Yield: Yields twelve 7-inch pitas.
It helps to have a scale to divide the dough evenly, and you’ll need at least 6 square feet of counter space to lay out the rolled pitas.
Make the dough: In a liquid measure, stir the sugar into 1 cup of lukewarm water. Stir in the yeast and set aside until the yeast is foamy, 5 to 10 minutes.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, stir together both flours and the salt. Make a well in the center and pour the yeast mixture, 1/3 cup of the oil, and 1 cup lukewarm water into the well. Mix with the dough hook on low speed until the dough becomes smooth and elastic and gathers around the hook, 4 to 5 minutes.
By hand, shape the dough into a ball. Wipe out the mixing bowl and put the dough back in the bowl. Drizzle the dough with the remaining 2 Tbs. oil and turn the dough to coat lightly all over.
Meanwhile, position a rack in the bottom of the oven and heat the oven to 500°F.
Bake the pitas: Lightly sprinkle the dough rounds with salt. Arrange as many of the rounds as will fit without overlapping on an unrimmed, ungreased baking sheet and bake until the pitas begin to turn golden on top, 5 to 6 minutes. As each batch comes out of the oven, stack the pitas 3 or 4 high and wrap in clean kitchen towels.
Serve immediately or let cool to room temperature. Well wrapped, they’ll keep for 3 days in the refrigerator or 6 months in the freezer. Reheat in a warm oven to soften before serving.
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This is truly an amazing recipe. Ever since I made it the first time, I haven't gone back to store bought pita bread. I just can't! These are so much better than anything you can buy in the store. The one thing I change is I don't bake them in the oven. I use a hot dry frying pan instead. I find that I have much more control that way. I leave them slightly underdone and they always turn out soft and pliable. Enjoy!
These were great, they had amazing flavor and were plenty puffy. I used 1 cup less of white flour to begin with then slowly added 1/2 c as the dough was kneading to prevent sticking. The other thing that helped me was pulling the pita out of the oven right before they would brown. The batches I cooked that browned (even lightly) were a little too crispy for me. The last batch I pulled out right before browning and they were perfectly soft. I served these pita as greek chicken sandwiches and they will definitely be made again!
My needed a bit more water and they needed to be watched when broiled as some of my burned a bit. They excellent frozen too.
This recipe was incredibly easy and really delicious. I'm far from a baker, and if I pulled it off, anyone can. It make enough pita for dinner, breakfast the next morning, and snack chips the day after that!
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