Homemade Pita Bread

I found this recipe on a blog called:www.myrecipereviews.blogspot.com she got the recipe from www.thefreshloaf.com

It was surprisingly easy to make..and REALLY AWESOME! I made soft bread for Chicken Salad pockets...and used this recipe....then I toasted some up pretty crispy, sliced them in triangles (painted them with sea salt water) ...toasted em more..and chowed my pita chips with hummus...YUMMM!~

Pita Bread is supposed to puff up in the oven so that you get a pocket when they are sliced in half. All of mine didn't always puff but that's okay, if that happens I use them as flat bread or I carefully slice them so that they do have a pocket. High heat, a very hot baking surface, and very thinly rolled dough are apparently the keys to getting the pitas to puff. Mine usually bubble a little bit and that is good enough for me.

*The key to getting puffy pita bread is heat. Make sure your oven is preheated. Increase the temperature to 450 degrees (I originally had 400) and if possible, use a stone to bake them. The result will be beautiful, tasty bread with no leftovers!

PITA BREAD

3 c. flour
1 1/2 t. salt
1 T. sugar
1 packet (2 t.) yeast
1 1/2 c. water, room temp.
2 T. olive oil
1. Mix the yeast with the flour, salt, and sugar.
2. Add the olive oil and 1 1/4 c. water.
3. Stir together with a wooden spoon until it forms a ball. It should feel like soft roll dough.
4. Knead for about 10 minutes.
5. Place in a sprayed bowl, cover with plastic wrap ( I spray plastic wrap as well), and let rise for 90 minutes until it is doubled in size.
6. Now it's time to preheat the oven to 450 degrees. If you have a baking stone place it in the oven now. If not, use a flat cookie sheet or turn a cookie sheet upside down. This will be your baking surface.
7. When the dough has doubled, punch it down and separate into 8-10 pieces. Roll each piece into a ball and place on a cookie sheet. Cover with a damp kitchen towel and let the dough rest for 20 minutes. This resting period is necessary so that the gluten in the dough relaxes. This enables you to more easily shape the pitas.
8. Lightly flour your work surface and place one dough ball on the flour. Sprinkle the ball with flour and use a rolling pin to flatten the dough. It should be between 1/8 and 1/4 inch thick.
9. Open the oven and place the flattened dough on the hot baking surface. Let it cook for 3 minutes. I flipped and cooked for 2 extra minutes.If you want the pitas to be crispy and brown leave them in for and additional 3 - 5 minutes.
10. You can store them in a zip-loc bag.