Arabic Pita Bread
breadpastry

Arabic Pita Bread

Soft Arabic-style pita that balloons in the oven and turns into perfect pockets for fillings.

Ingredients

  • 500 g wheat flour (and another 20 g for rolling out)
  • 320 ml lukewarm water
  • 9 g dry yeast
  • 9 g sugar
  • 9 g salt
  • A tiny bit of neutral vegetable oil (about 1 tsp, for coating the dough and bowl)

Tools

  • Large mixing bowl (tall/high is nice for rising)
  • Fine sieve (for flour)
  • Kitchen scale
  • Bench knife or regular knife (for dividing)
  • Rolling pin
  • Clean kitchen towel (plus one towel you can dampen)
  • Baking sheet (or an upside-down sheet), preheated
  • Oven mitts

Instructions

1. Activate the yeast

  • Pour the lukewarm water into a bowl, add yeast and sugar, and whisk until smooth.
  • Let it stand for 10 minutes.

2. Mix and knead

  • Sift 500 g of flour into a large bowl and mix in the salt.
  • Add the yeast mixture and knead until you get a smooth, elastic dough (about 5–7 minutes).

3. First rise

  • Lightly oil the dough all over.
  • Put it into a tall bowl, cover with a towel, and let rise for 40 minutes.

4. Heat the oven and tray

  • Set the oven to the highest temperature it can do (ideally around 260°C), conventional/static heat (no fan).
  • Put the baking sheet inside so it preheats too.

5. Divide and shape

  • Turn the dough out, knead for about 1 minute, then cut into 8 equal pieces.
  • Shape each piece into a tight ball by rolling it between your hands.
  • Keep the balls covered with a towel while you work so they don’t dry out.
  • Let the balls rest under the towel while the oven finishes heating up.

6. Roll (work in small batches, 2 at a time)

  • Sprinkle the remaining 20 g of flour on the countertop to prevent the dough from sticking.
  • Roll out 2 balls into round discs, no thicker than 5 mm.
  • Don’t tear the dough; if you do, pinch the tear closed and let the disc rest 2 minutes so it seals.
  • Keep rolled discs covered with a towel so they don’t skin over.

7. Bake (fast door, minimal heat loss)

  • You have about 5 seconds: open the oven, pull the hot tray out a bit, quickly place the 2 discs on it, and close the oven.
  • Bake in the middle of the oven and watch them puff up like balloons.
  • Once fully puffed, give them about 1 more minute, then remove.

8. Keep them soft

  • Immediately stack the pitas on a plate and cover with a slightly damp towel while you bake the rest.

Tips

  • Pitas puff because the moisture inside the dough turns into steam in a very hot oven, separating the top and bottom layers into a pocket.
  • For reliable pockets, aim for a dough thickness of about 5 mm (too thick or too thin can reduce puff).
  • At around 260°C on a well-preheated tray, pitas typically puff and finish fast (often within a few minutes), so stay by the oven.