Greek Pita Bread

Total Time: 2 hrs 4 mins Preparation Time: 2 hrs Cook Time: 4 mins

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups warm water
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 4 cups flour
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 1/4 teaspoons yeast

Recipe

• 1 combine the yeast and sugar in a small bowl.
• 2 add 1/2 cup of the warm water and let it stand for 10 minutes to proof and ferment.
• 3 dissolve the salt in the remaining warm water.
• 4 put the flour in a large mixing bowl, making a well in the middle and put the dissolved yeast and salt water into it.
• 5 with your hands, blend it into a dough. you may need a bit more or less water depending on your flour.
• 6 knead the dough in the bowl with your fists for 10-15 minutes or until smooth.
• 7 pour the oil over the dough and knead it again until the oil is absorbed.
• 8 cover the dough in the bowl with a towel and set in a draft free area to rise to double it's bulk (1-2 hours), then punch it down and knead it again for a few minutes.
• 9 preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• 10 cut pieces of dough, egg-size or larger, depending on the size of the pita desired.
• 11 shape them into balls with your hands and roll them out over a lightly floured board or pastry cloth to 1/4" thickness.
• 12 set 2 or 3 pitas on a lightly oiled cookie sheet and bake them on the lower rack 2-3 minutes each side.
• 13 bake longer for pita pockets.
• 14 susie's note: pitas should be and soft. wrap the baked pitas in a clean towel until they are cool, then store them in plastic bags to prevent them from drying out. when you are ready to use them, heat a bit of oil in a skillet and fry them a minute or so on each side, or until golden brown. use them immediately, because they get hard when they dry out.