Name: Lebanese Pita Bread
Ingredients: 2.5 cups bread flour, approx.; 2 tsp salt; 1 Tbs sugar; 1 package dry yeast; 2 Tbs oil, olive oil preferred; 1 cup hot water (120-130F); Eight 7-inch squares of aluminum foil

Why it works: Bread and olive are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,091 recipes. Both carry 2-undecenal, which smells sweet. The science ↓

Lebanese Pita Bread

Oven500°F

Timeabout 8 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Make the dough

Measure 1 cup flour and stir in the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
Add the oil and hot water.
Mix for about 30 seconds to blend, then beat vigorously with a wooden spoon for three minutes.
Stir in the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time.
If the dough is moist, add a small amount of flour.
Turn the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and knead with a push-turn-fold motion.
Knead for about 6 minutes.

Shape and rest

Divide the dough into eight pieces.
Roll each piece into a ball, cover with wax paper or a towel, and let rest for 20 minutes.
Flatten each ball into a disk with the palm of your hand.
Using a rolling pin, flatten the dough into a disk about 6 inches in diameter and 3/16-inch thick.
Place each round on a prepared piece of foil.

Bake and serve

Preheat oven to 500°F.
Carefully place 2 or 3 of the breads on their foil directly on an oven rack.
Bake for about 8 minutes, or until puffed.
Repeat with remaining disks.
Place the pitas under the broiler for 2 minutes if a browner crust is desired.
Remove the breads from the oven and wrap in a large piece of foil.
Serve warm, or let cool and freeze.
Thaw before using.
To reheat, stack several in a pile, wrap in foil, and place in a 375°F oven for 10 to 15 minutes.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

623Calories

13 gProtein

15 gFat

108 gCarbs

Counts 4 of 5 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 4 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Water	not in our table	0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

Bread + olivetop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,091 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).
Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together92,116 recipes

Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
Flour + olivetop 19% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together16,871 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Bread + flourtop 25% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together10,383 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Bread + sugartop 32% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together8,638 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

Bread and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 10,383 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Bread flour: Provides the gluten network that gives the pita its structure and chewy texture.
Yeast: Produces carbon dioxide as it ferments, leavening the dough so it puffs in the oven.
Oil: Adds fat that tenderizes the dough and keeps the crumb soft.
Sugar: Feeds the yeast and helps the crust brown slightly.

The step that matters

Baking at high heat until puffed. A very hot oven creates rapid steam and gas expansion inside the dough, which causes the pocket to form. A cooler oven bakes the bread flat and dry instead of puffed.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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Lebanese Pita Bread