Arabian Pita Bread

“Delicious, quick, and easy.I’ve made these twice now and we love them.I have even wrapped leftover dough balls (already risen) in saran wrap and put them in the fridge for a couple of days.When I cooked the last batch up (straight from the fridge, then rolled out) they came out even fluffier than freshly made ones.I don’t know why that is, but I’m happy it worked.Now when I make a batch of hummus, we can have freshly baked pitas with it each day!Oh– also I only used 3 T. olive oil, 1 T. of milk (not powdered), 1.5 c. whole wheat pastry flour (with white flour for remaining flour) and it came out great.”

“I loved this recipie! Very easy and tasty. I used olive oil and the second time I made it I used 1 cup of wheat flour instead of white. I’ll probably use more wheat flour next time — it give it just a bit more flavor.”

“I’ve made this 3 times now & like it a lot. But is this supposed to make pita pockets? It doesn’t for me.I end up with a soft flat bread. You’re right najwa, it’s great wiyh hummus & falafel – just not what I expected.”

“Fantastic!! Served gyro-style with falafel, tomato, red onion and tzatziki. If you are making these for Gyros I advise using the pan-method. Baked a few in the oven at first but they were not pliable or “bendy” like you want for gyros. So I moved on to using a pan and got great results. They were softer, more pliable, and prettier too. The trick for making “stuffable” gyro bread seemed to be to roll them very thin, almost too thin it might seem at first, before adding to the pan. They will poof up in the pan to the perfect thickness and the larger diameter is nice. Super recipe! Thank you, Najwa~”

“there are so many reviews on here, but I thought my comments might be helpful to someone, so I’m chiming in.So many folks had said the dough was sticky that I decided to use less oil than the recipe called for.I used 4 tablespoons instead of 6, and it was just fine.I used white wheat flour instead of AP white, and added 3 tablespoons wheat gluten.No problems there. I divided the dough into 12 pieces rather than 18, I wanted some fair-sized pitas. The first few pieces I did roll out, as the recipe instructs, but they were thinner than I’d like, so I patted the rest out by hand, and liked them much better that way.Lastly, I would add just a pinch more salt next time … maybe just a 1/4 teaspoon.Good flavor, rose well, easy to make, would make again.Thanks!”

“These were fantastic! I didn’t try to split them for pita pockets but I did eat them with hummus and they were a big hit at my party! On a personal note: I had trouble getting the bread to brown on my stove with my teflon coated aluminum pan but when I switched to my cast iron pan they were a breeze to make. I did spray my pan between each pita I made but I could just as easily used olive oil to wipe the pan (but I was out). Will definitely make again! Thanks for the great recipe!”

“This by far is the best pita recipe I have tried so far.Now I am not a chef, but I do have a couple of tips that I learned through trial and a lot of error.I never, ever use instant rise or rapid rise yeast (the kind you get in those little packets).All it does is make the pita taste like yeast.Find a good active dry yeast (look in the organic section).When activating the yeast, make sure the water is warm (you can hold your finger in the water without the need to jerk it out in 10 seconds or less) not hot and let sit about 5 minutes before using.I decrease the amount of olive oil to 4 tablespoons.Keeps the pita dough from being too sticky.Most important of all, use a pastry cloth to roll out the pita.My pastry cloth came as a cover to a large round board.You rub flour into the board before rolling out the pita on the cloth.Little to no sticking, no excess flour making the pita hard, and you can roll the dough so thin you can see through it!I also have a cloth for my rolling pin, but I am not sure I really need it.Lastly, if you have left over pita (yeah right), I cut it into finger length strips about an inch wide.I then bake them on a cookie sheet in the oven for 6-8 minutes at 350 degrees F until they turn into crispy chips.Yum.Spray a little olive oil and season before baking for added flavor!”

“Awesome! These turned out more like naan though, as they didn’t really puff up and didn’t create pockets. Great bread, though. The dough was quite sticky and I had to add about an extra cup of flour. I think next time I will reduce the oil to 4 tbsp and increase the salt for a bit more flavour, as other reviewers have suggested. Thanks for the recipe!”

“I loved this recipe, it was so quick and easy to make.Best of all it tastes great…and… I made it.Doing the happy dance.The arabian pita was soft, tender and crisp.It was perfect served with recipe #212985.Thank you for sharing a recipe that I will make often.”

“Tasty and easy.I used this recipe for my gyro testing.Great recipe.Used the dough hook in kitchen aid mixer.It was a humid day and I had to add quite a bit more flour.”

“This is sooooo good!We made three batches for Easter.Two would have been enough but I couldn’t keep the kids from eating it!As soon as the bread was fried, someone was eating it!We fried them in an electric skillet.I tried using a cast iron skillet but it was much easier to keep the temperature at a constant level with the electric skillet.This is a new family favorite.Thank you for posting this great recipe.”

“Mine didn’t puff up either, but they were delicious.Maybe mine were a bit different because I used 1.5 cups of milk instead of water and dry milk. Thanks!”

“I made these today using a griddle. Didn’t change much except as others did, used less olive oil and did add a bit more salt. My first few didn’t puff because maybe the griddle wasn’t hot enough, but I used a fine mist if olive oil and that did it! Awesome!”

“This was a great combination with (beef) gyro meat and garlicky yogurt sauce. Super easy, doesn’t take as long as indicated, which is really nice when you decide late in the afternoon that tonight is Mediterranean night. :-)”

“These were very easy to make and tasted great with our dinner.I did have to add a lot more flour than called for (probably at least 4 cups total, instead of 3 cups).I will add a little more salt next time, too.”

“These are amazing! Super simple and they taste delicious.I found I needed to add between 1/2-1cp of additional flour to make the dough workable.”

“LOVE this simple and delicious recipe! My entire family went crazy over these–will definitely make them again!”

“This was so easy with perfect results every time.I didn’t have any issues at all with the recipe being too sticky as other posters, perhaps their measurements were off a bit?I made it exactly as Najwa instructs and it was perfect.I split up the dough into 18 little balls as Najwa mentioned, and the pitas came out perfect in size and texture.My husband is Egyptian and he can’t believe his American wife is making perfect pita bread like he remembers from home.We also use this recipe to make the Egyptian sandwiches that are baked in the pita.Thank you for a wonderful recipe!”

“This recipe is fantastic! They’re easy to make and the yield is huge. I substituted the dry milk powder with buttermilk (only dairy I had on hand) and added some garlic powder– Yummy!! I have a glass top stove so I tried rolling the dough out extra thin, flouring them a little, and popping them directly on the surface. Worked like a dream! Those turned out even better than using an oiled pan. I had so much extra dough I left it in the fridge for a few days, let it come to room temp and wrapped them around organic hotdogs and those turned out excellent as well. (Cook just the dogs for 2 mins in the oven first, put the finished and wrapped ones on a pan, seam side down; flip a few times until brown and voila). There’s so much that can be done with this dough, it’s very versatile! Thanks a million!!!!!!! :)”