Recipe: Homemade Whole Wheat Pita Bread

ORGANIC WHEAT PITA

"Here's a higher-fiber sandwich bread that's just plain fun to eat: whole-wheat pita. Layer these with meat and cheese, stuff with chicken or tuna salad, or spread with peanut butter and jelly; this bread plays nicely with any ingredient you can think of!"

1 3/4 cups white whole wheat flour, organic preferred
1 1/2 cups unbleached bread flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp instant yeast
1 1/4 cups lukewarm water
2 Tbsp olive oil

TO MIX THE DOUGH:
Combine all of the ingredients, and mix and knead them together - by hand, mixer, or bread machine - to make a smooth dough. This will take about 8 minutes by hand, 5 minutes in an electric mixer, or use the dough setting on your bread machine.

Cover the dough, and allow it to rise till it's doubled in bulk, about 90 minutes.

TO SHAPE THE PITAS:
Place a pizza stone on the bottom rack of your oven. Or line a baking sheet with parchment (or grease it lightly). Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

Gently deflate the dough, and divide it into eight pieces, shaping each piece into a rough ball. Let the balls rest for 10 minutes, covered, while your oven comes up to temperature.

Lightly spray a rolling mat, or clean work surface, with non-stick vegetable oil spray. Use a rolling pin to roll one ball of dough into a 6-inch circle that's slightly less than 1/4-inch thick. Repeat with another ball of dough.

TO BAKE THE PITAS:
Place the pitas on the hot pizza stone*, or place them on the prepared baking sheet, and put the baking sheet on the bottom rack of the oven. Bake the pitas for 4 to 5 minutes, till they puff up.

Turn them over, and bake for another minute or two; total baking time should be about 6 minutes (about 7 minutes, if you're baking on a pan rather than a stone).

Remove them from the oven, stack them on a kitchen towel, and fold the towel up over them; this will keep them from becoming crisp as they cool. Repeat with the remaining pieces of dough.

Store pitas at room temperature in a bag or closed container.

*Note: Baking pitas on a hot stone produces a more reliable "ballooning" effect than baking them on a baking sheet. They'll usually balloon when you use a baking sheet, but not always. It helps if your oven is 450 degrees F; don't let the temperature edge down below that.