The Promised Pita

Two posts ago, I admitted my hummus addiction and promised a whole wheat pita bread recipe. It's not 100% whole wheat, but I find that the addition of one cup of white flour really helps the consistency. These are fun for sandwiches of any type, but with hummus, vegetables, and some falafel or seasoned, grilled chicken, it makes a great meal So, here it is:

Pita Bread- Yields 8 pitas (can easily be doubled)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup white flour, 2 cups whole wheat flour, plus ½ to ¾ cups more as needed.  
• 1 ½ tsp. salt
• 1 tbsp. honey
• 1 packet instant yeast
• 1¼ to 1½ cups water, roughly room temperature
• 2 tbsp. olive oil

Directions:

Mix yeast in the flour, salt, and sugar.  Add the olive oil and 1¼ cup water and stir together with a wooden spoon. All of the ingredients should form a ball.  If some of the flour will not stick to the ball, add more water.

Once all the ingredients form a ball, place the ball on a work surface, and knead the dough for approximately 10 minutes.  If you are using an electric mixer, mix it at low speed for 10 minutes.  As the dough is mixing, continue to add flour, a tablespoon or two at a time, until the dough clears the sides of the bowl and is tacky but not sticky. (I add a fair amount of flour, so don’t be afraid to keep adding more until you reach the right consistency.)

When you are done kneading the dough, place it in a bowl that has been lightly coated with oil. Form a ball out of the dough and place it into the bowl, rolling the dough around so that it has a light coat of oil on all sides.  Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a damp towel and set aside to rise until it has doubled in size.  Approximately 90 minutes.

When it has doubled in size, punch the dough down to release some of the trapped gasses and divide it into 8 equal pieces.  Roll each piece into a ball, cover the balls with a damp kitchen towel, and let them rest for 20 minutes. This step allows the dough to relax so that it will be easier to shape.

While the dough is resting, preheat the oven to 450⁰. If you have a baking stone, put it in the oven to preheat it as well.  If you do not have a baking stone, turn a cookie sheet upside down and place it on the middle rack of the oven while it is preheating. This will be the surface on which you bake your pitas.

After the dough has relaxed for 20 minutes, spread a light coating of flour on a work surface and place one of the balls of dough there.  Sprinkle a little bit of flour on top of the dough and use a rolling pin or your hands to stretch and flatten the dough.  You should be able to roll it out to between ¼ and 1/8” thick – 6 inches in diameter.  If the dough does not stretch sufficiently, you can cover it with the damp towel and let it rest 5-10 minutes before trying again.

Place disks on a lightly greased baking sheet or parchment paper and let rise, uncovered, until barely doubled in thickness, about 20-30 minutes.

Open the oven and place as many pitas as you can fit on the hot baking surface.  They should be baked through and puffy after 3 minutes.  Remove them and place on a cooling rack.