With all of the hummus that we eat in this house, we go through a ton of pita chips. I love Stacy's baked pita chips, but I feel guilty for buying something that seems so simple to make. I decided that I was going to try and make them myself. When I looked at recipes on-line, I discovered that you can't just make pita chips; you first have to make pita bread. I guess that makes sense! So I used this recipe. I already had bread dough rising in the oven, so I made this and threw it in too. The recipes are very similar, but there is a pinch more yeast and salt in the pita bread recipe. I find it fascinating that so many different types of bread can be made with the same ingredients, just in slightly different quantities.
The dough rose a lot and was really elastic. After the dough was doubled, I kneaded it by handed just a bit, formed it into a log, and cut it into 8 equal sections. I rolled them into eight balls and then rolled them out into flat circles with a rolling pin.
After making the recipe twice, I found that the bread puffed up the most if you don't roll it too much. If you can keep it to 4 passes with the rolling pin - one in each direction - the bread puffed up the way it is supposed to. It is also important to have your oven at the proper temperature - 450 F - and to have the baking stone or cookie sheet already in the oven. Then I just threw the flattened dough onto the stone. I found that 7 minutes was just enough time.
I found this recipe for the pita chips, but then just went for it without measuring anything. I tried two different ways of making the chips and I think the second way is better. You start both by cutting the pita bread into triangles. Then you can arrange all of the triangles flat on a baking sheet, brush them with olive oil, and sprinkle with sea salt and black pepper. Or you can throw them in a bowl, drizzle with olive oil, sea salt, and black pepper, and then toss until the triangles are coated well. They get more evenly coated with the second method. Then bake at 375 F. I was multi-tasking both times I made them and sort of lost track of the time. I think it was about 15 minutes.
I am now addicted to homemade pita bread and chips! They are not quite the same as the store bought pita chips. Mine are not as crunchy, but the fact that they are homemade makes up for it. And I'm saving money, which is the best part. The little babe loves munching on the plain bread and it made a great summer dinner. I took the panzanella salad, left out the bread, and stuffed it in the pita. For extra flavor, you can line the pita with basil pesto. Add some fresh green beans and you're set!