Pita Bread Recipe

Pita bread is a round pocket bread consumed in the Middle Eastern countries, Lebanon, Turkey and Greece and widely known in America as flat bread served with hummus wrapped with kababs, gyros or sandwiches. The "pocket" is created with high heat and steam while baking for a very short time. As the bread cools down, a pocket is left in the middle. We can make this bread with a bread machine, and you can shape this bread any size that you like. You also can make chips from this bread by deep frying in hot oil.

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups warm water (110°)
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon white sugar
2 teaspoon oil
2 teaspoon active dry yeast
3 cups all-purpose flower

Directions:
1- Place all ingredients as listed above in your bread pan, select dough setting, and start. Depending all the temperature where you live, you might need a little more water. Let your bread machine do the job of kneading and rising the dough.
2- Turn dough onto a lightly-floured surface and gently roll dough into a 10 to 12 inch rope.

Use a sharp knife, cut dough into 8 or 10 pieces. Roll each into a smooth ball. Then with a rolling pin, roll each ball into a 5 to 6 inch circle.

Set aside on a lightly-floured baking sheet, and cover with a kitchen towel. Let the pitas rise about 30 minutes or until slightly puffy.
3- Preheat the oven to 500°. Place 2 or 3 pitas on the wire rack (the wire cookie rack will work), and place the cake rack directly on to the lower rack of your oven. Bake pitas 4 to 5 minutes until puffy and the tops begin to brown.

4- Remove pitas from oven and immediately place pitas in a sealed paper bag, or cover them with a kitchen towel until soft.

Pitas can be stored in the refrigerator for a few days or in the freezer.