I learned when my kids started going to school that their sandwiches would sometimes be soggy. My boys are older now and they don’t get to eat their lunch until about 1:00. So when they do get a chance to eat, they don’t want their sandwich to fall apart. I have experimented with several breads, such as hamburger buns and sub buns. The kids complained that this was too much bread and asked if I could come up with something better. I decided to use pita bread. It tastes great and you can put anything on it. So I started making my own. To make it more fun, I add food coloring to it. Their sandwiches may be blue one day and orange the next. The kids love it and the eat their sandwiches too. Enjoy!
You will need:
3 and 3/4 cup of all purpose flour
1 package of active dry yeast
1 and 1/4 cups water
2 Tablespoons of butter
3/4 teaspoon of salt
What to do:
Preheat your oven to 450 degrees
You need to combine 1 and 1/4 cup of the flour and your yeast in a bowl together. In a saucepan, add your water, butter and salt. Stir until the butter is barely melted. Don’t get it too hot or it will ruin the yeast. Remove from the stove and add it to your flour and yeast. Mix it with your electric mixer for 30 seconds on slow. Make sure you are constantly scraping your bowl. Then beat on high speed for 3 minutes. Then, stir in as much of the remaining flour that you can to make a dough consistency.
Turn onto a lightly floured surface. Knead in enough remaining flour to make a soft dough that will feel smooth and elastic, not sticky or too stiff. Cover and let it rest in a warm place for 15 minutes. Divide the dough into 12 equal balls.
Flour your hands and roll each ball between them. Make a very smooth ball. Cover the balls with plastic wrap and let it rest for 10 minutes. Then flatten the balls and cover. Let it rest for 10 more minutes.
Turn onto a well floured surface. Lightly roll each dough ball into a 7 inch circle. Roll from center to edge. Don’t let your dough get sticky.
Place two dough circles on a preheated ungreased baking sheet. Bake in oven for about five minutes or until you see the dough start to bubble or puff up. Turn and bake on the other side for 3 minutes. Allow to cool. Then place in a sealed container. Repeat method until you have baked all circles. To serve, cut pita across and stuff.
Try this sandwich with your fresh pita bread!