Best 5 Quick And Easy Syrian Lebanese Pocket Pita Bread Recipes

HOMEMADE PITA BREAD RECIPE

Steps:

• In a large mixing bowl add 1 cup lukewarm water and stir in yeast and sugar until dissolved. Add 1/2 cup flour and whisk together. Place the mixing bowl in a warm place, uncovered to form a lose sponge. Give it 15 minutes or so, the mixture should bubble.
• Now add salt, olive oil and almost all the remaining flour (keep about 1/2 cup of the flour for dusting later). Stir until mixture forms a shaggy mass (at this point, the dough has little to no gluten development and just looks like a sticky mess and you can easily pull bits off). Dust with a little flour, then knead the mixture inside the bowl for about a minute to incorporate any stray bits.
• Dust a clean working surface with just a little bit of flour. Knead lightly for a couple minutes or so until smooth. Cover and let the dough rest for 10 minutes, then knead again for a couple more minutes. The dough should be a little bit moist, you can help it with a little dusting of flour, but be careful not to add too much flour.
• Clean the mixing bowl and coat it lightly with extra virgin olive oil and put the dough back in the bowl. Turn the dough a couple times in the bowl to coat with the olive oil. Cover the mixing bowl tightly with plastic wrap then lay a kitchen towel over. Put the bowl in a warm place. Leave it alone for 1 hour or until the dough rises to double its size.
• Deflate the dough and place it on a clean work surface. Divide the dough into 7 to 8 equal pieces and shape them into balls. Cover with a towel and leave them for 10 minutes or so to rest.
• Using a floured rolling pin, roll one of the pieces into a circle that's 8-9 inches wide and about a quarter inch thick. It helps to lift and turn the dough frequently as you roll so that dough doesn't stick to your counter too much. (If dough starts to stick, sprinkle a tiny bit of flour). If the dough starts to spring back, set it aside to rest for a few minutes, then continue rolling. Repeat with the other pieces of dough. (Once you get going, you can be cooking one pita while rolling another, if you like). You have two options for baking the pita from here.
• Heat the oven to 475 degrees F and place a heavy-duty baking pan or large cast iron skillet on the middle rack to heat. Working in batches, place the rolled-out pitas directly on the hot baking baking sheet (I was only able to fit 2 at a time). Bake for 2 minutes on one side, and then, using a pair of tongs, carefully turn pita over to bake for 1 minute on the other side. The pita will puff nicely and should be ready. Remove from the oven and cover the baked pitas with a clean towel while you work on the rest of the pitas.
• To cook pita on stovetop: Heat a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. (Test by adding a couple drops of water to the skillet, the skillet is ready when the beads of water sizzle immediately). Drizzle a tiny bit of extra virgin olive oil and wipe off any excess. Working with one pita at a time, lay a rolled-out pita on the skillet and bake for 30 seconds, until bubbles start to form. Using a spatula, flip the pita over and cook for 1-2 minutes on the other side, until large toasted spots appear on the underside. Flip again and cook another 1-2 minutes to toast the other side. The pita is ready when it puffs up forming a pocket (sometimes, with this method, the pita may not puff or may only form a small pocket. Try pressing the surface of the pita gently with a clean towel). Keep baked pita covered with a clean towel while you work on the rest.

PITA BREAD (SYRIAN)

Steps:

• 1. Activate The Yeast: In a small bowl mix the yeast and sugar. Add 1/2 cup of warm water and gently stir. Let it sit for 10 or 15 minutes. It should be all foamy.
• 2. Mix The Dough: In a large bowl put salt and 3 cups of the flour. Mix thoroughly and form a well in the middle. slowly mix in the 1/2 cup of yeast and 1 cup of warm water until fully incorporated. It will be a wet dough. Don't worry about it. This is the difference between this and regular bread.
• 3. The Rise: In another large bowl put 1 to 2 tbs. of oil. Coat the sides of the bowl so the dough won't stick. Put the dough in the bowl and fully coat the dough to keep it from forming a crust while it rises. Cover the bowl with a heavy towel and place it in a warm, draft free spot for 2 or 3 hours. It should be about doubled in size when it's ready for kneading.
• 4. Oven: Preheat the oven to 475 deg. Place a large cookie sheet in the oven to heat up. If you have a pizza stone that works great. Just make sure it is heated up fully. It will take longer than the time to just preheat the oven.
• 5. Kneading The Dough: Put some of the 1 cup of flour on a flat surface and place the risen dough on it. Knead the dough for about 10 minutes. Add more flour as needed until the dough is no longer sticky and comes together well.
• 6. Forming: After the kneading cut and form into small balls. They should make about an 8 inch circle when rolled out. Let them rest for 10 minutes. After they have rested, roll them out into 6 to 8 inch rounds about 1/4 inch thick
• 7. Baking: Place the rounds on the cookie sheet or stone and bake for about 2 or 3 minutes per side. DON'T walk away. They bake very fast. As soon as they puff up and have a light brown color it's time to flip them or take them out. You don't want to over bake them or they will come out crisp instead of soft. Do the first one by itself to check the times. Every oven is different. When you take them out let them cool for just 2 or 3 minutes and put them in a bag to keep them nice and soft. The puffing in the oven should form the "pocket" in the pita but it doesn't always. Don't worry about it. They still taste great.

