge, in a large bowl, combine the yeast and water, mix well. Using a wooden spoon, stir in 1 cup of the wheat flour at a time. Stir until the mixture is smooth and silky. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let rest for 1 hour. Sprinkle the sponge with the salt. Stir in the olive oil. Stir in 1 cup of the flour at a time and mix until the dough is too stiff to stir with the spoon. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead until it is smooth and elastic, 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Set the dough in a draft-free area and allow to rise until double in size, about 2 to 3 hours.
• Line the bottom rack of the oven with baking stones. Leaving a 1-inch border free around the tiles so that the heat can circulate properly. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead the dough a couple of times and divide in half. Cover one half of the dough with plastic wrap while working with the other dough. Divide the dough into 8 equal pieces and roll into 8 balls. Using a rolling pin, roll each ball of dough into a circle 8 to 9 inches in diameter and less than 1/4-inch thick. Place each circle of dough next to each other on a parchment lined baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap. Repeat the above process with the remaining dough. Bake the circles of dough in batches, about 4 to 6 rounds at a time. Bake for 3 to 4 minutes, or until the breads look like blown-up balloons. Remove from the oven and cover with a kitchen towel until the remaining rounds are baked. To Store: pita bread is best is used the day it is made, but it can be wrapped airtight and frozen for 1 month. Thaw and reheat on a baking sheet in a 350 degrees F over before serving

Steps:

• In the bowl of a heavy-duty electric mixer fitted with a dough hook, combine the yeast, sugar, and warm water; stir to blend. Let the yeast stand until foamy, about 5 to 10 minutes.
• Stir in the salt. Add the flour, a little at a time, mixing at the lowest speed until all the flour has been incorporated and the dough gathers into a ball; this should take about 4 minutes.
• Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead until it's smooth and elastic. Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl, turn it over to coat, and cover with plastic wrap. Allow to rise until double in size, about 1 1/2 hours.
• Place a large pizza stone on the lower oven rack, preheat the oven (and stone) to 500 degrees F.
• Punch the dough down, divide it into 8 pieces, and gather each piece into a ball; keeping all of them lightly floured and covered while you work. Allow the balls of dough to rest, covered, for 15 minutes so they will be easier to roll out.
• Using a rolling pin, roll each dough ball into a circle that is about 8-inches in diameter and 1/4-inch thick. Make sure the circle is totally smooth, with no creases or seams in the dough, which can prevent the pitas from puffing up properly. Cover the disks as you roll them out, but do not stack them up. Put 2 pita rounds at a time on the hot pizza stone and bake for 3 to 4 minutes, or until the bread puffs up like a balloon and is pale golden. Watch closely; they bake fast. Remove the bread from the oven and place on a rack to cool for 5 minutes; they will naturally deflate, leaving a pocket in the center. Wrap the pitas in a large kitchen towel to keep them soft.

Steps:

• Make sponge: Put 1 cup lukewarm water in a large mixing bowl. Add yeast and sugar. Stir to dissolve. Add the whole-wheat flour and 1/4 cup all-purpose flour and whisk together. Put bowl in a warm (not hot) place, uncovered, until mixture is frothy and bubbling, about 15 minutes.
• Add salt, olive oil and nearly all remaining all-purpose flour (reserve 1/2 cup). With a wooden spoon or a pair of chopsticks, stir until mixture forms a shaggy mass. Dust with a little reserved flour, then knead in bowl for 1 minute, incorporating any stray bits of dry dough.
• Turn dough onto work surface. Knead lightly for 2 minutes, until smooth. Cover and let rest 10 minutes, then knead again for 2 minutes. Try not to add too much reserved flour; the dough should be soft and a bit moist. (At this point, dough may refrigerated in a large zippered plastic bag for several hours or overnight. Bring dough back to room temperature, knead into a ball and proceed with recipe.)
• Clean the mixing bowl and put dough back in it. Cover bowl tightly with plastic wrap, then cover with a towel. Put bowl in a warm (not hot) place. Leave until dough has doubled in size, about 1 hour.
• Heat oven to 475 degrees. On bottom shelf of oven, place a heavy-duty baking sheet, large cast-iron pan or ceramic baking tile. Punch down dough and divide into 8 pieces of equal size. Form each piece into a little ball. Place dough balls on work surface, cover with a damp towel and leave for 10 minutes.
• Remove 1 ball (keeping others covered) and press into a flat diskc with rolling pin. Roll to a 6-inch circle, then to an 8-inch diameter, about 1/8 inch thick, dusting with flour if necessary. (The dough will shrink a bit while baking.)
• Carefully lift the dough circle and place quickly on hot baking sheet. After 2 minutes the dough should be nicely puffed. Turn over with tongs or spatula and bake 1 minute more. The pita should be pale, with only a few brown speckles. Transfer warm pita to a napkin-lined basket and cover so bread stays soft. Repeat with the rest of the dough balls.

