Bread, how amazing is bread right? as much as we love bread here flatbreads have just been taking the biscuits. My mate and I love to make flatbread as they’re pretty easy to whip up and make you feel like a boss when you serve them up for dinner. When we feel like showing off we’ll whip up these homemade pita breads when we have our mates over for dinner. They bring wine and we make Pita breads it’s a good trade.
The origins of the pita…
The pita bread is a staple in most Mediterranean, greek and middle eastern dishes. When holidaying in Greece you would get pita bread on the side with almost every meal, it was AMAZING! nothing like some pita bread and tzatziki with fresh salad to sort you out after a night of partying.
Traditionally pita bread was prepared by making a thick batter and allowing the batter to rest until the yeast formed. Kind of same same as sourdough but different. Of course, yeast then came about and well something that would take a couple of days can now be made in just over a couple hours.
Pita breads are traditionally cooked at high heat in a patio stove. However, for the bog-standard home cook, you can cook them in the oven or on a skillet.
If you want to check out an authentic recipe, you can have a gander here.
How to make Pittaaass..
Making homemade Pita bread is actually super fun, making any kind of bread is fun. It blows my mind how just with a few simple ingredients you can get something that tastes so dam GOOOOD!
There’s a few steps to making Pita Bread but trust me hunni bee is an enjoyable journey. As they say it’s about the journey not the destination am a right?
OK Hunni this what your going to want to do…
- Add your yeast, warm water and honey to a bowl whisk and let it bloom for 5 minutes.
2. Add in the flour and the olive oil – check out the full recipe below for the whole shubang step by step.
3. Dump it out onto a surface and knead that dough hunni. Kneading is my favourite action to do in the kitchen. Had a bad day? no worries knead it out? Don’t want to go to the gym? No worries work out those pistols in the kitchen.
4. After kneading it should look like a smooth softball of joy. Let it rest for 1.5 hours while that little squish grows and doubles in size.
5. Divide and Roll – Divide the dough into 6 equal balls.. well as equal as possible. Roll them out into circles about 1/4 inch thick.
6. It’s time to COOK hunni bee. I cook them on a skillet its faster than the oven and well i’m pretty lazy so I like to cook a couple on a skillet at the same time. They will begin to rise and puff up, cook about 1-2 minutes on each side.
7. EAT!!! serve them up warm for the freshest pita’s you’ve ever had.
Tips and Tricks…
- The dough is a slightly wet dough as the steaming of the water in the dough on high heat is what makes them puff up, however, if you feel like it’s to wet gradually add extra flour a minuscule amount at a time.
- Vice versa if the dough is to dry add water a teaspoon at a time.
- If the dough is sticking to your hands coat them in oil it will help with gliding your hands over the dough without having to use to extra flour.
- Make sure your skillet or pan is super hot before you cook your pita bread. To test if it’s hot enough splash some water into the pan it should steam instantly.
- Roll out the pitas equally and have a level surface so that they will puff up equally.
- you can make these a day in advance and let the dough rise overnight in the fridge. Just make sure to allow it to come up to room temperature before using.
- HAVE FUN WITH IT.
What to serve with your Pitas…
You can serve pitas with virtually anything!
Making an antipasto plate – these pitas will go amazingly.
They are dope as dipping bread in dips such as hummus or pesto. Or any other dip that’s your fav.
We love making Moroccan cauliflower and chickpea pita breads. It’s one of the most requested dished when our mates come over. You can stuff them with pretty much anything though.
What to do with leftovers…
I highly doubt you’ll have any leftovers hunni bee because well they soo goood!
However, if you do have leftovers wrap the pita breads up and keep in the cupboard for a couple of days. We reheat them in the toaster and they’re just as good.
If you don’t use all the dough keep in an airtight container in the fridge for one day. Or wrap up tight and place in the freezer for up to one month remembering to allow the dough to become room temperature before handling.
These homemade pita breads are honestly so easy, they’re so delicious and so much better than buying them from the supermarkets. Say no to PLASTICS and MAKE YOUR OWN hunni bee.
Enjoy the journey of bread it’s so fun once you jump on that train.
Keep on moving, keep on groovin and most of all keep on cooking good looking.
Love Char x
Homemade Pita Bread’s
Simple homemade pita bread recipe to help yah stay away from the plastic and make it yo self.
- 3 Cups All Purpose Flour (+ extra for dusting)
- 1 Cup Warm Water
- 7 g yeast (One individul packet. )
- 2 tbsps Honey
- 2 tbsps Olive Oil
- 2 tbsps Salt
Add the yeast, water and honey to a large mixing bowl and whisk together let sit for 5 minutes you should start to see bubbles appear. Add in one cup of flour and the salt, combine together. Cover with a tea towel and let sit for 10 minutes.
Add in the remainder of the flour and roughly start to combine with your hands, add in the oil and massage into the rough dough mixture. Dust a clean bench surface with flour and dump the rough dough on to the surface.
Knead the dough for about 10 minutes. You can use the pull and stretch method and just bang the dough on the bench a few times. The dough should eventually turn into a ball with a smooth surface on top. Lightly oil a clean bowl, place the dough into the bowl making sure it's covered in the oil. Cover with a tea towel and let sit in a warm spot for about an hour and a half or until doubled in size.
Once the dough has doubled in size, tip it out on a clean floured work surface and punch the dough down, divide into six individual balls. At this point get your skillet or pan ready as you want it to be quite hot for when you begin to cook them. You'll know when the pan is ready by splashing some cold water on it and it should steam straight away.
Start your assembly line, begin to roll out your pita bread. While rolling out one keep the other dough balls covered with a damp cloth to keep moist. you want to roll them out into circles – doesn't matter if they're not perfect. Roll them out to about 1/4 inch thick.
When your pan is hot enough you can start to cook those little pocket of joys. Place your rolled out pita on to the skillet and let cook for about 2/3 minutes each side. It should begin to puff up as you cook it. Repeat the step above and this step for each pitta.
They taste best served up right after cooking. If you have leftovers let them cool then either keep them in an airtight container or wrap them and keep in the cupboard they will last a couple of days. Or you can also freeze them for a month let fully defrost before use.
- Make sure your yeast is not old yeats and it’s active by doing step one you’ll be able to tell how active your yeast is by the bubbling.
- If the dough is sticking to your hands coat them in some oil. try not to add to much extra flour.
- If the dough feels like it’s to wet, slowly add extra flour as you knead. If you feel the dough is too dry add water 1 teaspoon at a time as you knead. Trust me it can change rapidly.
- You can pre-make this dough a day before let the dough sit in the fridge over night tightly wrapped. Make sure to bring up to room temperature before handling.
