Pita Bread
There are SO MANY things out there that just taste better when you make them at home. It’s especially nice when you can say that about something that’s really easy to make as well. These pitas fit into both of those categories. They taste amazing and they’re surpringly easy to make.
I’ve made these a couple times in the past year and every time I do, I say that I should make them more often. I would love to make them with whole wheat flour too. We love to fill these guys with anything you would normally put in a pita. I like to make sandwiches with them for our lunches.
If you want to make these into pita chips, just cut them up and bake them at 350 for about 10 minutes or until browned. You can also spread some olive oil and seasoning on the chips before you bake them if you want.
Two Years Ago: Fourth of July Layered Cookie Cake
Pita Bread
These homemade pitas are easy to make and delicious! You'll never want to buy them at the store again.
Yield: 8 pitas
Ingredients:
3 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp sugar or honey
1 packet yeast (or, if from bulk, 2 tsp yeast)
1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cups water, at room temperature
2 Tbsp olive oil, vegetable oil, butter, or shortening
Directions:
If you are using active dry yeast, follow the instructions on the packet to active it. Otherwise, mix the yeast in with the flour, salt, and sugar. Add the olive oil and 1 1/4 cup water to the flour mixture and stir together with a wooden spoon. All of the ingredients should form a ball. If some of the flour will not stick to the ball, add more water.
Once all of the ingredients form a ball, place the ball on a work surface, such as a cutting board, and knead the dough for approximately 10 minutes. If you are using an electric mixer, mix it at low speed for 10 minutes.
When you are done kneading the dough, place it in a bowl that has been lightly coated with oil. Form a ball out of the dough and place it into the bowl, rolling the ball of dough around in the bowl so that it has a light coat of oil on all sides. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a damp kitchen towel and set aside to rise until it has doubled in size, approximately 90 minutes.
When it has doubled in size, punch the dough down to release some of the trapped gases and divide it into 8 pieces. Roll each piece into a ball, cover the balls with a damp kitchen towel, and let them rest for 20 minutes. This step allows the dough to relax so that it'll be easier to shape.
While the dough is resting, preheat the oven to 400 degrees. If you have a baking stone, put it in the oven to preheat as well. If you do not have a baking stone, turn a cookie sheet upside down and place it on the middle rack of the oven while you are preheating the oven. This will be the surface on which you bake your pitas.
After the dough has relaxed for 20 minutes, spread a light coating of flour on a work surface and place one of the balls of dough there. Sprinkle a little bit of flour on top of the dough and use a rolling pin or your hands to stretch and flatten the dough. You should be able to roll it out to between 1/8 and 1/4 inch thick. If the dough does not stretch sufficiently you can cover it with the damp towel and let it rest 5 to 10 minutes before trying again.
Open the oven and place as many pitas as you can fit on the hot baking surface. They should be baked through and puffy after 3 minutes. If you want your pitas to be crispy and brown you can bake them for an additional 3 to 5 minutes, but it isn't necessary.
Recipe from The Fresh Loaf
I am Jen the Beantown Baker. Engineer by day and baking maven by night. Hubby serves as my #1 fan and official taste tester. We got hitched back in 2006. Barefoot. In the sand. With the waves crashing behind us. It was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. 
I love the red swirl in these. They look so festive! Homemade marshmallows are seriously so much better than store-bought.
Completely agree Megan. And the best part is they melt and get all gooey in the hot chocolate!
gorgeous! and so festive. what a great idea.
These are awesome! I’m sure your friends and family will love this thoughtful gift!
these are the prettiest marshmellows I have ever seen. you could make them for every winter season (throw some sparkles in for news years, green for st pattys. pastels for easter!) oh the possibilities.
So pretty! I hear people talk about how easy it is to make homemade marshmallows all of the time – I’ve really got to make some.
Peppermint marshmallows? I think this is the first time I am hearing about it. Anyway it sounds fun and looks yummy.
Looks great!
I bought all the ingredients for marshmallows but haven’t made them yet.. this peppermint variety sounds awesome though!
I really need to get off my butt and make some homemade marshmallows! No excuses!
-Amanda
These are so darned pretty, and festive! Happy holidays!
holy clever. these look so yummy.
Those look so professional. It’s amazing what a little red food coloring can do.
These are beautiful! I have made marshmallows a few times, and only once have I had a problem with them.. I put them into an airtight container and came back about an hour later to find that they had been – at least what it looked like to me – weeping. I’m not sure what happened, I dusted them with powdered sugar after cutting, and thought I did everyting right. I was curious if anything like that has that happened to you before? These marshmallows look like perfection!
those would be great in a cup of hot cocoa!
