Last week I found this delicious lamb burger recipe that called for pita bread. I never like store bought pita because it is always so dry and every time I try to stuff something inside the pocket it breaks and I end up eating it with a fork and knife. Sooo, I thought I would take a stab at making my own and since I had all of the ingredients in my cupboard I figured it was the more affordable option.  

When it was time to knead I found my dough was still very moist, this could be due to the type of flour I was using and how it absorbs the liquid. If this happens to you, don't worry, just knead in more flour (I used organic whole wheat) until you get that elastic dough consistency and it no longer sticks to your fingers. Make sure it is not too dry, otherwise your dough will be too dense and wont rise properly. If you are not sure, it is safest to keep it on the sticky/moist side than add too much flour and have it be too dry.

Make sure when you roll our your dough you dont roll them out too thin otherwise you wont get a nice "pocket" once they have baked. I think I rolled my out a little more than 1/4 inch thick. 

These pitas are best fresh out of the oven, however they do keep well in an airtight container. (If you keep them in the fridge they will last longer) If you eat one straight out of the fridge it will be on the dry side so I like put mine on a cookie sheet in the oven and lay a moist paper towel over the top and heat until the pita has absorbed some of the moisture and heated all the way through. If this doesn't float your boat you can always just pop it in the toaster oven.

Regardless of how you do it you will love this pita bread and Im sure you will all agree it is much more flavorful than store bought. If you want to spice things up you can add some fresh herbs to your dough or sprinkle a salt blend on top....yummy!

Whole Wheat Pita

• 1 (1/4 ounce) package active dry yeast
  
• 1 tsp honey
• 1 1/4 cups warm water (I only used about 1 cup)
• 2 cups unbleached bread flour, plus additional for kneading (I used King Arthur bread flour made from hard red spring wheat)
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tsp salt
• finely ground cornmeal for sprinkling baking sheetsStir together yeast, honey, and 1/2 cup warm water in a large bowl, then let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. (If mixture doesn't foam, discard and start over with new yeast.)

While yeast mixture stands, stir together flours in another bowl. Whisk 1/2 cup flour mixture into yeast mixture until smooth, then cover with plastic wrap and let stand in a draft-free place at warm room temperature until doubled in bulk and bubbly, about 45 minutes. Stir in oil, salt, remaining 3/4 cup warm water, and remaining 2 1/2 cups flour mixture until a dough forms.

Turn out dough onto a floured surface and knead, working in just enough additional flour to keep dough from sticking, until dough is smooth and elastic, 8 to 10 minutes. Form dough into a ball and put in an oiled large bowl, turning to coat. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let dough rise in draft-free place at warm room temperature until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.

Punch down dough and cut into 8 pieces. Form each piece into a ball. Flatten 1 ball, then roll out into a 6 1/2- to 7-inch round on floured surface with a floured rolling pin. Transfer round to 1 of 2 baking sheets lightly sprinkled with cornmeal. Make 7 more rounds in same manner, arranging them on baking sheets. Loosely cover pitas with 2 clean kitchen towels (not terry cloth) and let stand at room temperature 30 minutes.

Set oven rack in lower third of oven and remove other racks. Place a pizza stone in the oven. Preheat oven to 500°F.

Transfer pita (I did two at a time) onto the pizza stone. Bake until just puffed and pale golden, about 2 minutes. Turn over with tongs and bake 1 minute more. Cool pitas on a cooling rack 2 minutes, then stack and wrap loosely in a kitchen towel to keep pitas warm. Bake remaining pitas in same manner. Serve warm.