Steps:

• Place yeast into the work bowl of a stand mixer and add 1 cup warm water and 1 cup flour. Whisk together and let stand 15 to 20 minutes for mixture to rise and make a loose sponge. Mixture will bubble and foam.
• Pour 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil and salt into sponge; add 1 3/4 cup flour. Mix at low speed, using a dough hook attachment, until dough is soft, supple, and slightly sticky. If dough sticks to the sides of the bowl, add up to 1/4 cup more flour, a little at a time.
• Knead dough with machine on low speed until slightly springy and still soft, 5 to 6 minutes. Turn dough out onto a floured work surface and form into a ball.
• Wipe inside of bowl with 1/4 teaspoon olive oil. Turn dough around in bowl to cover with a thin film of oil; cover bowl with foil and let sit until dough has doubled in size, about 2 hours.
• Remove dough from bowl and place onto a floured work surface. Lightly pat into a flat shape about 1 inch thick. Use a knife to cut dough into 8 pieces.
• Form each piece into a small round ball with a smooth top, pulling dough from the sides and tucking the ends underneath the bottom.
• Cover dough balls with lightly oiled plastic wrap and let rest for 30 minutes.
• Sprinkle a small amount of flour on a work surface and top of a dough ball; gently pat dough ball flat with your fingers, forming a flat, round bread about 1/4 inch thick. Let dough round rest for 5 minutes. Repeat with remaining dough balls.
• Brush a cast-iron skillet with remaining 3/4 teaspoon olive oil and place over medium-high heat. Lay pita bread into hot skillet and cook until bread begins to puff up and bottom has brown spots and blisters, about 3 minutes. Flip, cook 2 more minutes, and flip back onto original side to cook for about 30 more seconds. Pita bread will begin to puff up and fill with hot air. Stack cooked breads on a plate; when cool enough to handle, break breads in half and open the pocket inside for stuffing.

Steps:

• Sift flour and salt together in a large bowl.
• Combine yeast, sugar and 1/3 cup very warm water-give a quick stir and set aside for 5 minutes to activate yeast.
• Make a well in the flour/salt mixture and add the yeast, 1 cup warm water and the olive oil.
• Gently stir to gather dough into a ball-you may need a touch more water-depending on where you live, altitude.
• Turn out and knead for 10 minutes.
• Put into a LIGHTLY greased large bowl, cover and place in a warm spot for around 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
• Punch down and knead to smooth.
• Cut dough into 12 pieces, form into rounds, roll out and place on a dusted baking sheet, cover and let rest for 45 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 500F degrees.
• I use my large cast iron skillet for this part, so I place it in the oven and when really hot I place in two pitas and let bake for around 3 minutes-you can broil for 1 minute if you like, just to get the tops browned.
• I wrap the cooked pitas in a slightly damp tea towel for a minute or two-then cool and place in plastic bags.
• This process can also be done on a cooking sheet.

