Say that you want to eat some pita bread. You want something to put some hummus on or have some sandwich with. You wander down to the store and pick up a stack of the stuff. You take it home, toast it, spread somethin’ savory on top, and chow down. The meal will be okay; you might even enjoy it. But, I guarantee the pita will be dry, fairly hard, and rather chewy. You might not realize how much better that little yeasted pocket could be unless you’ve feasted on homemade pita before. Pita can optimize supple. It can be warm, fluffy, and when you pull the bread apart it can steam. Homemade pita is the type of thing you will invariably burn your tongue on because
you will want to eat it hot, right out of the oven. And when you bite into this soft flatbread you will want to keep on biting.

Good news is that you don’t need to settle for pitiful pita. You can make your own, and it’s not too hard. All you really need is flour, yeast, and milk and a few hours. To master extra fluffy pita pockets, roll out the dough very thin. Stuff pitas with sandwich fixings, snack on them with cheese, or make a pita pizza with day-old pitas by putting veggies and cheese atop a pita and broiling in the oven or toaster oven until the cheese melts. Make sure to invite some friends over to enjoy the bread while it’s still warm.

Pita Bread
1 tablespoon active dry yeast
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/4 cup warm water
4 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 tablespoon salt
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup warm water
3/4 cup warm milk

Dissolve yeast and sugar in 1/4 cup warm water and set aside.

In a large bowl, mix together the flour and salt. Make a hole in the center of the mixture and add the yeast mixture:oil, milk and water. Mix gently with a wooden spoon until well combined. Turn onto a lightly floured surface and with lightly floured hands knead for about 8 minutes. Add more flour if the dough sticks. The dough should change consistency, become more elastic, and hold its shape by the end. Now form the dough into a ball and put it back into the mixing bowl. Place a towel over the bowl and let it rise for 45 minutes in a warm place.

After 45 minutes, punch the dough down, and turn it onto a light floured surface. Using a knife, cut the dough into 8-10 pieces and shape each piece into a ball with your hands. Place the balls on a lightly floured counter, dust the top of them with flour, cover with a clean cloth, and let rise for another 30-45 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 475 ºF and place one oven rack on the lowest shelf of your oven, removing the other rack. Place an upside down cookie sheet on the rack.

Lightly flour the counter and a rolling pin (if you don’t have a rolling pin, you can use a wine bottle with a little flour on it). Roll out each ball into a round less than 1/4 inch thick. Let the flattened rounds rest under a towel as you roll each one out.

Place 2 or 3 pitas at a time (starting with the first flattened) on top of the heated cookie sheet. Bake for about 5 minutes or until bottom is slightly brown. Remove from the oven and place in large paper bag with a towel over the top to keep the breads warm. Enjoy.