Long story short, this is an incredibly easy recipe that even a novice baker like me could do… and it turned out PERFECTLY.
Even if they don’t look perfect.
Ingredients:
- 1 package of yeast, or quick rising yeast
- 1/2 cup warm water
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 1 1/4 teapsoon salt
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
- 1 cup lukewarm water
Preparation:
Dissolve yeast in 1/2 cup of warm water. Add sugar and stir until dissolved. Let sit for 10-15 minutes until water is frothy.
Combine flour and salt in large bowl.
Make a small depression (like a volcano!) in the middle of lour and pur yeast water in depression.
Slowly add 1 cup of warm water, and stir with wooden spoon or rubber spatula until elastic.
Place dough on floured surface and knead for 10-15 minutes. When the dough is no longer sticky and is smooth and elastic, it has been successfully kneaded.
FB: This was the least fun part of the whole job.
Everything was sticking to my fingers, making me feel like I had doughy mittens on.
Near the end, it was better, because it became smooth & elastic, and the doughy sticky pieces came off.
Coat large bowl with vegetable oil and place dough in bowl. Turn dough upside down so all of the dough is coated.
FB: Important! Do this large bowl coated with oil BEFORE kneading the dough so that it’s ready to go.
Allow to sit in a warm place for about 3 hours, or until it has doubled in size.
FB: Any place is a warm place in your apartment unless it’s near an open, freezing window.
Once doubled, roll out in a rope, and pinch off 10-12 small pieces and roll them into balls.
Place balls on floured surface. Let sit covered for 10 minutes.
Preheat oven to 500 deg F. and make sure rack is at the very bottom of oven. Be sure to preheat your baking sheet also.
FB: Very important step to pre-heat up to 500 deg F.
Don’t wait for the oven to heat up. You basically need to get that nice brown crispy cover on the dough.
I found that as I went along, with all the opening and closing of the oven, my pitas got lighter and lighter in colour.
They still taste and look good, but don’t quite have that oven-kissed brown.
Roll out each ball of dough with a rolling pin into circles. Each should be about 5-6 inches across and 1/4 inch thick.
FB: I didn’t have a rolling pin, so I used that large wide circular spatula and pressed down on the doughy balls to flatted them out into a perfect pita shape near the end. Worked out well.
Bake each circle for 4 minutes until the bread puffs up. Turn over and bake for 2 minutes.
FB: I have an almost done one up left, the one beside it is brand new just slapped on the baking pan, and then below it, is half cooked.
Remove each pita with a spatula from the baking sheet and add additional pitas for baking.
Take spatula and gently push down puff. Immediately place in storage bags.
Note about storage:
Rikki made an excellent point that if they are hot and moist coming out of the oven, putting them in a storage bag = stupid idea.
At the time, out of sheer laziness, I let them cool to room temperature before I stuck them in the plastic storage bags.
Much better idea.
And if you want to reheat them, flick some water on them, and toss them in the microwave for 30 seconds. They come out like new.
They also only last 2 days before they get too chewy and hard to eat, even with the microwaving.
If you are a visual learner, I used this video here to help me out.
THE COSTS
Cost of making pita bread at home: $1.00 for 6 large pitas = $0.17 per pita
- 3 cups of flour = $5/10 kg = $0.30
- pinch of salt = $0.01
- pinch of sugar = $0.01
- drizzle of oil = $0.02
- yeast = $2 for 3 packets = $0.67
I checked the prices for already-made, packaged pitas that looked quite dry and too thin:
$2 for 3 pitas = $0.66/pita
Small change, but the savings are $0.49 per pita, or 74% cheaper.
Not only that, it tastes better, fresher and is healthier to boot.
- Recipe: Vanilla Almond Pound Cake
- Sweet and Sour Glazed Chicken Thighs
- Recipe: MacGyvering a Banana Cake
- Against BF’s will, I made Chicken Soup
- Yum.
Financial Samurai
on Dec 4th, 2009
@ 1:05 PM:
Wait a minute, I thought your boyfriend was the only one who cooks FB? Thought you trained him well??
