Whole Wheat Pita Bread
This Whole Wheat Pita Bread is made with just a few simple pantry ingredients. Its soft texture and delicious whole wheat flavor is far better than any store-bought pita bread I’ve tried.
Recipe, photos and text updated from original 8/17/2010 post.
This recipe is tried and true, tested again and again by yours truly. It’s a keeper!
I’ve had this Whole Wheat Pita Bread recipe on my site since 2010. That’s over 7 years! I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve made this whole wheat pita bread. My kids love it. I love it. The hubby loves it. As well as everyone else I’ve served it to over the years.
I’m updating the post for this whole wheat pita bread today for a couple of reasons.
(1) I wanted to get it in front of your eyes again. Chances are, you weren’t around when I shared the recipe way back in 2010… unless you happen to be my mom, my sister, or my brother. 😉
(2) The photos were in desperate need of an update.
And…
(3) I wanted to simplify the recipe, as well as add some tips that I’ve found make the method as fast and easy as possible.
You might be wondering: Why would you take the time to make your own pita bread? Isn’t that a lot of work? If you hate baking and making bread, then yes, you should probably skip the effort and just buy some pita at the grocery store. But if you enjoy cooking and have a true love of bread, as well as half an hour to spare, then you definitely need to give this recipe a try!
From start to finish, it will take about 2 ½ hours until you have warm pita bread ready to enjoy. Only 30 minutes of that time is active time, though. You’ll end up with 10 pitas, which is enough for my family to eat for a meal with extras to freeze. This Whole Wheat Pita Bread freezes wonderfully, and I recommend storing any that you won’t eat by the second day in the freezer.
My family loves to dip this pita bread in our favorite Easy White Bean Dip. We seriously love that stuff. I also like to use it as a wrap for sandwiches, stuffing tuna or even peanut butter and jelly in the pita pocket.
Tips for making your own homemade whole wheat pita bread:
- I usually make my pita bread with all white whole wheat flour. If you want a milder wheat flavor, you can replace half of the whole wheat flour with bread flour, or even all purpose.
- If your dough isn’t stretching as you roll it out, let it rest for 5 minutes, covered with a clean towel, and try again. I roll mine out using a rolling pin on a lightly floured cutting board.
- You can bake your pita in a very hot oven on a baking stone (or directly on the oven racks). My preferred method, though, is to bake them on my electric griddle. It’s easier than opening the oven repeatedly to put in each batch of pita bread and to flip them over. (Especially when there are small children running around the kitchen.)
- Wrapping the warm baked pita bread in a clean kitchen towel produces a softer bread.
- As soon as it’s cool, freeze any pita bread that you won’t eat by the second day. Defrost frozen pita for a few minutes on the counter and it will taste as good as it did the day you made it!
You might also enjoy my easy whole wheat bread recipe.
Whole Wheat Pita Bread
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups warm water, 105-115 degrees F
- 2 ½ teaspoons instant yeast
- 1 tablespoon honey
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 ¼ - 3 ½ cups white whole wheat flour
Instructions
- Add the warm water, yeast and honey to the bowl of a stand mixer. (If you prefer, the dough can be mixed and kneaded by hand.) Stir gently. Set aside for 5 minutes until foamy.
- Add olive oil, salt and 3 ¼ cups white whole wheat flour to the bowl. Using the paddle attachment, mix until combined. Switch to the dough hook and knead on low speed for 8 minutes, adding up to ¼ cup more flour if the dough is too sticky. The dough should feel only slightly sticky when you touch it with your finger.
- Cover the bowl with a clean kitchen towel or plastic wrap and let rise for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until doubled in size.
- If you are baking the pita on a baking stone in the oven, at this point you should place the baking stone in the oven and preheat oven to 500 degrees F. You can also bake the pita directly on the oven racks if you don’t have a baking stone. Or, bake them on a griddle, which I find to be easiest. (You’ll preheat the griddle right before baking as it doesn’t take as long to heat up as the baking stone.)
- Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface and punch it down to release any air. Form dough into a ball and cut it into 10 equal pieces. Working with one dough piece at a time, gently shape it into a ball and then roll it into a 6-inch round on a lightly floured surface. Lay rounds on a sheet of parchment and cover with a clean kitchen towel.
- Let dough rounds rest for 30 minutes. During this time they will puff up slightly.
- Meanwhile, if you are baking the pita on a griddle rather than in the oven, preheat the griddle. I heat mine to between 350-375 degrees F.
- Once dough rounds have rested, bake them 2 or 3 at a time, either in the oven or on the griddle. Bake on the first side for about 2 minutes, then flip and cook 1-2 minutes on the second side until lightly golden.
- Let pitas cool slightly and then wrap loosely in a clean kitchen towel to finish cooling. This produces softer pita bread.
- Store in a zip-top plastic bag at room temperature for 2 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
I’ll have to try making your pitas sometime! I bet they would be good served with grilled chicken and vegetables. Yum! What do you serve them with?
I serve the pitas with many different fillings. My favorite so far has been marinated grilled chicken, tomato, red onion, and tzatziki sauce. Sometimes I serve grilled veggies with the pitas, and sometimes I make falafel. The first two options I have posted on the blog, and the falafel I plan to post at some time.
I made these yesterday and they were really good! Thanks for the recipe!!
Can you sub wheat flour with gluten free flour
I haven’t tested that so I can’t say for sure. A 1:1 gluten free flour may work.
Can I make this by hand only I don’t have any small appliances to knead bread etc.?
Yes, you can mix and knead the dough by hand.
I have made these with whole wheat flour, today in using white while wheat. Texture is the same. Both are equally soft and fluffy. Never will I buy pitas at the grocery store. These are so easy to bake.
We use them for breakfast with homemade hummus, farm fresh eggs, feta, spinach, kalamata olives, grape tomatoes, etc. Or for lunch with loaded garlic hummus. A full meal either way!
Thank you for sharing this incredible recipe!