Jen…these are GORGEOUS!! I keep meaning to try my hand at marshmallow making. These look divine!
Caroline,
I have never had that problem myself. It sounds like there may have been a lot of humidity in the air? Was it during the summer? I haven’t made marshmallows during the summer yet, but that’s the first thing that pops to mind.
I found your site from Pioneer Woman’s Group 3 photography assignment. Congrats on being selected!!
I love the photo and am looking forward to trying your marshmallow recipe.
I’m looking forward to looking at your other posts, too. 😉
Stef at TooMuchToDoSoLittleTime.com
Where can one buy a marshmellow make/machine??
I cannot wait to make these peppermint marshmallows at the holidays. They are so pretty and looks so nice in that hot chocolate!
Your pictures look soooo amazing 🙂 I did a blog recently about marshmallows (If you are interested – http://joandsue.blogspot.com/2011/07/great-marshmallow-debate.html ) Homemade marshmallows are rediculously addictive!
Important pre-holiday question: how big are the gift bags you use for your marshmallows &/or hot cocoa mix? I’m looking at the “smalls” from KA (14.5″ x 6″), but I really have zero intuition for how that size translates to volume of, e.g, marshmallows. =) thanks!
beantownbaker — November 8th, 2011 @ 8:26 am
Great question. I will have to go home and check the size of the bags. I know I got them at Michaels. The marshmallows went into small bags that were almost a smidge too small and the hot cocoa went into larger bags. I’m sure that isn’t very helpful… Let me get back to you on that.
beantownbaker — December 19th, 2011 @ 9:00 pm
Ok I didn’t have any of the bags left. Both of them were Wilton brand from Michaels craft store. Based on what I see online, it looks like the marshmallows were in a bag that was 3″x4″. They were a smidge small. The cocoa mix was in a bigger bag, looks like 4″x6″ and those were just the right size.
I’m not sure what I did wrong but these were a total disaster! The marshmallow wouldn’t pour out of the bowl and seemed like it had already begun to set by the time I was taking it out (even though I only kept it in the mixer for about 13 minutes). Do you think they were in the mixer for too long? I was going by timing as well as thick/lukewarm but maybe it was still too long. The bit of them that I could get into the pan wouldn’t spread so I couldn’t even use what I had because they would have been horribly shaped and not gift-worthy. I ended up having to just dump everything in the trash. I’m so disappointed because I was really looking forward to an easy homemade gift for co-workers.
beantownbaker — December 19th, 2011 @ 8:59 pm
So sorry to hear that they didn’t turn out for you 🙁
LadyPerson — January 1st, 2012 @ 12:58 am
You probably cooked the sugar syrup too long. I bet if you’d let them fully set, you’d have ended up with harder than normal marshmallows. Check your candy thermometer to make sure it’s accurate.
Sounds like you didn’t cook the sugar syrup long enough. They MUST get to the proper temperature, or the marshmallows won’t set properly. If the syrup didn’t cook enough, the resulting marshmallow will be too soft and won’t hold it’s shape properly. Cook it too long, and the marshmallows will be too hard when you want fluffy.
Jenny K., Colorado — November 29th, 2012 @ 3:04 pm
I would like to add that when cooking candy to a certain temperature, you must take into account your altitude. I have not made these yet, but will adjust to my own 6,000 feet in altitude. For example, when making English Toffee, I adjust 8 degrees LOWER for the target temperature. Otherwise, it overcooks.You can Google “altitude adjustments for candy making” .
Would a hand mixer work or would the marshmallows burn out the motor?
beantownbaker — December 1st, 2012 @ 9:38 pm
I’ve never done it with a hand mixer, but I do know that my stand mixer gets pretty hot while it’s whipping up the marshmallows…
Mary Christmas — December 21st, 2012 @ 2:08 pm
I made these last night with a simple handmixer & whisk attachment (Hamilton Beach® 6-Speed Hand Mixer)…worked great! It has a “bowl rest” so your arm doesn’t get too tired 🙂
beantownbaker — December 21st, 2012 @ 9:12 pm
So glad it worked out for you!
Anyone know if an alternative syrup would work (like light brown rice syrup)? I want to make these but my son is allergic to corn. Thanks!
beantownbaker — December 15th, 2012 @ 9:40 am
I have never tried a substitute. Maybe another reader will know. If you experiment and find something that works, let me know!
Delicious, and they look just like the picture!!
To save your pan, lay down foil first, and then spray with cooking spray and the powder mixture as instructed. At the end, lift the foil out to dump the marshmallows on the cutting board.
beantownbaker — December 21st, 2012 @ 9:11 pm
Great tip!