Ingredients
· 1 1/8 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
· 3 cups all-purpose flour
· 1 teaspoon salt
· 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
· 1 1/2 teaspoons white sugar
· 1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
Directions
1. Place all ingredients in bread pan of your bread machine, select Dough setting and start. When dough has risen long enough, machine will beep. ( I did it by hand, call me old fashioned. It was not hard. If you don't have a bread maker, let the dough double in size. I didn't use my dough right away, it freezes very nicely!)
2. Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface. Gently roll and stretch dough into a 12 inch rope. With a sharp knife, divide dough into 8 pieces. (I used my fingers to pinch the pieces apart.) Roll each into a smooth ball. (Mine, well, they weren't completely smooth.) With a rolling pin (I used a lumpy cup.), roll each ball into a 6 to 7 inch circle. Set aside on a lightly floured countertop. cover with a towel. Let pitas rise about 30 minutes until slightly puffy. (I actually did this...)
3. Preheat oven to 500 degrees F (260 degrees C). Place 2 or 3 pitas on a wire cake rack. (I put all of the pitas on the wrong side of cookie sheets and cooked them all at once for 5 minutes) Place cake rack directly on oven rack. Bake pitas 4 to 5 minutes until puffed and tops begin to brown. Remove from oven and immediately place pitas in a sealed brown paper bag or cover them with a damp kitchen towel until soft. Once pitas a softened, either cut in half or split top edge for half or whole pitas. They can be stored in a plastic bag in the refrigerator for several days or in the freezer for 1 or 2 months. (I served the pitas right away with some chili, they were sooooo good! If you eat them right away, they are already soft!)
