Here is the recipe for home-made pitas I made with my hummus. These taste so much better than store-bought that it is unfair to even compare the two!
A word of advice: If you find yourself thinking, "I should clean my oven today.... Nah, I want to make pita bread."
Retract that. Clean your oven. Make pita bread another day. Because when you heat your oven to 500 F, it tends to burn the things on the bottom of your oven and you set off your smoke detectors. Multiple times. And your apartment neighbors get annoyed. Just sayin'.
Whole Wheat Pita Bread
(inspired by Kitchen Meditation and Epicurious)
1 1/8 cup warm water
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup all purpose flour
1 tbsp canola oil
1 1/2 tsp honey
1 packet active dry yeast
Proof the yeast in the warm water and honey for 10 minutes, until it is foamy. If the yeast doesn't froth, throw out and start over. Add the oil and both types of flour, and knead on low or by hand for 10 minutes (if kneading by hand, add a little flour as you are working the dough to keep it from becoming sticky). Stop kneading when the dough is elastic and smooth.
Put the dough in a large oiled bowl and cover with a clean towel (not terry cloth). Let stand in a warm place until it has doubled in size, about 90 minutes.
Prepare baking sheets with a light dusting of cornmeal. Punch dough down, and divide into 8 equal pieces. On a lightly floured surface, work the first piece with your hands so that it forms something resembling a circle. With a floured rolling pin, roll out the piece of dough until it is approximately 6 inches in diameter and of equal thickness. Place onto a prepared baking sheet. Continue with the remaining 7 pieces of dough.
Cover with clean towels and let stand for 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 500 F (260 C). Put one oven rack in the lower third of the oven, and remove all other racks. Working in batches (I did two batches of 3, and one of 2), transfer pitas into the oven. Cook for 2 minutes on one side, flip with a pair of tongs, and cook for 1 minute on the other side. Immediately put into a brown paper bag until cooled.
(I was not making these for pita pockets, but for those of you who are interested... Some of my pitas formed pockets and some did not. I would say that I had a 50% success rate. It seemed that the ones I left in a minute longer puffed up better.)
Serve with home-made hummus (I posted recipes here)! Or fold up and enjoy with gyro-style sandwich toppings.
(inspired by Kitchen Meditation and Epicurious)
1 1/8 cup warm water
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup all purpose flour
1 tbsp canola oil
1 1/2 tsp honey
1 packet active dry yeast
Proof the yeast in the warm water and honey for 10 minutes, until it is foamy. If the yeast doesn't froth, throw out and start over. Add the oil and both types of flour, and knead on low or by hand for 10 minutes (if kneading by hand, add a little flour as you are working the dough to keep it from becoming sticky). Stop kneading when the dough is elastic and smooth.
Put the dough in a large oiled bowl and cover with a clean towel (not terry cloth). Let stand in a warm place until it has doubled in size, about 90 minutes.
Prepare baking sheets with a light dusting of cornmeal. Punch dough down, and divide into 8 equal pieces. On a lightly floured surface, work the first piece with your hands so that it forms something resembling a circle. With a floured rolling pin, roll out the piece of dough until it is approximately 6 inches in diameter and of equal thickness. Place onto a prepared baking sheet. Continue with the remaining 7 pieces of dough.
Cover with clean towels and let stand for 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 500 F (260 C). Put one oven rack in the lower third of the oven, and remove all other racks. Working in batches (I did two batches of 3, and one of 2), transfer pitas into the oven. Cook for 2 minutes on one side, flip with a pair of tongs, and cook for 1 minute on the other side. Immediately put into a brown paper bag until cooled.
(I was not making these for pita pockets, but for those of you who are interested... Some of my pitas formed pockets and some did not. I would say that I had a 50% success rate. It seemed that the ones I left in a minute longer puffed up better.)
Serve with home-made hummus (I posted recipes here)! Or fold up and enjoy with gyro-style sandwich toppings.
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