Whole Wheat Pita Bread bread machine version yield 6-8 pitas Water 1-1/8 cup WW flour 3 cups salt 1 teaspoon oil 1 tablespoon sugar 1-1/2 teaspoons yeast 1-1/2 teaspoons Place all ingredients (in order) in the bread pan. Select dough setting and 1.5 lb loaf size and start the machine. After the machine beeps, remove the bread pan and turn out the dough onto a floured board. Gently roll and stretch dough into a 12" rope. Divide into 6-8 pieces. Flatten each piece into a smooth ball and roll to about 1/8" thick (or thicker, if you like it less crispy and more bread-like). Cover and let rise about 30 minutes. After 15 minutes turn oven on to preheat to 500°F. Place 4 pitas on a wire rack. Place rack directly on oven rack. Bake pitas 5 minutes until puffed, and tops begin to brown. Check them immediately after removing from the oven. If they feel moist, return them to the oven for another 2-3 minutes. Remove and cover them with a clean cloth until soft. Once softened, cut them into gallon ziploc bags. Freeze immediately. Manual method: Yield: 8 smallish pitas 3 cups whole wheat flour 1 1/4 cup warm water, divided (1/2 cup and 3/4 cup) ½ tbsp active dry yeast 1 or 1.5 tbsp olive oil ½ tbsp salt a pinch of sugar In a small bowl add ½ cup of the warm water. Sprinkle a pinch of sugar. Then add the yeast and stir. Set aside for 10 to 15 minutes at room temperature. In a large bowl add flour and salt and measure out the olive oil. After the yeast is frothy (15 minutes), add the yeast mixture, the olive oil, and 3/4 cup of warm water to bowl and stir to make a dough, then turn out onto a floured board and knead into a soft, smooth dough. Place the dough into a greased container or in the same bowl with some olive oil applied all over the dough. Cover and let rise at room temperature for for 1 to 1½ hours. Adjust the oven racks. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Once the dough has doubled, turn it out onto the board and knead gently to deflate the dough. Roll the dough into a long even log. Use a pastry cutter or chef's knife to cut it in half, then cut each half in half, then cut each quarter in half. This gets you 8 roughly equal sized balls of dough. Place the balls on a floured surface and cover with a damp clean towel for 10-15 minutes. Flour the working surface and roll the balls to about 1/8" (3mm) thick. If you want the bread to puff up then it has to be rolled out thin. You can use fewer balls and roll them thicker and the bread will still be delicious but it won't puff up like true pita bread. On a clean cloth, lay out the circles and then cover with a damp kitchen towel loosely and let them rest for 10 minutes. Place them on two nonstick trays and bake at 400°F for 5 minutes. Then flip the breads and bake 3-4 more minutes. Bring the bread out and cover with a clean dry cloth to cool off. Once cool they can be frozen in bags. If you leave the pita bread uncovered as it cools it will become dry and crusty. Alternate procedures: 1 tablespoon honey 3 tablespoons dry milk try mixing as above but reserving 1/4 cup water. Make the dough as above then turn out onto the floured board and knead 5-7 minutes, adding water a little at a time to get a better feeling for the dough. You want the dough soft, smooth and elastic. A tip that will get you smoother dough is to lift the dough and slam it down 7-10 times as you knead it Heat a baking stone in the oven and bake the pitas 2 at a time directly on the stone. Let the oven and stone reheat for 3 minutes between batches. ----------------- Place the flour and salt in the bowl of a food processor and pulse a few times to blend the salt evenly into the flour. Add the sugar and yeast to the water and stir. Allow the water-yeast mixture to sit for about 3 or 4 minutes and when foamy on top, add olive oil. Stir. Turn on the processor and quickly pour the yeast-water through the feed tube. Process until the dough forms a ball. If the dough seems too wet, add more all- purpose flour, 1 teaspoon at a time. Remove from the food processor and form dough into a ball. Place in an oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let sit for 1 hour or until doubled in size. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead 2 or 3 times to remove any air bubbles. Form into a log and divide it into even pieces. Form each piece into a ball and then roll into disks about 1/8 inch thick and 6 inches in diameter. Put the disks on two baking sheets, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise an additional 20 minutes. Prepare a medium-high gas grill fire, leaving one burner off, or prepare a charcoal fire with the coals pushed to either side of the grill, leaving an area in the middle with no coals underneath. When very hot, place the pitas on the cooler part of the grill in batches and cook until starting to brown, 2 to 3 minutes. Depending on how hot your grill is, you may have to move the pitas directly over the heat for a few seconds to get them to brown properly, but be careful not to burn them. Flip and continue cooking until lightly golden on the bottom and the pitas are puffed and cooked through, 2 to 3 minutes more. Cool on a wire rack. If stuffing, cut the pitas in half and carefully separate the layers with a fork.