Sourdough Pita Bread

Pita is one of the greatest breads ever created by man, it’s soft and slightly chewy. Sourdough Pita Bread, especially. And the best thing about pita is that it can be made with sourdough starter, and still be absolutely delicious.

Ingredients 

Sourdough Starter 

• 20g sourdough starter
• 40g water
• 35g all purpose flour or bread flour
• 5g rye flour

Main Dough 

• 250g lukewarm water (62.5%)
• 80g sourdough starter(20%)
• 350g bread flour (87.5%)
• 50g whole grain whole wheat flour (13.5%)
• 16g sugar (4%)
• 10g salt (2.5%)
• 30g olive oil (7.5%)

Directions 

Starter preparation step

Night before 

• 10 pm add starter to the water and whisk together, add flour, mix well, cover loosely, let sit at room temp 72-76F for about 8-10 hours until it reaches the peak, it should at least double (starter isn’t strong enough), or triple in size (strong starter). Instructions on how to make starter from scratch can be found here.

Pita dough preparation steps

• 8 am mix water, sugar and sourdough starter with flour, cover, let it rest 1 hour for autolyse (during the autolyse stage flour absorbs water, becoming fully hydrated. This activates gluten development).
• 9 am add salt, mix on low speed of your mixing machine for 2-3 min, or KitchenAid on speed 3 for 2-3 minutes until well incorporated.
• At the end of mixing add olive oil.  Mix until well incorporated. Total mixing time shouldn’t take longer then 10 minutes.

Note: All mixing can be done by hand. Use the Rubaud method to incorporate the ingredients. Do a couple of stops in between mixing, it will help with gluten development, then continue mixing. Total mixing time will take about 10 minutes with stops. The dough should become smooth, and less sticky.

• Leave the dough to rest for 30 minutes at 74-78F/23-26C.
• 9:30 am wet your hands and perform 1st stretch and fold.
• 10:15 am 2nd stretch and fold.
• 11 am 3rd stretch and fold.
• 12:45 pm 4th stretch and fold. Performing stretches and folds will help with gluten development.
• After the final stretch let the dough rest for 15 minutes. You should see some bubbles on the surface, the dough has to become lighter. We are looking for 40%-50% rise.

Note: if for some reason the dough didn’t rise enough, add one more stretch and fold.

If the dough seems too proofed, you can shorten the time in between stretches and folds.

Tip: At this point, you can transfer the dough inside the refrigerator until next day, then divide it, preshape and let it proof for 1 hour 30 minutes at 72-76F, then continue with shaping steps.

Preshaping pita dough

If you decide to make pitas the same day, then follow these steps:

Sprinkle work surface with flour, dump the dough on a work surface. 

Divide the dough into 80-90g pieces, shape them into round balls.

Let them rest covered for 30-40 minutes.

Shaping pita dough 

• Preheat the oven to 500 degrees with the pizza stone (or iron pan or baking steel) for about 35-45 minutes.
• Remove 1 ball (keeping the others covered) and press into a flat disc with a rolling pin. Roll it into a 6-inch circle, then into an 8-inch, about 1/4 inch thick, dust it with flour if necessary during the process. Please note, the dough will shrink a bit while baking.

• Carefully lift the dough circle and place it quickly on a hot baking stone. After 2 minutes the dough should be nicely puffed. Turn it over with tongs or spatula and bake for 1 more minute. The pita should be pale, with only a few brown speckles. Transfer warm pita on to a napkin-lined basket and cover it to maintain softness. Repeat these steps with the rest of the dough balls. Stack them up and cover.
• If you are using a pizza oven like Gozney, preheat it for about 30 minutes. When the temperature reaches 750F, lower the heat to medium, slide the dough circle inside the oven, let it bake for 20-30 seconds, then flip it on the other side, bake for 10-15 more seconds and take it out.

Tip: when pitas are still warm, put them into a plastic bag for about 30 minutes. Steam inside the bag will make them very soft. But if you want to store pitas for next day or longer, let them completely cool down, then use a new plastic bag. You can also freeze pitas for up to 2 weeks.

Sourdough Pita Bread

177kcal

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Prep 45 minutes mins

Cook 25 minutes mins

Total 16 hours hrs 10 minutes mins

This recipe yields an incredibly soft, slightly chewy, and perfectly pocketed middle-eastern flatbread. Utilizing a long, low-hydration bulk fermentation process creates a resilient dough structure that balloons spectacularly under intense heat, ensuring a hollow center perfect for stuffing with your favorite sandwich fillings.

Servings 8 Individual Pitas

Cuisine Mediterranean

Ingredients

1x2x3x

Sourdough Starter Levain (Night Before)

• ▢ 20 g Sourdough starter culture
• ▢ 40 g Water
• ▢ 35 g All-purpose flour or bread flour
• ▢ 5 g Rye flour

The Stiff Pita Dough

• ▢ 315 g Bread flour (90%)
• ▢ 35 g Stone-ground whole wheat flour (10%)
• ▢ 210 g Warm water (60%)
• ▢ 80 g Active sourdough starter levain (22.8% – From the stage above)
• ▢ 6 g Fine sea salt (1.7%)

Equipment

• ▢
  Baking Stone or Heavy Baking Sheet Crucial for storing maximum thermal energy to trigger the dramatic steam pocket ballooning effect
• ▢
  Stand Mixer Optional, though a mechanical hook easily tames the initial stiff dough integration
• ▢
  Rolling Pin Essential to roll the dough rounds down to a strict, uniform thickness
• ▢
  Kitchen Scale

Method

Prevent Sleep ModePrevent Sleep Mode

Night Before – Levain Optimization

1. 10:00 PM – Starter Build: In a small glass jar, add your 20g of starter culture to 40g of water and whisk together cleanly. Stir in 35g of bread flour and 5g of rye flour. Mix thoroughly, cover loosely, and let it sit at room temperature 74–78°F (23–26°C) overnight for 8 to 10 hours until the starter reaches its peak and at least triples in volume.