Steps:

• Place all ingredients in bread pan of your bread machine, select Dough setting and start. When dough has risen long enough, machine will beep.
• Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface. Gently roll and stretch dough into a 12 inch rope. With a sharp knife, divide dough into 8 pieces. Roll each into a smooth ball. With a rolling pin, roll each ball into a 6 to 7 inch circle. Set aside on a lightly floured countertop. cover with a towel. Let pitas rise about 30 minutes until slightly puffy.
• Preheat oven to 500 degrees F (260 degrees C). Place 2 or 3 pitas on a wire cake rack. Place cake rack directly on oven rack. Bake pitas 4 to 5 minutes until puffed and tops begin to brown. Remove from oven and immediately place pitas in a sealed brown paper bag or cover them with a damp kitchen towel until soft. Once pitas a softened, either cut in half or split top edge for half or whole pitas. They can be stored in a plastic bag in the refrigerator for several days or in the freezer for 1 or 2 months.

Steps:

• Sprinkle yeast over warm water in a mixing bowl and allow to stand until the yeast forms a creamy foam, about 5 minutes. Mix in 2 cups of flour, salt, and shortening; beat for 2 minutes with a fork. Stir in as much of the remaining 1 1/2 cup flour as needed.
• Turn dough out onto a floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, kneading in more flour if dough is sticky. Form into a ball, cover with a kitchen towel, and let rest in a warm area for 15 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 500 degrees F (260 degrees C).
• Divide dough into 12 equal portions; flour your hands and roll each piece into a ball. Cover dough balls with a kitchen towel and let rest for 10 minutes. Flatten the balls into rounds on a floured surface, cover with kitchen towel, and let rest 10 more minutes. Gently roll each dough ball into a circle about 6 inches in diameter on a floured surface. Place pita breads in a single layer on ungreased baking sheets.
• Bake in preheated oven until the pita breads puff up, 3 to 4 minutes. Flip breads over with a spatula, return to oven, and bake 2 more minutes. Let cool on wire racks before cutting pita breads in half and gently separating tops and bottoms to form pockets for filling.

Steps:

• Dissolve the yeast and sugar in 1/4c. of warm water.
• Sift together 2 1/2c. of the flour, and the 1/2 teaspoon of salt in a large mixing bowl.
• Form a well in the center of the flour/salt mixture, and pour in dissolved yeast, and the remaining 1c. of water.
• Mix, adding the remaining 1c. of flour as needed, until the dough leaves the side of the bowl.
• Dust your clean countertop lightly with flour, and knead for 10 - 15 minutes. Form a ball.
• Use the oil to grease a clean bowl, and place the ball of dough inside, and cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Let it rise in a draft-free place for 1 1/2 - 2 hours, or until it is double the original size.
• Punch down, and place on a lightly floured surface. Knead for 4 minutes, and divide into 10 - 12 equal pieces. Roll into balls, and roll out with a rolling pin.
• Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, and place each pita on top of a floured paper towel, layering them.(paper towel, pita,paper towel,pita, etc -- ).
• Preheat the oven to 475f., and let them rise for 25 minutes Bake on a cookie sheet for 6 - 10 mins., and when they have cooled for 1 minute, stack them on top of eachother to cool completely.

Steps:

• Stir the yeast and water together in a large bowl. Using a wooden spoon and stirring in one direction, stir in the whole wheat flour about a cup at a time; then stir 100 times or until the mixture look smooth and silky. This is the sponge and it needs to rest, covered with plastic wrap, for at least 30 minutes, although it is best if it can rest for as long as 8 hours in a cool place, a rest that will give fuller flavor. Sprinkle the slat over the sponge and then stir in the olive oil, mixing well, again stirring in the same direction. Add the flour about a cup at a time, mixing until the dough is too stiff to stir with a spoon. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead it mixing until it is smooth and elastic, 8 to 10 minutes. The dough will be moderately firm and have a slight sheen. Clean the mixing bowl, dry it, and coat it lightly with oil. Transfer the dough to the bowl, turn the dough around to oil its surface, and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Let the dough rise at room temperature for 2 to 3 hours, or until it doubles in bulk. Turn the dough onto the work surface. Divide it in half and keep one half under plastic or cloth while you work with the other. Cut the dough into 8 equal pieces and, with lightly floured cupped hands, form the pieces into tight balls; keep the balls under plastic as you work on the other.
• On a well-floured surface, flatten the balls of dough with you fingertips and then, using a rolling pin, roll each piece of dough into a circle 8 to 9 inches in diameter and less than 1/4-inch thick. Cover but do stack the rolled out breads. Preheat the griddle or cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat and lightly oil the griddle. Bake 1 rolled-out circle at a time on the griddle, putting the pita top side down on the griddle and cooking for 15 to 20 seconds before turning the bread over gently. Cook for another minute or until big bubbles appear. Turn the bread again and cook until it balloons fully. Pressing a towel on those areas where bubbles have formed will push air into the flat areas. The breads should bake for no more than 3 minutes. Oil the griddle after every 4 to 5 breads. Pita is best the day it is made, but it can be wrapped airtight and frozen for 1 month

