Fluffy Pita Bread Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What makes pita bread puff up? ›

A very hot oven rapidly creates the steam that puffs up the pita.

If your pita bread is dense, it might be because you didn't roll the dough out thin enough. Make sure to roll it out as evenly as possible. If you're having issues with it puffing up, your oven may not be hot enough. A good oven thermometer can help you troubleshoot this.

Greek pita bread is one of those lesser-known flatbreads that is often referred to as “Mediterranean Pita” or as “pocket-less pita”. Whereas the more common pita bread (sometimes called “Arabic pita”) has a hollow “pocket” that is usually stuffed, Greek pita bread is soft, slightly thicker and has no pocket.

Undercooking: If pita bread is not cooked for long enough, it may not rise properly and form a pocket. The dough needs to be heated enough to activate the yeast and cause the bread to puff up and form a pocket. Handling: Pita bread needs to be handled gently to avoid compressing the air pockets inside the bread.

You could also lightly coat the top of the dough with vegetable oil if the bread is of a variety that won't be negatively affected by the oil. The baked bread can be stored in a plastic bag after it has cooled to room temperature, which will prevent. You could also cover it with plastic wrap, instead.

Knead – Turn out onto a clean surface and knead for 5 minutes. It will get less sticky as you knead. If it's too sticky to knead, sprinkle with a little flour and continue kneading. Dough should be soft and tacky to the touch.

Other times the pita gets all soggy at the bottom because it can't hold up to the juices and dressings, a travesty. But it doesn't have to be this way. On a recent trip to Turkey, senior food editor Andy Baraghani witnessed a genius fix for the soggy pita epidemic while watching a vendor stuff shawarma.

Pita is cooked directly on the floor of an oven, or on a pizza stone or steel in a home oven. The pocket results from steam generated inside the pita as it hits the hot surface. Because the pita is so thin, the outer crust sets very quickly, and the steam on the inside expands, forcing the top and bottom apart.

Was the dough kneaded properly? Dough may not have been kneaded enough. Kneading 'exercises' the gluten in the bread and gives it the elasticity to hold in the air bubbles produced by the yeast. It is these air bubbles that cause the dough to expand and rise.