Homemade Pita Pockets

Making pita bread from scratch… is it even possible? Is it even worth it? Fortunately for you and me, the answer to both questions is a resounding YES.

To me, these little breads are almost like magic. You roll them flat as pancakes, then they puff up and fill with air. How does it happen? I have no idea, but I’m glad it does.

For two pita pockets, you’ll need ½ cup flour (all-purpose or wheat works), 1 teaspoon sugar, ¼ teaspoon rapid-rise yeast, and 2 tablespoons water.

In a small bowl, mix the flour, sugar, yeast, and water. The water should be around room temperature—just make sure it’s not way too hot or too cold. It’s OK if the dough hardly comes together—you’re going to knead it, and it will absorb more flour when you do that.

In the bowl or on a flat work surface, knead the dough for about 5 minutes. You may need to add more flour as you go along to keep the dough from getting too sticky. When you’re finished, shape the dough into a ball, and put it back in the bowl.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and set it in a warm place to rise for 2 hours. The oven with the pilot light turned on works well. After those 2 hours, the dough should have expanded. It will look flatter, puffier, and maybe a little darker.

Preheat the oven to 500. Separate the dough into two balls, and sprinkle a little flour onto a flat surface. Roll out each ball into a flat pancake shape, somewhere between 1/8” and ¼” thick.

Here’s the tricky part. When you have your two pancake shapes, place them directly onto the oven grids. The oven will be incredibly hot, so BE CAREFUL! Use hot pads if you’re clumsy or if you think you might drop the flattened pieces of dough.

Shut the oven, and bake the breads for 5 minutes. When they’re done—no joke—they will have puffed up to about 2 inches in height. Awesome—and delicious!