Whole Wheat Pita

Once I made homemade hummus, I knew I needed to try homemade pita; the two are just made for each other. I am so glad I finally tried my hand at this recipe; these pita turned out soft and flavorful and paired perfectly with some sliced grilled chicken and hummus.

The process is a bit time consuming, though not difficult. I put my bowl of dough in the garage to help speed up the rising process, especially since I had the A/C blasting while making these, transforming my kitchen into a cool, drafty space-pretty much the exact opposite of the environment needed for dough to rise.

Whole Wheat Pita
Source: Annie's Eats
Printable Recipe

Ingredients
2 ¼ teaspoon instant yeast
1 Tablespoon honey
1¼ cups warm water
1½ cups bread flour
1½ cups whole wheat flour
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
Cornmeal, for sprinkling

Directions
Combine the yeast, honey and 1/2 cup of the water in the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, and stir to combine. Add in 1/4 cup of the bread flour and 1/4 cup whole wheat flour, and mix until smooth.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let sit until doubled in size, about 45 minutes.

Remove the plastic wrap and return the bowl to the mixer, fitted with the dough hook attachment. Add in the remaining 3/4 cup water, 1/4 cup bread flour, 1 1/4 cup wheat flour, olive oil and salt. Knead on low speed for about 8 minutes; the dough should be smooth and elastic.

Lightly oil a large bowl (I sprayed mine with Pam), and transfer the dough to the bowl, turning it over once to coat. Loosely cover the bowl with plastic wrap or clean kitchen towels and let rise in a warm place for about an hour, until the dough has doubled in size.

Preheat your oven to 500 degrees, with the rack in the middle position. Preheat your baking stone, on the middle rack, at this time.

Once the dough has risen, transfer it to a lightly floured surface and punch down the dough. Then, divide it into 8 equal pieces (I used a ruler to measure it out and cut the dough with a long knife).

Form each piece into a ball. Working with one piece at a time, flatten each ball into a disk, then stretch out into a 6½-7 inch circle. Transfer the rounds to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and lightly sprinkled with cornmeal.

Once all the rounds have been shaped, loosely cover the sheet with clean kitchen towels. Let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes, until slightly puffy.

Transfer 4 pitas, one at a time, to your hot baking stone (you can also bake these on a baking sheet) and bake for 2 minutes. Using tongs, gently flip each pita over and bake for an additional minute. Set the cooked pitas on a rack to cool and repeat with the remaining dough.

Store in a large ziplock bag or other airtight container in the refrigerator.