I’ve never attempted to make pita bread. No, not once. Those little pockets are pretty intimidating! Especially for a girl that is a little afraid of bread since it is so temperamental. Learning the new steps, and asking “how many times does this have to rise?” only made the experience more fun and rewarding. These were a stretch for me but I enjoyed them immensely as piping hot pita dipped in homemade Tzatziki sauce.
These are a bit time consuming so whip them up on the weekend to take to work during the week.
WHOLE WHEAT PITAS – original recipe taken from Confections of a Foodie Bride and copied here.
- 1 package active dry yeast
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 1/4 cups warm water (105–115°F)
- 1 1/2 cups bread flour or high-gluten flour, plus additional for kneading
- 1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
- 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 tsp salt
- cornmeal for sprinkling baking sheets
Stir together yeast, honey, and 1/2 cup warm water in a large bowl, then let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. (If mixture doesn’t foam, discard and start over with new yeast.)
While yeast mixture stands, stir together flours in another bowl. Whisk 1/2 cup flour mixture into yeast mixture until smooth, then cover with plastic wrap and let stand in a draft-free place at warm room temperature until doubled in bulk and bubbly, about 45 minutes. Stir in oil, salt, remaining 3/4 cup warm water, and remaining 2 1/2 cups flour mixture until a dough forms.
Turn out dough onto a floured surface and knead, working in just enough additional flour to keep dough from sticking, until dough is smooth and elastic, 8 to 10 minutes. Form dough into a ball and put in an oiled large bowl, turning to coat. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let dough rise in draft-free place at warm room temperature until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.
Set oven rack in middle of the oven. Preheat oven to 500°F.
Punch down dough and cut into 8 pieces. Form each piece into a ball. Flatten 1 ball, then roll out into a 6 1/2- to 7-inch round on floured surface with a floured rolling pin. Transfer round a baking sheet lightly sprinkled with cornmeal. Make 7 more rounds in same manner, arranging them on baking sheets. Loosely cover pitas with a clean kitchen towel and let stand at room temperature 30 minutes.
Transfer 4 pitas, 1 at a time, directly onto oven rack. Bake until just puffed and pale golden, about 2 minutes. Turn over with tongs and bake 1 minute more. Cool pitas on a cooling rack 2 minutes, then stack and wrap loosely in a kitchen towel to keep pitas warm. Bake remaining pitas in same manner. Serve warm.
They are as delicious as they are pretty!
