Pitas are actually pretty easy to make at home. They freeze really well too. Honestly though, I generally just by some from the middle eastern restaurant around the corner.

I make my pita bread, too. BUT, I would think if you warm the pitas first (a few seconds in the microwave or maybe 5 minutes in the oven under a damp towel) they might separate better. If you wanted to do the whole batch you might be able to slip a piece of waxed paper into each pita half to keep the sides separated till you're ready to use.

Hope this helps! --Ilene

Thanks, Ilene, I have tried warming them up but that didn't help - I can't believe you both make your own pita - I'm feeling pretty good about myself when I mix together something to stuff the pita with!

Another idea, if you have a large Middle Eastern population in your city you can probably find a small grocer with frozen pre-formed naan dough. It is a pretty good substitute for pita.

Some brands are better than others for softness, you might try another brand. Our local Middle Eastern store has frozen partially cooked pita bread - you do a final heating in your oven and it is really nice.

But nothing beats home made pita bread. We throw the ingredients in the bread machine on dough cycle and it does most of the work. The main thing is to roll the dough out pretty thin and have the oven well preheated very hot with a bread stone or cast iron griddle preheating in it.

I made my own pitas once, and have a lovely burn scar on the top of my hand to prove it. All that work, and they were mediocre at best... (Or maybe I just couldn't taste them for the pain of that very big burn I got clumsily throwing them on the very hot stone in my very hot oven...)

However, there's a cliche Greek restaurant nearby. If you ask at the counter, they'll sell you the 10-packs of pita bread they use. Yum! At home I rub them with a trace of olive oil and pop them on the griddle for a few minutes... they are awesome torn to bite-size bits and slathered with all sorts of goodies from the Trader Joe's olive aisle (roasted red pepper spread, grilled marinated veggies, olive tapinade...)

I buy a couple bags at a time and keep them in the freezer. The grocery store variety is un-yummy.

They are so pillowy soft when done right, nothing like the hard disk sold at your local megalomart . Pursue the Perfect Pita! :)

I am fortunate to live within easy driving distance of a Middle Eastern bakery that supplies pita bread to the Lebanese and Syrian restaurants and markets in our area. There's no way I could make them as good as the ones I can get still warm from their ovens.

There is a small Middle Eastern restaurant in my city, I'll have to check out whether they sell pitas - thanks for the good ideas -- for those of you who make them, what is your recipe and how do you form them? Thanks.

Here it is. I find this dough handles and rolls out very nicely.

Pita
Ingredients from Pita recipe in Secrets of a Jewish Baker by George Greenstein

2 cups water
2 packages active dry yeast - about 5 tsp
4 tbs oil - olive would be most authentic
2 cups whole wheat flour - he says preferably stone ground but I haven't found any marked as stone ground at our grocery store.
3 to 4 cups bread flour
2 tsp salt

Put 3 cups of bread flour and all the other ingredients into the bread machine. Set the machine for dough cycle - the quick dough or pizza dough cycle is probably best as this has a lot of yeast for a quick rise.

You want a soft dough - if it isn't coming together, add from the last cup of bread flour a quarter cup at a time. I usually find the 3 cups to be enough.

While the bread machine is doing its thing, set the oven up with a baking stone or quarry tiles or a cast iron griddle. (He says you can use two nested baking pans upside down in the oven if you don't have a baking stone but I haven't tried that.) Start the oven preheating as hot as it will go - at least 500 degrees. We sometimes use the broil setting on our oven because it goes hotter to 575 degrees.

When dough has about doubled (sometimes as little as 30 minutes in the bread machine, probably not more than 45 minutes), divide it into 12 pieces and form them into rounds (make a ball and flatten it). Let rest for 15 minutes.

Roll the rounds to circles - he says to 6-inches but we find we like the pita rolled a bit thinner - it cooks faster and puffs more reliably. I find a stick rolling pin works better for this than the rolling pin with handles and a rotating part. We usually roll a couple and then put them in the oven - though he says to let them rest 15 minutes. You can use a board or peel to put them in the oven or hand slap them in. (I've burned myself that way too but not badly enough to scar - if you do get burned put ice water on it quickly.) Or you can use the drape over a stick rolling pin and roll them onto the stone - that's my favorite method.

We usually cook two or three at a time.

Once you have them in, keep the door closed and keep an eye on them - they cook really quickly - just a few minutes depending on how thin you have rolled them and how hot the oven is. When they have puffed and browned a little you can take them out.

Put the cooked pita in a basket lined with a towel and cover. The towel keeps enough moisture in to keep them soft but not soggy.