QUICK AND EASY SYRIAN-LEBANESE-POCKET-PITA BREAD!

Steps:

• Mix all of the dry ingredients together in a large sturdy bowl (hard plastic or stainless steel). Form a little well in the center.
• Heat the water in a microwave safe dish for one minute.
• Pour the water into the flour well and mix the ingredients with a spatula as far you can. Place a dish of cool water in a bowl next to you as you begin to knead by hand.
• Knead the dough in the bowl by hand for at least 5-10 minutes, dipping your fingertips into the bowl of water as you knead. This will help create a smooth, elastic finish. You know your dough is ready when the surface is smooth and doesn't have pock-marks. The dough will feel slightly sticky as you knead it, but should not stick to your hands.
• Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and cut with a knife (or separate by hand) into equal sized pieces - 8 for larger rounds or 20 for small pitettes. Roll each piece into a smooth ball and lay on clean dish cloth or floured cutting board or surface, keeping them covered with another cloth.
• Once all of the balls are rolled and resting, cover them with a clean cloth and lightly pat the cloth with water on your finger tips to keep them moist, or spray lightly with a water mister. Let the balls rest for 30 minutes.
• After 30 minutes rest, preheat oven to 450 degrees with a baking stone or pizza pan on bottom rack inserted.
• As the oven preheats, roll each ball on a lightly floured surface into a flat round, no thicker than 1/4". The thinner the round, the better your pocket. Turn them over to roll them, trying to keep the round as best you can. If the dough sticks to the rolling pin, dip your finger tips in a little flour and coat the surface of the round as you roll. Make sure the edges are rolled out equally and not thicker than the center. Lay each round on the cloth or floured surface to rest again as the oven preheats. Keep them in the order your rolled them.
• Once the oven is ready, bake each round (or several at a time depending on size) on your baking stone, being careful to place them BOTTOM SIDE UP for 90 seconds to 2 minutes. The rounds should start to bubble on top and will "poof" up with the pocket. Once the pocket is formed, remove them from the oven and place onto clean surface to cool. The bottoms will be just starting to brown as you remove them from the oven.
• Once completely cooled, they can be stored in a freezer bag and frozen until ready to use - they will thaw quickly on the counter.

SYRIAN BREAD

Steps:

• Place ingredients in the pan of the bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer. Select Dough cycle; press Start.
• Preheat oven to 475 degrees F (245 degrees C).
• Once the dough has risen, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide the dough into eight equal pieces and form into rounds. Cover the rounds with a damp cloth and let rest.
• Roll dough into thin flat circles, about 8 inches in diameter. Cook two at a time on preheated baking sheets or a baking stone until puffed up and golden brown, about 5 minutes. Repeat for remaining loaves.

ARABIAN PITA BREAD

Steps:

• Mix yeast, water and sugar.
• Set aside.
• In a large bowl, combine flour, dried milk and salt.
• Pour in the oil and yeast/water mixture and stir well.
• You might need to add more flour or water, depending on the absorbency of the flour.
• Knead dough briefly, divide into 18 egg sized balls.
• Place on a floured surface, cover and let rest for 15-30 minutes.
• Roll one ball out and cook in a skillet until large "bubbles" form.
• Flip pita over and cook the other side for a few more minutes.
• I flatten it out with a spatula.
• Keep bread warm (wrap in a towel or place in a ziploc bag) while cooking the rest of the bread.
• These freeze well.