Steps:

• You will need a large bread bowl, a rolling pin, and unglazed quarry tiles or several baking sheets, or alternatively a castiron or other heavy skillet or griddle at least 9 inches in diameter.
• Sprinkle the yeast over the warm water in a large bread bowl. Stir to dissolve. Add whole wheat flour, one cup at a time, then 1 cup white flour. Stir 100 times (one minute) in the same direction to activate the gluten in the flour. Let this sponge rest for at least 10 minutes or as long as 2 hours.
• Sprinkle salt over the sponge and stir in the olive oil. Mix well. Add white flour, one cup at a time. When the dough is too stiff to stir, turn it out onto a lightly floured bread board and knead for 8 to 10 minutes, until dough is smooth and elastic. Return the dough to a lightly oiled bread bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise until at least double in size, approximately 1 1/2 hours. Gently punch down. Dough can be made ahead to this point and then stored, covered, in the refrigerator for 5 days or less.
• If at this time you want to save the dough in the refrigerator for baking later, simply wrap it in a plastic bag that is at least three times the size of the dough, pull the bag together, and secure it just at the opening of the bag. This will give the dough a chance to expand when it is in the refrigerator (which it will do). From day to day, simply cut off the amount of dough you need and keep the rest in the refrigerator, for up to one week. The dough will smell slightly fermented after a few days, but this simply improves the taste of the bread. Dough should be brought to room temperature before baking.
• This amount of dough will make approximately 16 pitas if rolled out into circles approximately 8 to 9 inches in diameter and less than 1/4-inch thick. You can also of course make smaller breads. Size and shape all depend on you, but for breads of this dimension the following baking tips apply:
• Place unglazed quarry tiles, or a large baking stone or two baking sheets, on a rack in the bottom third of your oven, leaving a one inch gap all around to allow air to circulate. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Divide dough in half, then set half aside, covered, while you work with the rest. Divide dough into eight equal pieces and flatten each piece with lightly floured hands. Roll out each piece to a circle 8 to 9 inches in diameter. You may wish to roll out all eight before starting to bake. Cover rolled out breads, but do not stack.
• Bake 2 at a time (or more if your oven is larger) directly on quarry tiles or baking sheets. Bake each bread for 3 or 4 minutes, until the bread has gone into a full "balloon" or until it is starting to turn lightly golden, whichever happens first. If there are seams or dry bits of dough - or for a variety of other reasons - your bread may not go into a full "balloon". Don't worry, it will still taste great. The more you bake pitas the more you will become familiar with all the little tricks and pitfalls, and your breads will more consistently "balloon." But even then, if you're like us, it won't always "balloon" fully and you won't mind because the taste will still be wonderful. When baked, remove, place on a rack for about five minutes to let cool slightly, then wrap breads in a large kitchen towel (this will keep the breads soft). When first half of the dough has been rolled out and baked, repeat for rest of dough, or store in refrigerator for later use, as described above. You can also divide the dough into more, smaller pieces if you wish, to give you smaller breads.

