I suddenly got a hankering for pitta bread. I like my gently toasted, dunked in hummous with olives, tomatoes and cheese on the side. You know the type of meal I mean? Comforting, tasty and easy to prepare – easy that is if you have the pitta bread to hand.
Now I’ll admit, I’m not a seasoned baker, especially when it comes to bread products. But that statement alone should inspire you to think….”you know what, maybe I can do this too”.
All in all this was an easy recipe, you need a little time as it needs to rise, but you could prepare the dough in 10 minutes, leave it to rise for 1 hour or a few hours, then roll and bake in 20 minutes. I took 30 minutes to roll and bake all mine but I had to photograph them and had a handy toddler assistant, undoing my rolling for me 😉
Recipe (makes 8-10 pitta):
450g Gluten free flour (I used Bezgluten Homemde Gluten Free Mix)
2 tsp xanthum gum if your mix has not got xanthum or guar gum in it.
1 tsp salt (optional)
4 tsp yeast
1 tbsp sugar
3 tbsp oil
250ml oat milk (can be normal milk)
- If you have one, use a food processor and mix 300g flour and the salt and xanthum gum if using. The salt is purely for preserving it, so if you are using these straight away you won’t need it.
- Add the yeast, sugar and oil one at a time and mix well.
- Warm the milk – I did this in the microwave for 1 minute 40 seconds. Add this whilst the food processor is on a slow setting and the dough should start to come together.
- Now it is the time to use your judgement. You want a dough that is “tacky”, not wet and very sticky, or perfectly smooth and soft, but a little sticky to the touch. So continue adding flour a little at a time. If you overdo the flour, add a splash more milk and start again.
- Place into a lightly oiled bowl and roll around so it is gently coated in the oil. Cover with clingfilm and leave it to rise in a warm place until it is doubled in size. Hopefully you can see the difference in mine. Hubby said the risen dough looks like a brain!
- Preheat the over to Gas Mark 7/475 F. If you have a pizza plate with holes in place this in. I used a piece of baking parchment on the wire rack. You want the air to be able to circulate under the pitta.
- Place the dough on a well floured surface and divide into 8-10 pieces. Roll each piece in some flour.
- Now is the fun bit. Flatten out each piece with the heel of your hand, aim to squeeze air out of it but keep it fairly thick. Think medium sliced bread for thickness. Add flour if sticky, now rotate it with the side of one hand and use your fingertips to push from the middle to the edges to form your pitta. Remember to rotate and flip it a couple of times.
- Place in the oven for 5-8 minutes, try and keep the oven door closed so they puff up. I cooked mine in 2 batches.
- Delicious served warm – you can toast them the next day too. Enjoy. You may have to slice some of them in half (take care!) but hey, who cares, these puffed up in the oven and were delicious. I impressed myself 🙂
This post was part of a recipe written for Bezgluten and is part of the paid work I do for them.