A Buckwheat Pita

My gripe with many commercial pitas is they lack both flavor and texture.  In my opinion, additives in bread to improve their shelf life really take a toll on flavor.  I had fresh baked pitas two weeks ago as part of my school curriculum and they were a marked improvement both in flavor and texture.

This weekend as I was looking for a weekend project, I happened upon a package of Buckwheat flour hiding on my cupboard shelf.  I love the sweet, nutty, earthiness Buckwheat adds to things.  I was already underway on a fresh batch of Baba Ganouj and Hummus so I needed something to go with them.  Instead of making a trip to the store and choking down another commercial imposter of a pita I decided to make Buckwheat Pitas!

Buckwheat pitas with Hummus and Baba Ganouj

This is a first run attempt so I was nervous about how much buckwheat flour to use.  In looking at other recipes, percentages and ratios were all over the board.  I settled on a simple recipe, trusted my instincts and replaced a full third of the AP flour weight with buckwheat flour.  The results weren't perfect, but looked and tasted great!  These are very soft "pocket" pitas with a pronounced Buckwheat flavor.  The robust nutty flavor stands well against the strong flavors of Hummus and Baba Ganouj.

Yields 8 pitas


Ingredients:
~
2.25t active dry yeast
0.25C warm water
a drop of honey

~
10oz AP Flour (plus more as "kneaded")
5oz buckwheat flour
1T granulated sugar
1.5t kosher salt
~
2T olive oil
1.25C-1.5C water (room temp)

Method:

1. Activate the yeast:  Dissolve yeast in warm water and add a drop of honey.  Let sit at room temperature for about 10 min.  When a head of bubbles forms over the water - the yeast is active.
2. Combine: Sift together flours and sugar into a mixing bowl.  Add kosher salt and stir to distribute evenly.  Form a well in the center.  Add the yeast mixture, olive oil, and about half the water.  Use a bowl scraper or wooden spoon to combine the ingredients.  The amount of water will vary (you may not need to incorporate all the water.  or you may need to add more).  Combine all ingredients adjusting water content as needed until the dough forms a ball.
3. Knead: On a floured surface knead the dough about 10 min (use ap flour).   Keep adding a dusting of ap flour to the kneading surface and hands to prevent sticking.  Finished dough should be monolithic, smooth, and only slightly sticky. 
4. Fermentation:  Coat a bowl with spray oil or olive oil.  Form the dough into a ball.  Set dough in oiled bowl and turn over to coat all sides of dough.  Cover with plastic wrap or a damp towel and let rise to about double. 
5. Preheat oven and cooking surface to 400F.  Some day...I'll have a stone...until then, I use an inverted aluminum baking sheet. The cooking surface should always be preheated.  These pitas hold so much moisture that I did not "steam" the oven before hand.  If you want to go for it!
6. Form, proof, bake:  Divide the dough into eight equal portions (mine were each 3.6oz).  Form each portion into a ball and roll out into circles on a floured surface using a floured rolling-pin to a thickness of about 1/8 or 1/4 inch.  to proof, let dough rest in a warm place until tacky (about 5 min - I use the top of my warm stove).  In my oven I do two at a time.  Place proofed pita on hot surface in hot oven and bake until puffy (about 5 min.).  I like my pitas soft so if you prefer crisp just leave them in a bit longer.
7. Let them cool on a wire rack or eat them hot.  To store, let them cool completely and store in parchment (plastic will make them gluey).

Notes:
The pockets formed but aren't as uniform as I had hoped.  One of my gripes on commercial pitas is they have a tendency to be tough...these are almost too soft.  Flavor and texture wise they are a real pleasure for dipping and they smell GREAT when they cook.  I'm considering adding 1/8t baking soda in hopes of enhancing the formation of the "pocket".  Also in the next batch I think I'll try reducing buckwheat to 4oz and using 11oz AP flour.