Shelley
on Dec 4th, 2009
@ 2:19 PM:
I've had a bread maker for years and love making bread loaves and pizza dough. Haven't attempted pita bread yet, but I should as we eat a lot of tortillas to wrap up food and pita bread would serve the same purpose. Did you make your own houmous? I've got into the habit of just blending a tin of chickpeas (or even some dried peas I've cooked in the crockpot) and adding a bit of olive oil and salt. It's not quite the same, but very close to the store bought type and possibly a little lower in calories. Thanks for reminding me about pita bread!
FB @ FabulouslyBroke.com
on Dec 4th, 2009
@ 11:33 AM:
I did make my own hummus, but I didn’t have a grinder, so it turned out not so fabulous.
FB @ FabulouslyBroke.com
on Dec 4th, 2009
@ 11:34 AM:
No
I cook and bake on occasion, and I like it but he LOVES it and is awesome at it.
L.A. Daze
on Dec 4th, 2009
@ 5:45 PM:
This sounds like quite the workout! But they look scrumptious. Nothing better than homemade breads!
Rikki
on Dec 4th, 2009
@ 6:22 PM:
Why do you have to put them immediately into the storage bags? I worry that since they would still be hot, condensation would form in the bags and make them soggy. Did you have this problem, or am I just over analyzing…
@beskeie
on Dec 4th, 2009
@ 2:20 PM:
ooooh! looks SO SO yummy. thanks for giving me homework this weekend fb! is there a post for the hummus? YUMSVILLE!
Jean
on Dec 4th, 2009
@ 9:39 PM:
yum that looks so delicious. i should try to make hummus, do you just mix chickpeas with salt and olive oil?
Namine
on Dec 4th, 2009
@ 6:05 PM:
these look fabulous. If it didn’t take three hours I would totally make it for supper tonight!!
Namine´s last blog ..A Tie Anyone
FB @ FabulouslyBroke.com
on Dec 5th, 2009
@ 7:47 AM:
BF is in love with the recipe. He wants me to make it again so he can make pizza out of it.
FB @ FabulouslyBroke.com
on Dec 5th, 2009
@ 7:50 AM:
The pita bread takes 3-4 hours, but most of it is waiting for it to rise
Once you get the hang of it, the set up is fast and easy to do
FB @ FabulouslyBroke.com
on Dec 5th, 2009
@ 7:51 AM:
Yes. I mixed the mashed (grind them if you can) chickpeas after I removed their shells, with olive oil, salt and lemon juice.
You are supposed to add tahini but I wasn’t about to pay $10 for a huge jar that I wasn’t sure I’d use..
I was also going to sub in sesame oil for a bit of that sesame kick, but we ran out haha…
FB @ FabulouslyBroke.com
on Dec 5th, 2009
@ 7:53 AM:
No post for hummus.. but this link is pretty good, given to me by Meg:
http://humus101.com/EN/2006/10/14/hummus-recipe/
I just used:
Chickpeas (without their shells)
Olive oil
Salt
Lemon (very important)
That’s it. Technically, it should also have tahini, but I didn’t want to spend more money/time trying to find a jar here that’s reasonably priced.
FB @ FabulouslyBroke.com
on Dec 5th, 2009
@ 7:54 AM:
Apparently that’s what they said
But I actually let them cool down and then I put them in. But I wouldn’t suggest leaving them out over night. They’ll dry up quicker..
And it stays soft & awesome for only 2 days, with 30 seconds in the microwave
You’re totally right regarding the condensation problem…
Rae // theNotice
on Dec 5th, 2009
@ 5:13 PM:
Oh my GOD, those look amazing. I'll have to try this recipe out as soon as possible!! Tomorrow even, perhaps, if I have time ^^
Apples and Porsches » Blog Archive » Wholestyle on the Web
on Mar 5th, 2010
@ 1:31 PM:
[...] Fabulously Broke in the City: Homemade Pita Bread and Hummus [...]