Tessa’s Recipe Rundown
Taste: Nutty and wonderful. Texture: Homemade pitas are so soft and tender, nothing like the hard and stale pitas at the grocery store. Ease: Not difficult at all, just time consuming. It will be almost impossible to go back to store-bought pitas after you make these though! Appearance: It’s actually kind of fun to watch the pitas balloon up in the oven. I would imagine it would be a fun activity to do with kids. Pros: Healthy and super soft and chewy like a pita should be. Cons: None. Would I make this again? Yes.This post may contain affiliate links. Read our disclosure policy.
I have acquired a slight obsession with making homemade bread lately. There’s something so satisfying in starting with a cast of unassuming characters (flour, yeast, liquid) and turning it into something that smells as magical as it tastes. Pita bread dates back to antiquity and it’s crazy to think about all the advances that have been made in bread baking since then. Yet, pita bread (or similar variations) is still well loved in so many areas of the world. It is the ultimate oldie but goodie. Homemade pitas make the store-bought variety taste like stale cardboard. Plus, there’s so many things you can do with pita bread. My favorites are of course to stuff the pocket with chicken or roasted vegetables with cheese, dip the pita in hummus, or top it with pesto and cheese and bake it off for a pita pizza. The options are limitless!
Whole Wheat Pita
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cups (7 ounces) whole-wheat flour
- 1 1/2 cups (6 3/8 ounces) bread flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast
- 1 1/4 cups (10 ounces) warm water
- 2 tablespoons (7/8 ounce) olive oil
Instructions
- Combine all the ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment. You can also knead by hand. Mix until all the ingredients are combined then knead until a soft, supple dough comes together, about 5 minutes (8 minutes if kneading by hand). Whole grain dough takes longer to absorb liquid as it develops so the dough will be sticky initially. If it seems impossibly sticky, add a little bit more flour. The dough should be soft and tacky. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and let the dough rise until doubled in size, about 1 1/2 hours.
- Position an oven rack on the bottom of the oven and place a baking stone on the rack. Preheat the oven to 450°F.
- Turn the risen dough out onto a floured work surface and cut the dough in half. Cut one half into 4 equal portions and form each into a rough ball. Repeat with the remaining dough half.
- Using a rolling pin, roll out each ball to a circle about 6-inches in diameter and less than a 1/4-inch thick. If the dough springs back let it sit, covered, for 10 minutes to rest until the dough rolls more easily. Keep the remaining balls of dough covered as you roll.
- Use a floured pizza peel to slide the circles of dough onto the hot baking stone or place the circles of dough on your palm and carefully flip onto baking stone. Bake as many pieces of dough as will fit at a time and bake for 3 to 4 minutes, or until the pitas balloon.
- Remove the pitas from the oven and repeat with the remaining pieces of dough. Stack the warm pitas together in a kitchen towel to keep them from crisping as they cool. Store pitas in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
Hi Tessa,
I made these today and they were really good; however, only two pitas puffed up and the rest were flat. I baked them on a stone and the one to the left and back of the stone was the only one that puffed up. I have no idea why! What did I do wrong or what should I have done differently?
Thanks.
Marale
Hi Marale! It sounds like your oven may not heat evenly. Do you use an oven thermometer? If not, I’d recommend getting one to track the actual temp and make adjustments as needed. Here’s a helpful article: http://www.cookinglight.com/cooking-101/techniques/cooking-questions-tips/how-to-test-your-oven
Hello! I stumbled upon your blog as I was exploring some of the blogs my own blog’s readers follow, and I just loved this post. I’ve been meaning to try my hand at homemade pita and a whole wheat recipe would be even better. I think my readers would really love it, too! I’d like to invite you to participate in my blog’s link-up party to celebrate the end of National Nutrition Month – feel free to check it out and share one of the delicious, healthy recipes you’ve been enjoying this past month! http://bit.ly/YCpeHq
I love pita. It is so delicious and versitile. You can dip it, stuff it, make chips out of it. I love that you made a whole wheat version and it is so easy. Thanks for the recipe
This looks so good! I made homemade pita chips and homemade hummus this weekend, but I didn’t make the pita from scratch! I’m dying to make this and spread it with some tzaziki and gyros. Yum!
Such a gorgeous pic Tessa! I haven’t made pita bread in forever, I’m definitely putting this on my must-try list (aka Pinterest) 🙂
Making pita bread is on my baking project list. Yours are just irresistible! The dry, flat, dense pita bread from the store are worlds apart from your stellar creations!
Thank you for sharing this recipe, it too have developed a bit of a flat bread obsession of late and these look perfect to try!
I love whole wheat pitas, and they’re so great homemade! I’ve never made them myself, but I’ve had them at restaurants. I need to get better about making homemade bread, so I’ll add this to my list!
I could smell the warm pita bread- I am a big fan of it but never made at home. I have come to find baking bread to be therapeutic lately- saving this one 🙂
I’ve been wanting to make whole wheat pita for a LONG time! I like making falafel so much that one of the first recipes on my blog was the baked falafel by Ellie Krieger actually.
http://vintagezest.blogspot.com/2013/02/falafel-baked-not-fried.html
I honestly can’t wait to make these! I can be a bit imprecise when it comes to rolling out, but I suppose it doesn’t really matter if my pitas end up oblong-shaped!
Making you own homemade pita is the best! i have a recipe on my blog, but I need to give this whole wheat version a try!
Yum! I was just at a Lebanese restaurant and they served homemade pita with a Zaat’ar olive oil. I’ve been dying to make pita bread ever since!