Whole Wheat Flax Seed Pita Bread Recipes

WHOLE WHEAT PITA BREAD

Steps:

• In a large mixing bowl combine all dry ingredients including sugar or honey (if you decide to use) and mix well.
• Slowly add warm water and mix the flour using a wooden spatula. Mix until it forms a crumbly mixture with no dry flour anymore
• Add 1 tbsp olive oil and using hand knead the dough. Add dry flour if necessary to avoid sticking the dough to the bowl. Continue kneading for about 6-7 min till it forms a homogeneous and soft dough
• Cover the bowl with a wet cloth and put it in a warm place for at least 1 hour
• Preheat the oven to 450F and lightly oil the baking tray
• Divide the dough into roughly 12 equal part and form them into small balls
• Dust some dry flour on the flat surface and roll each dough portion into 5-6" round pitas. Cover the tray with a clean cloth and let it rest for 10 min
• Put the tray in preheated oven and bake for 8 min. To get light golden color on the surface, bake them in broil mode for 1-2 min.

WHOLE WHEAT FLAX SEED PITA BREAD

Steps:

• If you are using active dry yeast, follow the instructions on the packet to active it (see the note on yeast above). Otherwise, mix the yeast in with the flour, salt, and sugar. Add the olive oil and 1 1/4 cup water and stir together with a wooden spoon. All of the ingredients should form a ball. If some of the flour will not stick to the ball, add more water (I had to add an extra 1/4 cup).
• Once all of the ingredients form a ball, place the ball on a work surface, such as a cutting board, and knead the dough for approximately 10 minutes (or until your hands get tired). If you are using an electric mixer, mix it at low speed for 10 minutes.
• (The purpose of kneading is to thoroughly combine the ingredients and to break down the flour so that the dough will become stretchy and elastic and rise well in the oven. A simple hand kneading technique is to firmly press down on the dough with the palm of your hand, fold the dough in half toward you like you are closing an envelope, rotate the dough 90 degrees and then repeat these steps, but whatever technique you are comfortable using should work.)
• When you are done kneading the dough, place it in a bowl that has been lightly coated with oil. I use canola spray oil, but you can also just pour a teaspoon of oil into the bowl and rub it around with your fingers. Form a ball out of the dough and place it into the bowl, rolling the ball of dough around in the bowl so that it has a light coat of oil on all sides. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a damp kitchen towel and set aside to rise until it has doubled in size, approximately 90 minutes.
• When it has doubled in size, punch the dough down to release some of the trapped gases and divide it into 8 pieces. Roll each piece into a ball, cover the balls with a damp kitchen towel, and let them rest for 20 minutes. This step allows the dough to relax so that it'll be easier to shape.
• While the dough is resting, preheat the oven to 400 degrees. If you have a baking stone, put it in the oven to preheat as well. If you do not have a baking stone, turn a cookie sheet upside down and place it on the middle rack of the oven while you are preheating the oven. This will be the surface on which you bake your pitas.
• After the dough has relaxed for 20 minutes, spread a light coating of flour on a work surface and place one of the balls of dough there. Sprinkle a little bit of flour on top of the dough and use a rolling pin or your hands to stretch and flatten the dough. You should be able to roll it out to between 1/8 and 1/4 inch thick. If the dough does not stretch sufficiently you can cover it with the damp towel and let it rest 5 to 10 minutes before trying again.
• If you have a spray bottle in the kitchen, spray a light mist of water onto your baking surface and close the oven for 30 seconds. Supposedly this step reduces the blistering on the outside of your pitas. I've skipped it many times in the past and still been pleased with my breads, so if you don't have a bottle handy it isn't a big deal.
• Open the oven and place as many pitas as you can fit on the hot baking surface. They should be baked through and puffy after 3 minutes. If you want your pitas to be crispy and brown you can bake them for an additional 3 to 5 minutes, but it isn't necessary (in the batch pictured here I removed them at 3 minutes).
• That's it. They should keep pretty well, but we almost always eat them as soon as they come out of the oven.
• Yum!
• Makes 10-14 pitas.

WHOLE WHEAT NO-KNEAD BREAD WITH FLAX SEEDS AND OATS

Steps:

• Whisk flour, steel cut oats, flax seeds, yeast, and salt in large bowl. Add water and vinegar. Using rubber spatula, fold mixture, scraping up dry flour from bottom of bowl until shaggy, sticky ball forms. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest at least 12 hours, preferably about 18, at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees.
• Lay 12X18-inch sheet of parchment paper inside 10-inch skillet and spray with nonstick cooking spray. Dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles. Transfer dough to lightly floured work surface and knead 10 to 15 times. Shape dough into ball by pulling edges into middle. Transfer dough, seam-side down, to parchment-lined skillet and spray surface of dough with nonstick cooking spray. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature until dough has doubled in size and does not readily spring back when poked with finger, about 2 hours.
• About 30 minutes before baking, adjust oven rack to lowest position, place 6-8 quart heavy-bottomed Dutch oven (with lid) on rack, and heat oven to 475 degrees. Lightly flour top of dough and, using razor blade or sharp knife, make one 6-inch-long, 1/2 inch-deep slit along top of dough.
• Carefully remove pot from oven and remove lid. Pick up dough by lifting parchment overhang and lower into pot (let any excess parchment hang over pot edge). Cover pot and place in oven. Reduce oven temperature to 425 degrees and bake covered for 30 minutes. Remove lid and continue to bake until loaf is deep brown and instant-read thermometer inserted into center registers 210 degrees, 20 to 30 minutes longer. Carefully remove bread from pot; transfer to wire rack and cool to room temperature before slicing.

WHEAT BREAD WITH FLAX SEED

Steps:

• Place ingredients in the pan of the bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer. Select cycle; press Start.

WHOLE WHEAT PITA FOR BREAD MAKER

Steps:

• Add ingredients to the bread pan as listed - select the dough cycle and start. After the cycle is complete, remove the dough, cover and let rest for 10 minutes. Preheat oven to 450°F
• Divide the dough into 8 equal portions and shape each into a smooth ball - lightly flour the bread board and roll each ball into a 4 inch circle. Cover the circles and let them rise for about 30 minutes.
• Place 4 dough circles on a lightly greased baking sheet. On middle rack, bake for 4 minutes, turn the dough and bake for another 3 minutes or until completely puffed and slightly brown.
• Cool on a rack, and repeat with the remaining dough circles. For storage, while still warm, puncture at seam and press gently to release air and flatten - when cool, stack and place in plastic storage bag.