Wrap your freshly baked pita in a towel to keep it warm before serving (Kayte Young/WFIU)
Whole grain spelt flour lends a soft, springy texture to pita bread. Pita bakes up quickly so it works well as an everyday bread. you can even try the stovetop method, in a hot cast-iron skillet.
Falafel is the obvious choice for a filling, but you can fill pitas with so many things! Basically, any sandwich filling works, or even scrambled eggs, for a breakfast pita.
Listen to this episode of Earth Eats to hear Eric Schedler of Muddy Fork Bakery walk through the steps.
Muddy Fork's Spelt Pita Bread
Ingredients
- 315 grams water (~1 1/3 cups)
- 1.5 grams yeast (about 3/8 teaspoon)
- 375 grams whole-grain spelt flour (3 cups)
- 6 grams salt (about 1 1/3 teaspoon)
Instructions
- Dissolve yeast in water, then add all the other ingredients and mix until evenly incorporated.
- “Fold” the dough 3 to 4 times over 3 to 4 hours. Each “fold” consists of pulling the dough from the edge of the bowl into the middle and pressing down lightly, rotating the bowl slightly, and repeating until you've worked your way all the way around the bowl once or twice.
- Divide into 6 four-ounce pieces, and round each piece as tightly as possible.
- Let them relax 10-15 minutes and roll to ¼” thick with a rolling pin. Flour the dough as you roll so it does not stick. The flour will also prevent the pita dough from sticking to the pizza stone or skillet in the next step.
- Bake on a preheated pizza stone at 450 degrees, or in a preheated skillet on medium heat.
- Within about a minute, the pita should inflate like a balloon.
- When the bottom shows some browning, flip to brown the top.
- Stack pitas as you bake them to keep them warm and soft.
- Cover the stack with a towel until serving.
- Store extras in a plastic bag, and warm them up slightly before serving.
