The idea of a whole wheat pita bread to start of my baking this year is ideal due to its simplicity. You can eat pita freshly baked, you can make pita chips, you can use it as a base for a homemade pizza.
Eat this flatbread with soups, make a sandwich, slice it and baked until crunchy for croutons on a salad. Yes, this is a versatile bread. And better yet, making whole wheat pita bread is not complicated. You have the few ingredients needed in your pantry already and the entire process takes a few short hours. Make it today for a meal tonight!
The recipe at A Fresh Loaf is one I will go back to again. A simple process with fantastic results. I chose to make pitas with some whole wheat flour—instead of 3 cups of all purpose flour I used two cups of all purpose flour and one cup of whole wheat flour. How will you modify the recipe to suit your tastes?
Some of my most popular homemade bread recipes are shared on A Baker’s House:
- Knead Not Sourdough Bread
- Boston Brown Bread
- Easy No Knead Whole Wheat Bread
- Sun Dried Tomato and Olive Bread
The #TwelveLoaves theme for January is a CLEAN SLATE—the sort of recipes that take fresh, simple ingredients and get us back to the basics of bread-making. I considered a simple white bread, a healthy whole-grain loaf, or a basic pizza dough but came back to this Pita Bread recipe found on A Fresh Loaf.
Whole Wheat Pita Bread
Make this fluffy, whole wheat pita bread at home. Heating the baking pan first is key to success!
Ingredients
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 1 Tablespoon sugar
- 1 packet of yeast ( I used instant)
- 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cups water, slightly warmed
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
Instructions
Mix the flours, sugar, and yeast together. Add the water and olive oil. Let the dough come together as you mix on low speed for at least 10 minutes. Put the dough into a bowl coated with baking spray. Cover with plastic wrap (also coated with baking spray) and let rise until doubled, about 90 minutes.
Once the dough has risen, knock it down (this means to punch it down in the middle so that it deflates), then divide it into 8 pieces. Roll the pieces into balls, cover and let rest for 15 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Turn a baking tray upside-down and let it preheat in the oven too. You need a very hot surface on which you’ll place your pitas to bake.
Spray your baking surface with water right before you place your dough in the oven. This step creates steam.
Roll the dough balls out into thin circles. You may only fit a few at a time on your baking sheet. The pitas only cook a short time so you can work in batches and have perfect pitas in no time.
Bake the pitas for 5-7 minutes each. I had more success with thinly rolled dough (about 1/8 inch) as opposed to 1/4 inch thick dough.
Notes
I used a stand mixer but this recipe can also be made by hand.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
8Serving Size:
1 pitaAmount Per Serving: Calories: 204Total Fat: 4gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 3mgCarbohydrates: 37gFiber: 3gSugar: 2gProtein: 6g
This data is provided by Nutritionix and is an estimate only.
Holly Baker started the food blog, A Baker’s House, in 2011. She is the writer, recipe creator, and photographer for the site. Holly loves to bake and shares recipes for gluten free food, canning recipes, as well as traditional desserts too. Her recipes and food photography have been highlighted by BuzzFeed, Reader’s Digest, and She Knows.
mary
Sunday 26th of April 2015
Pita is one of my absolute favorites! Children will eat them about as fast as you can bake them. Thanks for inspiring me to make some, I haven't for quite some time.
Kiersten @ Oh My Veggies
Thursday 17th of January 2013
These are gorgeous! And perfect! Now I'm even more tempted to give pita bread a try. The store bought kind is usually so dry and meh. These look so pillowy and delicious!
Sally - My Custard Pie
Wednesday 16th of January 2013
Great reminder to make pita bread again. Love your whole wheat version
lucia
Tuesday 15th of January 2013
It's really a great bread for many uses! See you soon!
Yvonne @ bitter baker
Monday 14th of January 2013
These look delicious! Pita bread has always kind of seemed like a mystery to me, I always wondered how you get those little pockets inside. But this doesn't seem that hard at all, and demystifies it a little bit :) Thanks!
Holly @ abakershouse.com
Monday 14th of January 2013
So funny-- I wondered the same thing! It turns out that the heat of the cooking surface seems to "shock" the dough and it rises quite quickly while cooking which makes that tender inside pocket. I recently bought a baking stone and think that will help make even better pitas next time. Thanks for stopping by! Holly