Ahhh…that feeling of satisfaction when the pita bread puffs up in the oven and you know that it has worked.

Trust me, it doesn’t always work out that way. It took me many attempts to get to this puffed-up point. I used to just keep the pitas in the oven until they were brown and crispy, hoping they’d blow up at some point!

If you want your pita bread to puff up as mine did (see the video above), there are two things that I think make all the difference:

1. Heat – I recommend putting the oven about as high as it can go, 220°C or so is good. It’s very important that you heat up your baking tray until it’s piping hot, so keep it in the oven from when you switch it on.

2. Size – If you roll out the pita bread too thin, it becomes too crispy and it doesn’t have enough space to puff up nicely. The ideal size is that of a side plate and is about 3mm thick.

Since this is a leavened dough, it does require getting your hands stuck into the dough for a bit. Here is a helpful video on kneading dough in case it’s your first time, or you need a little reminder:

In an oven, you don’t really get nice dark brown spots. If that’s a detail that is essential to you, finish the pitas off in a hot pan over medium heat.

Serving and Storing the Pita Bread

It’s no secret that bread is best fresh. Pita bread is no exception. However, you can lock in the freshness by freezing them and reheating them in a pan when you’re ready to enjoy them again. They make a great speedy lunch.

As you probably know (unless you’re living under a rock) there are stacks of fun things you can do with pita bread. 

Slice them open, then smear in some homemade hummus, or add in some coleslaw. They’re delicious with salad and braaied (grilled) meat, and of course, falafel or shawarma. You could even keep it simple and just enjoy the fresh bread – pita bread with butter seems to be my brother’s favorite.

Print Recipe

Pita Bread

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Lunch or Dinner

Serves: 6 pita breads

Prep Time: 1 hour 20 minutes – Cooking Time: 20 minutes – Total Time: 1 hours 40 minutes

This light and airy pita bread is easy to make and will work every time, if you stick to the recipe.

Ingredients

• 2½ cups white bread flour (plus extra for dusting)
• 1 tsp brown sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 2½ tsp instant yeast
• 1T olive oil
• 1 cup warm-ish water

Instructions

1

Stir together the flour, sugar, salt, and yeast in a large bowl.

2

Add the olive oil and water, and use a fork to combine to form a rough mixture.

3

Scrape the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth, about 10 minutes. Add just enough flour so that the dough doesn’t stick.

4

Place the kneaded dough back into the bowl (preferably greased for easy removal) and cover it with a damp tea towel. Allow it to rise for about 1 hour, or until at least doubled in size.

5

Place a large baking tray into the center of the oven and heat it up pretty much as high as it goes, around 220°C is good.

6

Divide the dough into 6 parts and roll each part into round, smooth balls. Now work one by one, and keep all the other dough covered by a tea towel. Ensure your work surface is well-dusted with flour. Flatten a piece of dough with the ball of your palm, then use a rolling pin to roll out a circle about 3mm thick. Rotate the dough disc continuously to get a smooth circle.

7

Dust off the excess flour, then put the pita bread onto the hot tray. Bake for a couple of minutes, until the pita bread has puffed up, and there are a few golden brown spots on it.

Notes

For lovely dark brown spots, finish the pitas off in a hot pan.