Whole Wheat Pita Bread
It’s easy and fun to make your own pitas! Wholesome whole wheat is the key ingredient in these healthy, delicious pocket breads. This recipe works best on a pizza stone, but can also work on a baking sheet. The project does require some time to allow the dough to rise, but the reward is ample. There’s really no fancy trick to forming the handy pocket in these pitas, it simply forms itself magically as it bakes! Get the kids involved if you’d like some helpers to roll the dough into balls and let them watch the amazing inflating pocket breads form as they bake. The house will smell amazing and you’ll have fresh, warm pitas to serve with your favorite soup, hummus, salad, falafel or shawarma recipe. You may consider popping them into a paper bag after baking if you’d like them to stay soft & pliable.
- 1 cup lukewarm water
- 2 tsp active dry yeast
- 1 tsp honey or agave
- 1 ½ cups whole wheat flour
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
Instructions:
Mix water, honey/agave and yeast and let sit for about five minutes. Mix in salt and olive oil. Add flours and mix until it comes together. Turn out dough on floured work surface. Knead for 5 min. or until smooth and elastic. Make a ball, place it into an oiled bowl; cover and rest until doubled, about 1 hour. Gently deflate dough and turn out onto floured work surface. Divide it into 9 equal pieces, shaping each into a ball. With rolling pin, roll each ball into circle about ¼” thick. Lift and turn the dough frequently to prevent sticking. Sprinkle with a little extra flour if it starts to stick. Cover circles with plastic wrap or clean damp cloth. Preheat oven to 450° F with baking stone or sheet on the middle rack. When oven is ready, transfer 3 pitas at a time onto the baking surface and bake 4-5 minutes, or until the pitas balloon fully. Remove bread from the oven and repeat. Cool and serve as desired.
Makes about 6 servings.