Pita Bread

Ingredients

• 1 1/8 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 teaspoons white sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast

[With a bread machine simply combine everything and have it mix it as well as a rise in the machine]

For us normal folk....

Mix water with yeast and sugar.
Add oil to water/yeast/sugar.
Combine salt with flour.
Begin mixing flour/salt into the liquid mixture.

Kneed until smooth and elastic. [Kitchen Aid can speed this up a bit]

Place in a greased bowl and allow to rise for 1-3 hours OR until doubled [OR until you've lost patience ;-) ]

On a floured surface:
Roll into a snake/rope and cut into same size pieces. I'd suggest 8...cut it in half and then each half in half and in half again.

Roll into 6-8 inch circles [and if you're Simon as thin as you can make it :-) ]

Allow to rest for 20 minutes on a floured surface while the oven is heating.

Preheat to 500 degrees F. (260 C)

Either bake on a (preheated) tray or on the rack directly. (rack toward the bottom of the oven)

Bake three or so at a time.

Bake 4 minutes, flip and bake 2 min.

Gently push down puff when pulled out of the oven.

Cover with a damp paper towel, or place in a bag (this allows them to soften slightly).

Store in the fridge or freezer to increase longevity (a few days-- a couple months in the freezer)
[I've never tested long-term storage...we ate them too quickly.]