Easy Homemade Pita Bread Recipe

We make a lot of bread in my house. Once I understood how easy it was to make bread I haven’t stopped making all things with flour. Some recipes take days and some are quick and easy. Either way, you are in dough heaven once you find your bread-making groove. This homemade pita bread recipe is super easy to make. Even a beginner can have delicious pita bread in no time. 

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Ingredients you will need: 

Warm Water

Active Dry Yeast 

All-Purpose Flour 

Cane Sugar

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Items you will need: 

Large Mixing Bowl

Wooden Spoon

Whisk

Rolling Pin

Step One – Make the Sponge for the Pita Bread  

The first and most crucial step in this awesome pita bread recipe is making the sponge. Heat 1 cup of water in the microwave for 25-30 seconds or on the stove top until warm. It is really important that your water is between 120°F and 130°F. Cool water wont allow the yeast to proof fast enough for this recipe and hot water will kill the yeast. 

In a large mixing bowl combine warm water, sugar and yeast. Mix until sugar and yeast are dissolved. (It’s ok if there are some clumps of yeast.) Add a 1/2 cup of flour and whisk together well until doubles begin to form. Cover the bowl with a towel and set aside in a warm, dry place for 15 minutes or until the sponge has a ‘foamy’ look to it. 

Pro-Tip:  If you don’t see lots of bubbles or if your sponge doesn’t look foamy after 15 minutes, your yeast could be old. You may have to get fresh yeast and start over. 

Step Two – Bring the Pita Bread Sponge Together

Add olive oil, salt and 2 cups of flour to the sponge. Mix it all together well until it starts to come together. The dough will be very sticky and will pull apart easily. 

 

Step 3 – Knead the dough

Knead the sponge in the bowl first a few minutes. The dough should be sticking to your fingers quite a bit at this point. You can add a little more flour if its too hard to work with but not too much. Then move the dough to a lightly floured surface to knead for 3 more minutes. Cover the dough and let rest for 10 minutes. Then come back and knead for another 2 minutes. 

Pro-Tip: I like to use a bench knife while kneading sticky dough. It really helps the dough stick to the counter less and at least one of my hands are free from sticking dough. You can find the one I personally use right here. 

Step 4 – Let it Rise

Lightly coat a large bowl with extra virgin olive oil. Place the dough in the bowl and flip it around gently so that all of the dough is covered with a very light coating of olive oil. Cover the bowl and let sit for 1 hour or until dough has doubled in size. 

Step 5 – Shape the Pita

Gently punch a whole in the middle of the risen dough. Place the dough on a clean, lightly floured surface. At this point the dough should be slightly sticky but still easy to work with. Add a bit more flour if the dough starts to stick to your fingers or the counter too much.

Form the dough into a ball. Cut the dough into 8 equal pieces. Shape each of the pieces into little balls.  Cover with a towel and let rest for 15 minutes. 

Step 6 – Cook

Using a rolling pin, roll out each ball of dough into a round-ish shape about 9 inches wide. . Add a tiny bit of flour if the dough starts to stick. Put some oil in a skillet and set to med-high. Once oil is hot, place the rounded dough in the skillet.

Leave for 30 seconds. You will start to see the dough bubble. Flip the pita and leave on the skillet for 1 minute. Flip again and cook for 30 seconds. (You may need to adjust the cook time on each side depending on how hot your skillet is). 

That is it! The are best served warm but can keep in the fridge for up to a week! 

Let me know if you tried this recipe!

Until Next Time, 

Eva