Whole Wheat Pita Bread

3.90 from 10 votes

Healthy Pita Bread made with 100% Whole Wheat Flour! Recipe with Step by Step Pictures.

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Growing up in India, my knowledge of other cuisines (other than Indian of course) was very limited. I only knew about indian veggies, breads, rice and lentils. When we grew up a little, things changed and suddenly pizzas, pastas and manchurian were everywhere. I know things have changed a lot now but back then the only food that we ate which was not “Indian” were burgers, pizzas, pasta, noodles and indo-chinese. We had little or no idea about any other food in the world and so when I moved to US I was suddenly exposed to a lot of cuisines, some of which I have grown to love. Mexican and middle eastern food are two of my top favorites. And it is my love for these cuisines that keeps inspiring me to try out these recipes, the latest being pita bread.

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Pita breads are an integral part of Afghan, Lebanese, Persian cuisines, just like parathas and naans are for us. These flat-breads are made from all purpose flour and puff up in the oven when baked. Because they puff up, these breads have pockets in them called “pita pockets”. The bread collapses after being taken out of the oven but the pocket can be used to fill in a lot of stuff, which makes for some super awesome pita pocket sandwiches.

When I decided to bake pita bread at home, my first thought was I am going to make these healthier. After all what’s the whole point of baking breads at home? It’s fine to make the traditional recipe once in a while but if you bake breads regularly then you gotta look for healthy alternatives. So I used 100% whole wheat flour, our regular atta that we get from Indian store  for making these pita breads. They were soft, light and tasted great, I did not miss eating the regular pita bread at all!

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Pita bread is pretty easy to make, I used my oven but you can make this on your stove top too. You can put it directly on gas, like we do with phulkas and the pita bread would puff up.

 

Method

In a bowl whisk together whole wheat flour and salt.

Add in the olive oil and mix till it’s well combined with the flour.

Take warm water in a glass/mug, add sugar and yeast and give a quick stir. Please make sure that the water is warm, not hot and not cold. If it’s cold the yeast won’t activate and if it’s too hot it will kill the yeast. So it has to be warm, if you have a candy thermometer (which you must have if you bake breads regularly at home) check the temperature it should be between 110-115 F degrees. Let the mixture sit for 5-10 minutes. Whole-Wheat-Pita-Bread-Recipe-Step-1-notitle-cwm After 10 minutes, the yeast will get activated and you will see froth/bubbles on top (see picture). If you don’t see any frothing, that means your yeast didn’t get activated and so you have to discard the liquid and start again.

Add the liquid to the flour mixture slowly, in parts.

Knead the entire liquid into the flour forming a dough. The dough will be little sticky.   Whole-Wheat-Pita-Bread-Recipe-Step-2-notitle-cwm Sprinkle some flour on your working surface and knead the dough for 2-3 minutes till it’s smooth.

Place the dough in a large bowl coated with olive oil. Make sure the entire dough is coated with oil.

Apply a cling sheet over the bowl and let the dough rise for 1-1.5 hours.         Whole-Wheat-Pita-Bread-Recipe-Step-3-notitle-cwm After 1 hour my dough more than doubled in size because it was quite warm the day I made this bread. If it’s cold where you live this might take little longer. In case it’s really cold the day you bake this here’s what you can do > preheat oven to 180 F degrees, switch it off and then place the bowl inside.

Punch the dough to release all the air. Let the dough sit for 5 minutes.

Divide into 6 equal portions and let the dough sit for another 10 minutes.Whole-Wheat-Pita-Bread-Recipe-Step-4-notitle-cwm

After 10 minutes, roll each dough ball into a round flat bread, around 8 inch and 1/4 inch thick. The bread should be little thick, don’t try to roll it thin like chapati/roti.

Sprinkle some cornmeal on a baking sheet and place the rolled pita breads over. Let them rest for 15 minutes, cover them loosely and in the meanwhile preheat your oven to 475 F degrees.

Place the baking tray in the preheated oven and bake at 475 F degrees for 7-8 minutes. The pita bread is done when they puff up.

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Take them out of the oven and serve warm pita bread with veggies, dips or make a pita pocket sandwich like this!

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* If you use all purpose flour for this recipe, you might need to use little less water. Also the pita breads would be done in like 3-4 minutes.

* You can freeze pita breads after they cool down. Place a parchment paper between each bread and then pack the entire stack in a freezer bag. They should stay good for around 2 months.

Whole Wheat Pita Bread

3.90 from 10 votes
Servings: 6 pita bread
Healthy Pita Bread made with 100% Whole Wheat Flour! Recipe with Step by Step Pictures.

