Whole Wheat Pita Breads

In keeping with my theme of losing weight, I wanted to make some whole wheat pita breads, so that I could make paninis with them for lunch. These pita breads are very easy to make, and since it’s all whole wheat, it’s good for you, there you go, good carbs!! These whole wheat pita breads will take you some time to make but only because you have to let the dough rest, the preparation is very simple. I’m going to show you step by step what you need to do, so you cannot mess up.

First you’ll need a big bowl, to which you will add 2.5 cups of warm water. Next you’ll need a tsp of active dry yeast. Using a wooden spoon mix in the yeast with the water.

Over the next few steps we’ll need to add 2.5 cups of whole wheat flour, adding 1 cup at a time. So add the first cup to the bowl.

Mix in the flour with the wooden spoon. Supposedly you have to mix in the same direction, clockwise or counterclockwise, but I’m sure I mixed in the other direction as well and nothing happened. Anyway, you’re supposed to mix it so there are no lumps, then add another 1 cup of flour.

Mix, mix, mix in one direction, you’ll notice the mixture is getting thicker. After there are no more lumps, add another 1/2 cup of flour.

Continue mixing in one direction until there are no lumps and this is what this mixture should look like when you’re done with this first step.

Now, you need to let this rest for a long time, so cover it up with a clean towel and forget about it for about 3 to 4 hours. It will rise, so make sure your bowl is big enough. And wait and wait…. while I was waiting my husband cut me some lilacs from the back yard and I put them in a vase in the house….they are so gorgeous.

And they are so fragrant, oh I just love it. Alright, so after about 3 or 4 hours, remove the towel and voila:

Sprinkle a tablespoon of salt over the top.

Using your trusted wooden spoon, stir in the salt, then add a tablespoon of olive oil.

Stir in the olive oil. We need to start adding more whole wheat flour, again 1 cup at a time. Now it depends, I ended up adding about another 3 cups of flour, but if you find your dough needs more, add another cup. So again start with one cup at a time.

Stir it in with the wooden spoon. If you can no longer stir it in with the spoon turn the dough over onto a floured surface and continue kneading while adding flour 1 cup at a time. When you’re done adding all the flour, your dough should look something like this.

Now we have to wait again. Place the dough back in a clean bowl, that’s been oiled a bit with olive oil and roll the dough in the oil, so that it’s covered all around with a bit oil.

Cover it again with a clean towel and let it rise for another 2 to 3 hours.

This dough will make 16 pita breads. By the way, you can also make rolls from this dough, but I just chose to make pita breads because I want it for panini sandwiches. Cut the dough in half, then each piece in half, and repeat, until you end up with 16 pieces.

Excuse the bad lighting in the picture above, but I forgot to turn the flash on the camera. Anyway you’ll be working with one piece at a time, so cover the rest of the dough so that it doesn’t dry out. Take one piece and roll it out so that it’s about .25 cm thin. I started out making them a bit thicker and decided I wanted them bigger and thinner, so it’s really up to you.

What I did is I grilled them, on a flat iron. If you don’t have a flat iron grill, you can just use a non stick pan or a skillet, just like you would with naan. I didn’t want to use any additional oil, so I used the grill. Depends how big your grill is you can do 2 or 4 at a time.

Grill on each side, until it’s lightly golden then flip over.

I was making these outside on the deck, and it was smelling heavenly. Anyway repeat with all the remaining dough. And that’s that, that’s how you make whole wheat pita breads.

These are very versatile, you can make paninis, you can cut them in chips and serve them with hummus, the possibilities are endless.

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Whole Wheat Pita Breads

5 from 1 vote

Prep: 7 hrs

Cook: 1 hr

Total: 8 hrs

Author: Joanna Cismaru

Serves: 16 pitas

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Ingredients

• 5 1/2 to 6 1/2 cups of whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp active dry yeast
• 2 1/2 cups of warm water
• 1 tbsp salt
• 1 tbsp olive oil

Instructions

• In a large bowl mix the warm water with the yeast together, using a wooden spoon.
• Add 2 1/2 cups of flour, 1 cup at a time to the water yeast mixture, mixing in one direction after ever cup is added until there are no lumps.
• After the 2 1/2 cups of whole wheat flour has been added, cover the dough and let it rest for about 3 to 4 hours.
• Sprinkle a tbsp of salt over the dough and stir in with the wooden spoon.
• Add a tbsp of olive oil to the dough and mix.
• Continue adding the remaining flour to the dough, one cup at a time. When you can no longer mix the flour in, turn the dough over onto a floured surface and continue kneading the flour in. Shape the dough into a ball.
• Place the dough into an oiled bowl and rub some oil on the dough as well, cover the bowl and let the dough rise for another 2 to 3 hours.
• Cut the dough into 16 equal pieces. Roll out each piece so that it is about 6 to 8 inches in diameter.
• Grill the pita breads, until they are golden on each side.

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Enjoy!