Go Back
Print Recipe

Easy Pita Bread

Prep Time1 hr 30 mins
Cook Time15 mins
Servings: 4 people

Ingredients

  • 1 cup Warm Water
  • 2 tsp Active Dry Yeast
  • 1/2 tsp Sugar
  • 2 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  • 3 cups All Purpose Flour

Instructions

  • 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. 
  • 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. 
  • 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. 
  • 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. 
  • 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. 
  • 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).