Soft and Tasty Gyro Bread

I'm of the belief that most things we eat in restaurants can be made at home cheaper and more tasty.  That was not the case with gyros.  All the pita bread recipes I had made a hard pita while the local restaurants had soft squishy pitas.  I searched the internet and found a recipe we love at  My Kitchen Cafe blog.  Now we can have gyros at home for a fraction of the cost.  And I don't have to pay an extra $1.50 for a sprinkle of feta!

Pita Bread
Makes 8
3 to 3 1/4 C  pizza flour  (Cash & Carry)
1 1/2 C boiling water
 1/2 C potato buds or flakes
1 1/4 tsp salt
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp instant yeast

Place 2 cups of the flour into a bowl.  Pour the boiling water over the flour, and stir till smooth. Cover the bowl and set the mixture aside for 30 minutes.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the potato flour (or flakes or buds) and 1 cup of the remaining flour with the salt, oil and yeast. Add this to the cooled flour/water mixture, stir, then knead for several minutes (by hand, mixer or bread machine) to form a soft dough.  I did mine in my Kitchen-Aid.

Note: You can allow the dough to go through the entire kneading cycle(s) in the bread machine, but it’s not necessary; about a 5-minute knead in the machine, once it gets up to full kneading speed, is fine. The dough should form a ball, but will remain somewhat sticky (the dough is fairly stiff, so don’t be worried – just be careful not to overflour the dough). Add additional flour only if necessary; if kneading by hand, keep your hands and work surface lightly oiled. Let the dough rise, covered, for 1 hour (I let mine rise up to 2 hours).

Divide the dough into 8 even pieces, cover, and let rest for 15 to 30 minutes. Roll each piece into a 7- to 8-inch circle, and dry-fry them (fry without oil) on a griddle or frying pan over medium heat for about 1 minute per side (I cooked mine about 2-3 minutes per side and they didn’t dry out), until they’re puffed and flecked with brown spots. Adjust the heat if they seem to be cooking either too quickly, or too slowly; cooking too quickly means they may be raw in the center, while too slowly will dry them out. Transfer the cooked breads to a wire rack, stacking them to keep them soft. Serve immediately, or cool slightly before storing in a plastic bag.