A couple of days ago I was reading through some blogs and came across one for Warm Israeli Hummus. Yum! How good does that sound?! I love hummus but, the word ‘warm’ just made this hummus sound delicious that I knew I had to make it. The wheels start turning and I think warm hummus and fresh pita bread. So, thanks to Pineapple St’s inspiration I made up a batch of Wheat Pita Bread…
I followed his recipe for Warm Israeli Hummus, you can find it here. I used canned garbanzo beans because, living at over 7000 ft boiling beans takes a life time. I added a little more paprika 😀 This hummus with the fresh pita is delicious!
The first pitas I made came out with a large pocket but, I wanted a pocket less soft bread. I realized that just rolling the bread out allowed the pocket to form. I then formed the dough into balls and pressed them into shape with my fingers. I then gave a finishing “roll over” to make sure the thickness was uniform. This technique gave me the flat, pocket-less pita bread I was looking for.
- 2 cups white flour
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 1 Tbsp sugar
- 1½ tsp salt
- 2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- 1¼ cup warm water
- 1 pkg instant yeast
- In a large bowl combine the dry ingredients, stir to combine. Add the olive oil and warm water to the dry ingredients. Use a spoon mix all the ingredients to form the dough. If some of the flour isn't getting combined add another tablespoon of water to bottom of bowl. Dough will bind together.
- Once dough is combined pour out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead the dough, adding flour a little ( 1 Tbsp) at a time to eliminate the stickiness. If your hands are sticking to dough continue to add more flour. Continue to knead well until dough is smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes.
- Coat a bowl with a little olive oil (1 tsp) and place dough into bowl. Roll dough around bowl to coat it with some oil. Cover with a towel and allow to rise until doubled in size. (With temps a little cold outside, I proofed in oven for 1 hr)
- Place a baking stone into middle of oven and heat oven to 450 degrees. Dough will rise during baking so make sure racks aren't too close together.
- Once dough has double in size, punch down. Place dough onto a lightly floured surface and reshape dough into ball. Divide dough in half. Gently stretch out dough to form 2 log shaped pieces and then divide each into 5 equal pieces - for a total of 10. Roll each piece into a ball and let rest, covered for about 10 minutes.
- Keep unused dough covered and shape one ball at a time. To shape, press fingers from center outward to stretch and form a circle. Use a lightly floured rolling pin to gently roll out to desired thickness. The dough will thicken when baked so I rolled pretty thin (1/8th inch). I prepared two at a time so dough would not dry out.
- Place rolled dough onto hot stone. Let bake for 2-3 minutes then flip over and allow to bake another 2-3 minutes. Bread may puff up and will only brown slightly. Remove warm bread and keep covered.
- Continue same procedure with remaining dough. Shape next pair of breads while other bread is baking.
These Wheat Pita Breads are the perfect balance of flavor and texture. They are delicious, soft, and foldable. Using whole wheat flour helps increase the flavor and fiber content of the pita. Whole wheat flour is made from the outer layer of bran, endosperm layer, and germ layer. This gives you great nutrients such as; B vitamins, antioxidants, iron, zinc, magnesium, and fiber.
These Wheat Pita Breads would also be great for wrapping veggies, salads, sandwich fixings or as mini pizzas.
Enjoy!
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