Healthy Pita Bread – great as a substitute for white pita, sandwich bread, toast or pizza crust.
Homemade Healthy Pita Bread is a great substitute for white Greek pita bread or white sandwich bread or toast. It is more suitable for diabetics since whole wheat or spelt flour have lower glycemic index. It is generally healthier since whole grain flour is full of nutrients and fiber. Also it makes you full longer therefore it is more suitable for people who are trying to lose weight. And it is vegan.
In this recipe I used combination of spelt flour (or whole wheat flour) and bread flour (which has higher amount of gluten).
It is easy to make your own pita bread from scratch – very similar to making regular bread or pizza dough. After the dough rises, you form it into flat circles and bake in the oven or on your stove-top. I tried both ways and they both work. When I baked pitas on the stove-top they puffed up nicely and fully ballooned. Pitas that were baked in the oven did not puff as much, but they were still delicious.
Healthy Pita Bread can be used for breakfast, lunch or dinner and stuffed with various filings like tuna, hummus, falafel, kebabs, lamb, chicken, fresh or roasted vegetables, yogurt dip and various other dips and spreads. You can also use this bread as a quick substitute for pizza crust or bake them in the oven to get healthy pita bread chips.
- 2 cups spelt flour or whole wheat
- 2 cups bread flour
- 20 g fresh yeast or 1 Tbsp dry yeast
- cup about 1 1/4 warm water (or more if necessary)
- 1 tsp sugar
- 2 tsp salt
- 1-2 Tbsp olive oil optional
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Combine yeast, water and sugar together, and let stand for about 10 minutes until the yeast is dissolved.
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Add remaining ingredients and knead until dough is smooth and elastic. The dough should be soft, so add more water if needed. You can knead the dough by hand or using mixer. Cover with plastic wrap and let stand in a warm room until doubled in bulk.
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Turn out dough onto a floured table or counter and knead until dough is smooth and elastic. Form the dough into 8 balls. Roll each ball into a circle, about 1/4 inch thick.
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BAKING IN THE OVEN: Place on a non-stick baking sheet and bake on the bottom rack of the 450F oven for 3 minutes. Flip the pita over and bake until the pita is has fully ballooned.
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BAKING ON THE STOVETOP: Drizzle a little oil in an iron skillet and wipe off the excess. Heat the skillet and lay a pita on the skillet. Bake for 30 seconds. Flip and cook for 1-2 minutes on the other side. Flip again and cook another 1-2 minutes until the pita starts to puff up. To help bubbles form, gently press the surface of the pita with a clean towel.