Day 2 – The Stiff Autolyse & Kneading

1. 8:00 AM – The Core Autolyse: In your stand mixer bowl, combine the 315g of bread flour, 35g of whole wheat flour, and 210g of warm water. Mix thoroughly with a spoon just until all dry flour patches entirely disappear. Cover tightly and let it rest on your counter for 30 minutes to completely hydrate the flour proteins.
2. 8:30 AM – Levain and Salt Integration: Add 80g of your active overnight starter peak along with the 6g of fine sea salt directly into the autolysed dough. Attach your dough hook and mix on low speed for 3 to 4 minutes until the ingredients are cohesive.
3. The Structural Knead: Increase the mixer speed to medium-high and knead continuously for 6 to 8 minutes until the dough turns smooth, tight, and completely detaches from the sides of the mixing bowl. (Note: This is a lower-hydration dough, so it should feel firm and hold structural snap). Round it into a neat ball, cover the bowl tightly, and let it ferment at a warm room temperature of 75–80°F (24–27°C) for roughly 4 hours until it looks visibly puffy and increases by about 50% in volume.

Day 2 – Dividing, Bench Resting, and Rolling

1. 12:30 PM – Dividing the Portions: Tip the proofed dough onto a clean, completely un-floured work surface. Using a bench scraper and a kitchen scale, divide the dough cleanly into 8 equal portions (roughly 85g each).
2. Tension Ball Shaping: Take a portion of dough, cup your hand over it, and roll it firmly against the counter in a circular motion to form a smooth, taut, uniform ball. Repeat for all 8 portions. Cover the balls loosely with a damp kitchen towel or plastic wrap and let them rest undisturbed for 20 minutes to relax the tight gluten strings.
3. The Precision Roll-Out: Working one ball at a time while keeping the others covered, dust your counter and rolling pin lightly with flour. Flatten a dough ball with your palm, then roll it out evenly from the center outward into a clean circle roughly 6 inches in diameter and about 1/4-inch thick. (The Rolling Rule: Ensure your thickness is completely uniform all the way to the edges. Avoid pressing creasing ridges into the dough, which can weld the layers together and stop the bread from separating in the oven).
4. The Final Skin Rest: Place the rolled dough discs onto a parchment-lined tray, cover them loosely, and let them rest undisturbed for 20 to 30 minutes on your counter. This crucial rest relaxes the dough completely and allows a slight skin to form, which acts as a pressure seal to assist the steam expansion.

Day 2 – The High-Heat Balloon Bake

1. Oven Thermal Prep: While the rolled dough discs are resting, place a baking stone, baking steel, or a heavy overturned baking sheet onto the middle rack of your oven and preheat it to its maximum setting of 500°F (260°C). Let the stone heat up for at least 30 minutes to saturate it with thermal energy.
2. The Pop Bake: Working in batches of 1 or 2 at a time, slide your relaxed dough discs directly onto the smoking hot baking stone. Bake at 500°F (260°C) for exactly 2 to 3 minutes. Watch through the oven window—within the first 60 to 90 seconds, the extreme bottom heat will instantly turn internal moisture to steam, causing the flatbread to dramatically balloon into a round ball. Flip them over carefully and bake for 30 more seconds until lightly golden with tiny browned blisters.
3. Cooling & Softening: Remove the puffed pitas from the oven using tongs and place them immediately into a clean bowl lined with a dry kitchen towel, wrapping them up tightly. (The Moisture Lock: Stacking the hot pitas inside a towel traps the escaping steam, which instantly softens the outer crust and prevents them from turning hard or crispy). Repeat for the remaining discs. Let cool slightly, slice down the center to reveal your perfect hollow pockets, and enjoy!

Nutrition

Calories177kcalCarbohydrates36gProtein6gFat1gSaturated Fat0.1gPolyunsaturated Fat0.4gMonounsaturated Fat0.1gSodium293mgPotassium62mgFiber2gSugar0.2gVitamin A1IUCalcium9mgIron1mg

Notes

• The Physics Behind the Pocket Balloon Effect: Pita bread relies entirely on a thermodynamic process to separate into a hollow pocket. When the cold, hydrated dough disc hits a cooking surface preheated to a blistering 500°F (260°C), the moisture trapped within the core layers instantly flashes into pressurized steam. Because your 6-minute structural knead built a tight, resilient gluten network, the expanding steam cannot escape, forcing the top and bottom dough skins apart into a hollow sphere.
• Why Uniform Rolling Thickness is Absolutely Critical: When executing step 7, moving your rolling pin with smooth, even pressure is the single most important factor for success. If you press too hard on one specific edge, you will thin out that section excessively and tear the internal gluten fibers. The weak spot will rupture in the oven, allowing steam to escape into the air vents before it can build enough pressure to push open the rest of the pita pocket.
• The Towel Swaddle Storage Secret: Do not leave your freshly baked, ballooned pitas sitting open on a wire cooling rack. Because they are baked at extreme temperatures, open air will rapidly dry out the exterior crust, turning your soft flatbreads into rigid, brittle crackers that crack apart when split. Swaddling them immediately in a clean kitchen towel forces the bread to absorb its own residual steam, yielding an incredibly soft, bendable texture.

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