Cooking school: Basic Flatbreads

These are foolproof

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Once I got the hang of making my own flatbreads, I never bought store-bought pitas again.

And this is the recipe that converted me.

Watch me make these flatbreads on TikTok

This is an easy-to-scale-up recipe, just remember the “60% hydration” rule. Your water should always be 60% of the flour.

Key: Bold = Capsule Pantry ingredients

Makes 4 flatbreads

• 300g flour

• 2 tsp salt

• 180ml tepid water

• 1 tbsp olive oil

• 2 tsp dried yeast

• 1 tsp sugar

Put the water, olive oil, yeast, and sugar in a mug and mix. Leave the yeast to activate for 2-3 minutes.

In a mixing bowl, stick in the flour and salt.

Once the yeast mixture is frothing, add to the mixing bowl. Get your hands in and bring everything together to form a dough. Dump onto the counter.

Knead the dough for as long as you can be bothered (5+ minutes is best but it can be less if you get bored easily - like me).

Put the dough back in the bowl, cover and leave for at least an hour at room temperature. Two hours is better.

Split the dough into four and roll each into a ball. Roll out on the counter using plenty of flour.

You want to get it to about 2mm in thickness (err on the side of thin than thick).

Heat a frying pan or griddle on medium-high heat. Take a flatbread, lay it on the pan. Wait until bubbles start to form on top, then flip.

If the bread puffs up too much, you can poke a little hole in the top to deflate the bread to ensure it cooks evenly on the pan. Cook on the underside for 2 minutes or so. Flip again.

Keep flipping and checking until the bread every minute (approx) until it’s nicely golden with a few griddle marks.

Wrap in a clean tea towel whilst you make the next bread. Keeping them in there will steam the breads, cooking them further and keeping them soft and pliable.

The key to making your flatbreads properly rise is activated yeast. Make sure that water is lukewarm (too hot or cold and the yeast won’t like it) and don’t skimp on the sugar (it aids the yeast’s development).

Use a bread machine to make and prove the dough. Or you can use a mixer with. adough hook.

You can slow up the prove by sticking the dough in the fridge for anything from 12-24 hours. Ensure you let it come back up to room temperature before using it.

These flatbreads can be easily batched and frozen (make sure you freeze them individually so they don’t stick together). Re-heat in the microwave or wrap them in foil and stick them in the oven.