Pita Pockets @ Home

So.  The other day I stood around thinking, "What's next?".  You know, the ol' standby for us mommas - Do The Next Thing!  The washing machine was chugging along, the dishwasher was humming, the babies were napping....what was next?

Ah, the bread machine.  I hadn't made any bread that day, and I had no concrete plans for dinner.  What's a girl to do??

~how to prepare and bake the perfect loaf~

I have been slowly making my way through this fabulous book (of my mom's).  Yes, I have my favorite bread recipe, but I like finding something new, something *different*, every once in a while.

I decided on Pita Bread.  They looked easy & fairly quick (I needed dinner for that night!).

The Ingredients

1 c. warm water

1 Tb. olive oil

3 c. unbleached white bread flour (I used all-purpose)

1 1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp.  granulated sugar

1 tsp. rapid-rise active dry yeast (um, I used my regular ol' dry yeast)

Basically, you just put it all in, let the dough cycle run, pull out the dough onto a floured surface & separate it into 6-10 pieces (depending on how big you want your pitas - we did 8 pieces and it seemed a good size).

Roll each piece into a ball -then cover it with oiled plastic wrap, letting it rest for 10 min.

Preheat oven to 450, preheat pans in oven (I forgot to preheat my pans - it still worked fine).

Roll each piece (round or oval) to 1/4in. thick, sprinkle with flour, cover with oiled plastic wrap, rest for 10 min.

Place pitas on pans & bake for 5-6 min, 'till puffed up & lightly browned.  Transfer to wire rack to cool.

Serve w/ dips or soup ~ or split them in half and stuff the pockets with veggies, meat and/or cheese filling!!

**Like I said, I forgot to preheat my pans.  Once I shaped & floured each one, I placed them on the baking sheets and let them rest for 10 min - they rose a bit right there on the pan.  If I would have transfered the pitas after that last 10 min. rest, it would have deflated them a bit.  Next time I'll try it like the directions say (novel concept, I know).

Eight pitas was just enough for Dean & I, our five lil' ones & my mom.  Next time, I'll make more for leftovers.  They were soft, slightly sweet & oh, so delicious!  I ate a whole pita with egg salad - but that turned out to be too much for my new eating plan - so in the future, a half a pita is plenty.  

The kiddos ate all of theirs though - they loved 'em!  My 2 picky eaters had pb&j, while Tali & Elijah ate up some "Tomato Salad" (um, just garden tomatoes, S&P, plus spinach).  Micah ate a lil' of each.  Dean ate his with deli meat & cheese and agreed this recipe was a keeper!

They were easy & yummy ~ give it a try!