
I’ve been meaning to try to make pita bread for years. But then we moved back to Western Mass a few years ago and discovered Yalla Vermont, the coziest and most delicious Middle Eastern restaurant in Brattleboro, VT. Yalla makes their own insanely fluffy and delicious pita (and several different types of hummus), so we buy it there whenever we go. And I kept putting off baking it myself.
We aren’t exactly leaving the house these days because of coronavirus, so this seemed like the perfect time to try making it at home. And oh is it good!
Adapted from King Arthur
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons instant yeast
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1 cup water
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
Directions
1. In a large bowl, mix all of the ingredients until it forms a dough.
2. Now it’s time to knead the dough! You can do it by hand (10 minutes) or in a stand mixer with the dough hook (5 minutes). I use a stand mixer, which is a huge help. The dough should become quite smooth.
3. Put the dough into a greased bowl. Cover the bowl somehow–with a lid, a silicone cover, saran wrap, or even a slightly damp dish towel. This will prevent your dough from drying out. Leave the dough to rest for 1 hour.
4. Divide the dough into eight pieces. It’s okay if they aren’t completely even in size.

5. Roll two of the dough pieces into 6″ circles and place onto a greased baking sheet (I use a silicone mat instead of greasing the sheet).

6. Leave the 6″ circles to rest for 15 minutes and preheat the oven to 500°F.
8. Put the baking sheet with the two pitas on the lowest rack in the oven. Bake for 5 minutes. They will puff up quite a bit! (Note: if yours don’t, give it another minute. If they still don’t, your oven is probably not hot enough.)
9. Move the baking sheet to the top rack in the oven and bake for an additional 2-5 minutes, until lightly golden brown on top.
10. When the pitas come out of the oven, place a dish towel over them to keep them nice and soft.
11. Repeat the process with the remaining dough! (To make it go faster, I used two baking sheets and developed a system where I had one sheet starting on the bottom and one sheet finishing baking on top, with two different timers going. It’s more complicated, but definitely speeds it up.)
12. Make into a sandwich! Dip in some hummus! It’s so delicious warm, but will stay good in an airtight container too.
