Homemade Pita Bread Recipe

Almost perfect first time! I just watched the video for the first time - saw why I had to use a knife to make pockets! If you do not smush bubbles you will not get a good pocket! I used an electric fry pan @400 degrees as alternate cooking method (from another review thank you!). I used 100 degree oven to rise dough for 2 hours. Browning was faster using electric pan than times in instructions - went by browning color. Flavor so good I put a little butter in one and had for a yummy snack!

The recipe is fantastic - my go to has always been the King Arthur version (as is the case with most recipes), but I found this lighter and fluffier. The one suggestion I'd make is IF you have access to a baking steel, use that to cook the pita (oven at 475, preheat baking steel for at least an hour, then two-three minutes per side). I can make four at a time and they go fast - and they puff up huge EVERY time, no hit or miss like I found in a skillet (that includes the King Arthur recipe which I've made many times in the past). I also doubled the recipe because I was making gyros for a crowd and there were zero issues with doubling it.

I followed the recipe and instructions for half of the dough and was not happy with the result. Mine did not fluff up like many people. I saved half of the dough by putting the balls in a plastic container in the fridge overnight to cook in the morning. Pull them out of the fridge to bring back to room tempurature while I heated the oven to 450F with a pizza stone. I then put the flattened bread on it once the oven reached tempurature. And within 2 minutes, the full puff happened. I flipped them once and did not leave them in the oven more than 2 more minutes to prevent from drying. I think I may turn the oven to 500F next time hoping for some browning. It‘s not something you can walk away from but the result is so worth it.

Loved this; delicious right from the first time! I can't really imagine ever buying store-bought pita again. I don't have a standing mixer; the first time, I used a regular mixer but after that, realized that I didn't even need that - just some stirring with a big wooden spoon and then kneading it by hand worked great!

I made these tonight using an ungreased ceramic skillet instead of cast iron, and they came out perfectly. My advice to guarantee a full pocket is to make sure you seal the seams on the bottom of the dough balls before resting and rolling them. That way, the air has nowhere to escape and it inflates like a glorious little pufferfish. I had one that didn't seal properly, and that was the only one that didn't puff (but it was still delicious.) Watching the dough puff in the pan was genuinely exciting. Thanks, Chef John!

How much fun was this?! OK, so a few mods to the recipe. I made the dough in the food processor with rapid-rise yeast. I rolled the dough balls out by putting them through the widest setting on my pasta machine. And because I don't use cast iron (glass-top stove), I put the dough circles on cookie sheets and broiled them on High, turning as described. Wow, did they ever puff up! I will surely make this again and again.

THIS is absolutely delicious! Today, I will re-heat them using the skillet to warm them up. I used sugar instead of salt as I believe that sugar is required for the yeast to grow - let me know if I am wrong. They were on the small side - but I could see that when I rolled out the dough. Next time I'll make six instead of eight. Really incredible when paired with Chef John's falafel recipe!

I'm usually one to over salt my food, but I must agree with many reviewers on here that this bread is too salty. I hesitate to feed to my hypertensive husband. I also got no puffed bread. This is prob due to rolling them too thin. I also subbed in some wheat flour which prob made the dough too dense. I plan to try again with no mods except cutting salt down to like 1.25 t. I'll also try not to roll so thin. These aren't tortillas!

CRUCIAL tip. My pitas weren’t puffing up at first, but then I realized the dough had dried significantly before I cooked them. I then placed a wet paper towel over the dough balls and wet them slightly again before kneading and rolling out. Use as little flour as possible when rolling out. Barely a pinch. I had about 3 successful pitas after this. A high level of moisture is key to getting your breads to puff up as this allows steam to build up on the inside after the outer surfaces have hardened during cooking. They were delicious regardless.

These are definitely the best pitas I've ever made. They really puffed up and had perfect pockets. I subbed whole wheat flour (1/2C in the first part, 1/2C in the second part) and bread flour for the AP flour the recipe calls for. These have a wonderful flavor and texture.

Great recipe! I got a wonderful puff when cooking, but I did find that medium-high was too hot. My pitas were scorching at 2 minutes, so I turned it down to medium-low and it was perfect.

Perfect. Way better than store bought. Takes time to make but sooo worth it.

Tried it once — now I’m obsessed.

Just wow. Straight wow.

It was so simple and easy to make. I cannot wait to make again.

Even better than I hoped for.

You can totally make this on a weeknight.

This hits different.

I have to say I prefer what I buy at WinCo. And it is too much work for the results I got.

Followed the recipe as written, allowing 4 minutes per side instead of 3. Fluffy, light and wonderful tasting pita. I will be using this recipe many times in the future.