Ingredients 

  • 2 cups whole wheat flour atta
  • ¾ teaspoon salt
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • ½ teaspoon sugar
  • ½ tablespoon dry active yeast
  • ¾ cup + 1 tablespoon warm water at 110-115F
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Instructions 

  • In a bowl whisk together whole wheat flour and salt.
  • Add in the olive oil and mix till it's well combined with the flour.
  • Take warm water [110-115 F degrees] in a glass/mug, add sugar and yeast and give a quick stir. Let the mixture sit for 5-10 minutes.
  • After 10 minutes, the yeast will get activated and you will see froth/bubbles on top
  • Add the liquid to the flour mixture slowly, in parts.
  • Knead the entire liquid into the flour forming a dough. The dough will be little sticky.
  • Sprinkle some flour on your working surface and knead the dough for 2-3 minutes till it's smooth.
  • Place the dough in a large bowl coated with olive oil. Make sure the entire dough is coated with oil.
  • Apply a cling sheet over the bowl and let the dough rise for 1-1.5 hours.
  • After 1 hour the dough will almost double in size.
  • Punch the dough to release all the air. Let the dough sit for 5 minutes.
  • Divide into 6 equal portions and let the dough sit for another 10 minutes.
  • After 10 minutes, roll each dough ball into a round flat bread, around 8 inch and 1/4 inch thick.
  • Sprinkle some cornmeal on a baking sheet and place the rolled pita breads over. Let them rest for 15 minutes, cover them loosely.
  • Preheat your oven to 475 F degrees.
  • Place the baking tray in the preheated oven and bake at 475 F degrees for 7-8 minutes. The pita bread is done when they puff up.

Nutrition

Calories: 200kcal, Carbohydrates: 29g, Protein: 5g, Fat: 8g, Saturated Fat: 1g, Sodium: 293mg, Potassium: 145mg, Fiber: 4g, Calcium: 14mg, Iron: 1.5mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Additional Info

Cuisine: Middle Eastern
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 Whole Wheat Pita Bread

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Hi, I’m Manali!

Bringing you easy, delicious vegetarian & vegan recipes! Eating veggies can be fun, you just need to get creative in the kitchen with the right set of ingredients!


3.90 from 10 votes (5 ratings without comment)

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Recipe Rating




21 Comments

  1. 5 stars
    I have made this several times, and it always turns out perfectly. Thanks for a fun and tasty recipe!

  2. Hi Manali,
    Can I replace active yeast with instant yeast?
    Your blog is my go-to place for indian recipes! 🙂 Keep posting!!
    Thank you!!

  3. 5 stars
    This will be my second time doing this recipe. We I live right now is very hot, so I try to use the oven as less as possible, but I have to make a sacrifice making these pita breads again. They are delicious. One of the best and easiest recipes. Thank you!

  4. Hi Manali
    I made the pita bread today
    Was good
    But they not puff as much
    I had preheated then oven at 250degree celcius

  5. Hi, can you suggest substitute for yeast and will that make pita rise and become as soft as it comes out with yeast. I don’t mind fermenting for long

    1. Hi Ankit, that will be an entirely different recipe. This recipe has been tested with yeast only. I would suggest to search for no yeast pita bread online.

  6. 5 stars
    Hi Manali,
    I made this today, and it turned out beautifully. Since my kitchen is kind of cold, I put the dough in my Instant Pot on the yogurt setting to rise. My husband and I are in self-isolation due to the coronavirus, so it was extra nice to have something different and special to eat.
    Kate

  7. Hi Manali, I tried your recipe today . I followed your instructions very carefully but some how my oven temp I think was not right . My. Oven had a maximum temperature of 250 degree c. My pita bread didn’t rise as that of yours m it took 15 min to bake n it’s sides r hard not soft as pita bread is PL correct my mistake . Where I could have gone wrong

    1. Hi Sangita, did the yeast proof before you added the flour? That step is important. Pita bread does need a high temperature to puff up. Maybe your oven settings are off? I would get an oven thermometer and check the setting.

  8. I love pita bread and its never easily available in any local market here. Thank you for the recipe 🙂 I will give it a shot!

    1. Welcome devanshi! 🙂 Use a good quality yeast and for your first attempt try with 50% all purpose and 50% whole wheat. Good luck 🙂

  9. Those look great! I never thought of baking my own pitas, and I love baking my own bread. I will definitely give them a try 🙂 thanks for sharing

    1. Hi andree! Thanks for dropping by and pita breads are actually one of the easiest breads to bake..so you must give it a try!! 🙂