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Prep time
2 hours 30 minutes
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Cook time
1 hour
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makes
10
Author Notes
This recipe blends two of my Sita’s (my Lebanese-American grandmother on my mother’s side) recipes. It favors a mix of all-purpose and whole wheat flour, which makes the dough much easier to work with than her all-whole-wheat-flour version. And patting the dough balls out by hand with your fingertips, instead of flattening them with a rolling pin, ensures that the pita dough rises.
Sita baked her loaves in an oven with a broiler on the bottom; to mimic that, my brother Will came up with the idea of baking it on a preheated pizza stone, which also ensures that the dough cooks and puffs to a tender-chewy result. Be sure to cover the baked loaves with a towel to ensure that they cool without drying out. Store in a sealed bag for three days on the counter, or up to one or two months in the freezer; they warm nicely in the toaster.
—Layla Khoury-Hanold
Test Kitchen Notes
Featured in: In My 40th Year, I Finally Made Pita Bread. —The Editors
Ingredients
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1
(¼-ounce) packet dry active yeast
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2 cups
warm water, divided
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3 1/4 cups
(390 grams) all-purpose flour, plus more for flouring board
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2 cups
(226 grams) whole wheat flour
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1/4 cup
olive oil, plus more for greasing the bowl
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1 teaspoon
fine sea salt
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1/4 teaspoon
sugar
Directions
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In a large mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in 1 cup warm water. Next, add remaining 1 cup water, oil, salt, and sugar. Working in batches, add in 3 cups of all-purpose flour and 2 cups of whole wheat flour. Use a silicone mixing spoon to gently incorporate the flour into the mixture until the dough starts to form (about half-way through adding flour), then use your hands to incorporate remaining flour. The dough will be sticky.
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Flour a large wooden board and turn out dough on board. From the remaining ¼ cup all-purpose flour, work in a tablespoon or so at a time until the dough is no longer so sticky. (You may not need all of it.) Knead the dough for 10 minutes until smooth and elastic.
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Grease a large bowl with olive oil. Shape dough into a ball, place in the bowl and turn to coat in oil. Cover bowl with a towel. Leave the dough ball to rise until doubled in size, about 1 ½ hours.
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Remove the dough ball and transfer to the floured board. Punch down and cover with a clean towel or cloth and let rest for 10 minutes.
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Divide dough into 10 portions and shape into balls. Cover with a towel and let rest 15 minutes more.
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Heat oven to 500 degrees with pizza stone (or baking sheet) placed on the lowest rack.
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Using your palms, lightly flatten the dough ball on the floured board. Using your fingertips, knead the dough into a round flat disk about ¼ inch thick by pressing down the center then out around the edges. Don't flip the dough; whichever side starts as the bottom of the loaf should stay as the bottom. Use a light touch to ensure a tender loaf.
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Bake one loaf at a time. Bake until lightly browned underneath, 4 to 5 minutes, then use tongs to flip and bake for 1 minute more, until lightly browned and puffed on both sides. While one loaf is baking, flatten the next dough ball, always keeping unbaked dough covered.
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Once bread is done baking, use tongs to remove loaf from the oven and transfer it to a clean towel, covering with a second towel to keep loaves warm and prevent bread from drying out. Repeat with the remaining dough.
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