Whole-wheat pita bread
45 min · 19 g protein · 179 cals / serving
Homemade pita that balloons in a hot oven into soft, chewy pockets with a thin, golden skin, ready to stuff with falafel, chicken or salad. Whole-wheat flour gives them a nutty taste, and Greek yogurt in the dough keeps them tender for days.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup water, lukewarm
- 1 packet (2 1/4 tsp) active dry yeast
- 1 tsp honey
- 1 1/4 cups nonfat Greek yogurt, at room temperature
- 1/2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 1/2 cups + 1 tbsp whole wheat flour
- 1 cup vital wheat gluten
- 1 tsp salt
Steps
- Stir the lukewarm water, yeast and honey together in a large bowl and leave 5–10 minutes, until foamy.
- Whisk in the yogurt and olive oil, then add the flour, the wheat gluten and the salt. Stir into a shaggy dough (if it feels stiff, add a spoonful of water; whole-wheat flour is thirsty) and knead 8 minutes by hand (5 with a dough hook) until smooth and elastic. Cover and leave in a warm place about 1 hour, until doubled.
- Put a baking steel, pizza stone or upturned heavy baking sheet on the lowest shelf and heat the oven to its hottest, 500°F, for at least 30 minutes. Divide the dough into 8 balls, cover and rest 10 minutes.
- Roll each ball into an even 6 inch round about ¼ inch thick; even thickness is what makes it puff. Lay 2–3 at a time on the hot steel and bake 3–4 minutes, until they balloon and colour in spots. They do not need turning.
- Wrap the hot pitas in a clean tea towel straight away so they steam and stay soft. Cut in half for pockets once cooled a little.
Good to know
Mine didn't puff.
Usually the oven or stone was not hot enough, or the dough was rolled unevenly or with a crease. A thinner edge than centre lets steam escape. They are still lovely flat, as a wrap.
Stovetop instead?
Cook in a dry, very hot cast-iron pan about 1 minute a side, pressing gently with a folded towel when bubbles appear; most will puff.
How do I keep them?
Two days in a bag at room temperature, or frozen. Warm them for a few seconds in a hot pan and they soften again.
Alternative
Per
- Calories
- 215
- Protein
- (44%)
- 23 g
- Fat
- (10%)
- 2 g
- Carbohydrates
- (46%)
- 26 g
- of which sugar
- 2 g
- Fiber
- 3 g
- Sodium
- 373 mg
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Computed from the ingredients with our published formula, not yet kitchen-tested. How
As written, 1431 kcal goes into the pot and 755 g of ingredients comes out as about 665 g of food: 215 kcal per 100 g. Cooking moves water and energy density is the score's biggest lever, so the dish is scored as cooked, not as an average of its parts. Every ingredient links to its food page, with the same data and score. The label's percentages are each macronutrient's share of the calories. The full formula.