Whole Wheat Pita Bread

Whole wheat pita bread that is hearty, soft and puffed up. This simple and easy recipe will give you perfect pockets every single time, while keeping it wholesome and delicious. 

These pitas are great with White Bean Hummus.

Whole Wheat Pita Bread

Getting the pita to puff up and also stay soft enough, is pretty easy.

Here, I share with you techniques and tips to make perfectly puffy and hearty whole wheat pita breads at home. These are so much better than store bought pita and are surprisingly easy to make.

The preparation time itself is short. Most of the time is just inactive resting time. Like for all yeast breads, learn and experiment it in your own home. With a few tries, guaranteed you will make perfect pitas.

Ingredients

Dry yeast, Water, Whole Wheat flour, Vital Gluten, Salt, Olive oil

• I used regular whole wheat flour. If you prefer, you can use white whole wheat flour, which is lighter in color and milder in flavor but is still whole grain. 
• If you don't have vital gluten, combine whole wheat flour with bread flour (or all purpose flour).

How to Make Pita

Below is a brief overview of pita bread making. Full recipe at end of post.

1. Make a sponge with warm water, yeast, some flour and vital gluten. Let it rest some minutes.
2. Then add olive oil, salt, some more flour and combine. Gradually add flour, one tablespoon at a time until dough is soft but not too sticky. 
3. Knead dough in stand mixer or by hand, until it is soft and elastic.
4. Let it rise in a warm place until double in bulk.
5. Divide the dough into balls and let it rest. Then roll out pita rounds.
6. Bake pita in a very hot oven until nicely puffed up. Stove top instructions included.

FAQ and Extra Tips

Whole Wheat Baking

• Buy fresh flour from stores with high turnover rate and use in couple months, as whole wheat oxidizes. Store it in fridge or freezer to prevent rancidity due to oil-rich germ.
• Whole wheat flour has sufficient protein for gluten development, when we follow the proper technique. However, vital gluten can be supportive, and especially useful for new bakers or most home cooks.

New to Bread Baking

• Start with all purpose flour as it is easier. Then gradually increase the quantity of whole wheat flour used in your recipes. Once you perfect gluten development with whole wheat flour, you may not need to use vital gluten in several recipes.
• Yeast baking is about touch and feel, and not so much about exact flour measurements. Temperature, climate, humidity, altitude, the packing of your flour and some other factors can influence the quantity of flour needed for a recipe. Therefore, focus on the dough characteristics as you use extra flour.

Increasing Whole Wheat in Baking

• It takes time to convert people who are used to white bread to whole wheat breads. So, do it gradually.
• Try white whole wheat flour and increase it gradually. Start with ⅓ substitution and scale it up as per acceptance.

Increasing fiber in your recipes even to a smaller extent may be helpful.

Mixing Flours

• If you don’t have vital gluten, then try combining whole wheat flour and all purpose flour. Knead the dough well.

• If using mixed flours or only all white flour, then you will need to use a little more flour for this recipe. Add a tablespoon at a time and go by the dough texture.

Yeast Activity

• To make sure the yeast is active, add a little sugar and watch for the bubbles — then your yeast is active. If your yeast is not active, all the effort will be wasted.

Baking Sheet or Stone

• Baking stone or cast iron pans provide a hot surface for pita breads to puff up. If you don’t have these, then try using an inverted baking sheet.

Pita Rounds Measurement

• Use pita dough ball weight (120 gm), measurement of rounds (7 inch) and thickness (¼ inch) as a guide to make sure your pitas are turning out right.

Puffy Pitas

• If the pitas don’t puff up, the oven is not hot enough or your skillet is not heated well. 
• A tear in the dough can also cause the pitas to not puff up.
• Don't roll it too thick. The heat from the oven will create steam in the center and make the pitas puff up.
• If the pitas don’t puff up, they will still taste good. Use them to make pita pizzas.

Pita in Oven vs. Stove

• Pita bread made on stove tends to cook faster and are also more moist, but flatten out sooner. They will still have a pocket inside. 
• The oven baked pitas will retain the puff longer, but will be a bit more dry on the surface, which is what is more common. 
• Make sure the baking time is not exceeded, to prevent pita bread from drying out. Once they are puffed, give them 30 seconds to 1 minute and take them out.

Homemade oven pita breads baked at highest possible temperature and in shortest possible time will be the best. 

Whole Wheat Nutrition

To know more about whole wheat flour benefits for gut health and more, check out the post on Wheat Rolls.

How to Serve

• Serve it with Healthy Hummus or Muhammara
• Make Sandwiches with Koobideh Kabob.

More Bread Recipes

• Barbari Bread (Persian Flatbread)
• Musakhan (Sumac Chicken Onion Flatbread)
• Crescent Roll Ring Recipe (With Tuna and Cheese)
• Quick Flatbread Recipe
• Whole Wheat Naan

Full Recipe Tutorial Video

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