This is a cop out post. I know if I don’t say it up front, Jonathan Topaz is going to call me out in the comments. I freely admit I made this pita bread weeks ago and have been sitting on the recipe until I was too busy to bake some week – this week was that week.

But hey, good time management means that even on the weeks I don’t think I have time to bake, I can still get in a post if I double up during high-free-time weeks.

And really, I should be writing a paper right now about the Food and Drug Administration. Blogging about food is close enough, right? I’ll make it quick.

First, in a large bowl, add warm water and stir in sugar and yeast to dissolve. Whisk in 1/4 cup of whole wheat flour and 1/4 cup of all-purpose flour. Set aside in a warm place for 15 minutes until frothy. Add salt, olive oil, and remaining flour (except for half a cup). Stir until beings to come together. Knead in the bowl for 1 minute.Turn out onto a floured surface knead for another two minutes.Cover for 10 minutes to rest.Knead for another two minutes. Place in a clean mixing bowl and cover with plastic wrap tightly.Place a towel over the plastic wrap and leave bowl in a warm place until dough doubles in size – about an hour.Punch down dough and divide into 8 equal pieces.Roll our each into a circle, about 8 inches in diameter, and 1/8 inch thin.Preheat the oven to 475°F with a ceramic baking tile, cast iron pan, or heavy duty baking sheet on the bottom shelf.

Place a dough circle quickly on the hot ceramic tile. After two minutes, dough should puff up. Use tongs to turn and cook on the other side for another minute. Remove from oven and place in napkin lined basket. Repeat with remaining disks. Serve with hummus, butter, oil, or any other topping you’ve been looking for an excuse to eat.

Enjoy!

Pita Bread

Ingredients:

• 1 cup lukewarm water
• 1 package active dry yeast
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour, divided
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons olive oil

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, whisk yeast and sugar into lukewarm water to dissolve. Whisk in whole wheat flour and 1/4 cup all purpose flour. Set aside in warm place for 15 minutes until frothy.
2. Add 1 3/4 cups of remaining flour, salt, and olive oil. Stir until just comes together. Knead in bowl for 1 minute before turning out onto floured surface to knead for 2 more minutes.
3. Cover dough for 10 minutes to rest. Knead for 2 more minutes. Place in clean bowl, cover tightly with plastic wrap, then cover with towel. Set aside in warm place until dough doubles in size, about 1 hour.
4. Preheat oven to 475°F with ceramic baking tile, heavy duty baking sheet, or cast iron pan on the bottom shelf.
5. Punch down dough and separate into 8 equal balls. Roll out one ball at a time into an 8 inch circle.
6. Place dough quickly onto ceramic baking tile and cook for 2 minutes until puffs up. Turn over with tongs and cook on other side 1 additional minute. Remove from oven and place in napkin lined basket.
7. Repeat with remaining balls of dough.