Steps:

• Refer to Recipe #309834 for instructions to prepare the dough necessary to make the pitas.
• TO BAKE: (Dough should be refrigerated for at least 24 hours).
• Twenty minutes before baking, preheat the oven to 500 degrees with a baking stone.
• Just before baking, dust a pizza peel with flour.
• With wet hands, pull up one end of the refrigerated dough (Recipe #309834). Using a serrated knife, cut off a 1-pound, or grapefruit-size, piece of dough. (Note a 1 pound piece of dough will make 4 pitas so adjust the amount needed as necessary.)
• Divide the dough into 4 pieces (no larger than 4 ozs. each) and shape into a ball by stretching the surface of the dough around to the bottom on all four side, rotating a quarter-turn as you go.
• Place the dough on a flour-dusted pizza peel, dusting the top with flour.
• With a rolling pin, roll the dough out into rounds with a uniform thickness of 1/8 inch. This is important, because if it's too think, it may not puff.
• With a quick motion, slide the pitas from the pizza peel directly onto the preheated baking stone.
• Bake for 5 to 7 minutes, until lightly browned and puffed.
• For authentic, soft-crusted results, wrap the pitas in a clean cotton dish towel and set on a cooling rack when baking is complete.
• The pitas will deflate slightly as they cool, however the space between the crust will still be there.
• Serve with your favorite filling.
• Once cooled the pitas can be stored in a zip-lock bag.

Steps:

• Mix the yeast and the warm water in a large bowl and let sit for 10 minutes. Stir in the agave syrup, salt and flour. Mix until well combined.
• Add in the oil and mix by hand or in a food processor for 6 to 8 minutes. Cover the bowl and let the dough rise for 90 minutes in a warm, dry place. Dough should double in size.
• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F and if possible, use a baking stone.
• Punch the dough down and divide it into 8 pieces. Roll them into balls, then cover and let rest for 20 minutes to let the dough relax.
• Dust a clean work surface with flour, then roll each ball out to 1/8-inch thick and approximately 6 inches in diameter. Cook on baking stone until puffed and starting to brown about 6 minutes each side. Spritz the oven with water, during baking, to create nice crisp pitas.

Steps:

• Place flour in a food processor with steel blade. Add salt and yeast, process for 5 seconds.
• While processor is running, add olive oil and water through the feed tube.
• Process about 30 seconds and remove cover.
• Dough should be barely sticky and in a ball, add water 1 tablespoon at a time if too dry, and process for 5-10 seconds. If dough is too wet, add a tablespoon of flour and process for a couple of seconds.
• Place dough on lightly floured surface and and knead by hand for about 1 minute by hand.
• Lightly oil a large bowl and put the dough in it. Cover and let it rise until doubled, about 2 hours.
• Punch dough and divide it into 6-12 pieces. Keep lightly floured and covered.
• Preheat oven to 500°F, use baking stones, or place a baking sheet on each rack.
• Flatten each ball on a lightly floured surface and roll into a 6-8 inch circle. Lightly flour each circle as finished, cover, but do not stack.
• Starting with the first circles rolled, Place each circle on the sheet or stone and bake until lightly puffed (about 2-3 minutes).
• If bread does not puff up, still remove it at 2-3 minutes, creases in dough may cause it not to puff.

Steps:

• Set a pizza stone on the bottom rack of your oven and preheat to 500 degrees F.
• In a bowl, combine the warm water and yeast. Let it stand until foamy, about 10 minutes. *If you have never worked with active dry yeast before, please read up on how this works.*.
• In a food processor, pulse the flour and salt together. While the machine is on, pour in the yeast mixture through the processor feed/hole. Then pour in the warm milk. Process the dough until it forms a ball.
• Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead it a few times. Form the dough into a ball. Lightly oil a large bowl and transfer the dough ball to the bowl. Turn the dough ball to coat all sides with the oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
• Lightly dust a work surface with flour. Punch down the dough and cut it in half. then cut each half into 8 pieces and roll them into balls. Then flatten them into 6 inch rounds. Arrange the rounds on the work surface, cover with plastic wrap and let rise until puffy - about 25 minutes.
• Using a lightly floured pizza peel (or floured spatula) slide 4 of the rounds onto the hot pizza stone and bake for about 5 minutes, or until the pitas puff up. Repeat with the remaining 4 rounds.
• Serve hot or wrap in foil to keep warm.
• *Note: the flattened, unbaked pita rounds can be frozen for up to 1 month. Let them thaw completely, then let them rest at room temperature for about 20 minutes before baking.