Do you like a good quality bread? If yes, this blog for you.
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This recipe makes super simple, delicious and multipurpose pocket bread. Ditch the store bought pita bread and make my homemade version. With slow fermentation yeast, it works magically. Brings flavor and texture into the next level. No digital scale needed, let's grab a measuring cup, teaspoon and let's go...
By the way did you know all Middle Eastern households have always been big on pita, or pitta, bread. It’s a round or oval flatbread typically served with a wide range of side dishes, such as mezze platters, including falafel, hummus, tzatziki, tapenades and more.
Every region is famous for a particular shape of bread and method of cooking. For example, Turkish and Greek cuisines like their pita cooked on a grill mostly, and Greek prefer a round shape vs. an oval one. Today I want to share with you a recipe that I received, inspired by my Cypriote friend and am happy to share with you.
Making your own pita bread is not only fun, but it’s also really EASY! If you’ve always wanted to make homemade pita bread, but were intimidated by the process, then this recipe is for you!
SIMILAR RECIPE:
Why You'll love this Homemade Cyprus Style Pita Bread
Pantry staples: This recipe only requires very basic pantry staples that you likely have on hand: flour, salt, honey, active yeast, olive oil, and water!
Easier than you think: The dough is very easy to make. You don’t need to be a professional baker for it to turn out perfectly.
Freezer friendly: This recipe makes 8 ovals of pita bread, so you can freeze them for later.
Versatile: Pita bread can be used for all sorts of things! Serve it with a Black olive tapenade, The Best Tabouli (Tabbouleh) Salad, Hummus, Chicken kebabs, Tzatziki Sauce.
Ingredients you will need to make Cyprus style pita bread
Bread flour: Bread flour supports a perfectly soft and slightly chewy texture.
Yeast: Active Yeast is what makes the dough rise and helps it to be light and fluffy.
Honey: Honey helps to activate the yeast and also contributes to a lightly sweet flavor in the pita bread.
Salt: I like to use a pink or Celtic salt in most of my cooking. Salt is key in bread recipes to bring out the flavors of all the other ingredients.
Olive oil: Adding olive oil to the dough adds additional flavor and helps keep the dough moist, plus let's not forget any type of fat will preserve the bread, or put another way, it will keep your baked goods fresh, longer.
Water: Ice cold water is necessary for activating very slowly the yeast and to help it not grow rapidly. I know with active yeast we always try to speed up the rising process, and warm water helps to do that, but for great flavor and health benefits, slower is the key.
About the Yeast for Cyprus Style Pita Bread
To produce the best yeast bread, you must give the dough time to rise slowly; the entire process takes about 12 hours before baking. Just because active yeast can do much faster a job doesn't mean you should; I'm using an active yeast vs wild (sourdough) in this recipe. Because of the long slow fermentation process for the sourdough bread, the most important nutrients such as iron, magnesium, zinc, antioxidants, folate acid, and B vitamins become easier for our bodies to absorb.
I'm a big lover of sourdough starter, but even commercial yeast can be used in a smarter way. Any commercial or wild living organisms have 3200 billion cells to the pound - and not one is exactly like another. They feed on sugars and produce alcohol and carbon dioxide - the "riser" we are after. Organic acids and other fragrant compounds are also created to give the sour effect and delicious over all flavor.
Let's do it...
Prep time: 5 minutes
Waiting time: 10-12 hours
Making time: 20 minutes
Total time: 12 hours & 25 minutes
Author: Inna of innichkachef.com
Total: 8 pitas
Ingredients
2&1/4 cup bread flour
2&1/4 teaspoon active yeast
1&1/4 teaspoon pink salt
4 teaspoons honey
1/4 cup olive oil
1&1/4 cup ice cold water
Directions
In an electric mixer with a hook attachment mix flour and yeast.
Then add ice cold water, honey, and olive oil. Mix everything well. Until you see the dough start realizing from the wall of the mixer.
Cover the bowl of dough with a kitchen towel and leave to rest for 10-20 minutes.
Add salt and mix for a minute or so.
To prepare working surface use a little bit of oil to grease the working surface and your hands. Take your dough and place it onto the surface. Use a dough scraper to create the ball. Divide it into 8 pieces.
With your hand make a ball of each piece of the dough. Tuck in and roll. (Watch video for this step).
Place each rolled piece of dough on a greased with oil baking sheet. Cover with plastic wrap. I used a grocery bag and didn't place it too tight. If you are using a regular plastic wrap, please consider using an oil spray to prevent tiring the dough after it rises.
Leave in the fridge to rise for 10-12 hours.
Preheat oven to 450F one hour before you are planning to bake the pita rounds. Heat up a pizza stone or large cast iron pan in the oven to prepare for the baking.
Take each dough on well floured surface and sprinkle with additional flour on top of each piece, roll it out. It would help to have a bread paddle or a wide spatula to lift the pita rounds onto the hot pizza stone or cast iron pan.
Bake two pitas at the time, for 2-3 minutes or until the pita rises, creating a pocket kind of like balloon. It's done.
Take out carefully and place on a wooden board, repeat with the rest of the dough. Keep the baked pitas covered with a kitchen towel while you bake the rest. I hope you'll make this recipe soon. If you do, please tag me #innichka_chef on Instagram, Facebook, Patreon, or Pinterest.
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