Cheesy Onion Pita Bread

Name: Cheesy Onion Pita Bread
Prep time: 1 h 20 min
Total time: 1 h 35 min
Yield: 8
Ingredients: 2 cups whole wheat flour; 1 3/4 cups bread flour; 1 1/2 teaspoon salt; 1 1/3 cup warm water; 2 1/4 teaspoon (or 1 packet) yeast (active dry or instant); 3 tablespoon olive oil; 1/2 cup finely chopped red onion; 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese; 1 tablespoon sugar

3 Ratings

2 Comments

Prep 1 hr 20 min
Total 1 hr 35 min
Servings 8

A puffy, cheesy wheat pita bread speckled with the sharp taste of red onions. MORE+ LESS-

By Girl Versus Dough

Updated October 27, 2014

Ingredients

cups whole wheat flour

1 3/4

cups bread flour

1 1/2

teaspoon salt

1 1/3

cup warm water

2 1/4

teaspoon (or 1 packet) yeast (active dry or instant)

tablespoon olive oil

1/2

cup finely chopped red onion

cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

tablespoon sugar

Steps

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1

In a large bowl, mix together flours and salt. Make a well in the center.
2

Pour warm water, yeast and sugar in the well and whisk until yeast is dissolved. Let sit 5 minutes, or until foamy.
3

Add olive oil, onions and cheddar cheese to the well. Mix dough with a spatula until too difficult to mix. Pour dough onto counter and knead about 10 minutes, or until a soft and smooth dough forms (if dough is dry, add 1 tbsp water at a time until pliable). Dough will be tougher than normal to knead because of the cheese.
4

Place kneaded dough ball in a large greased bowl, cover and let rise until doubled in size, about one hour (or up to one and a half hours if using active dry yeast).
5

Preheat oven to 350°F. Divide risen dough into 8 equal pieces (or 16, if you want mini pitas). Press into a flat round circle with your fingers, then roll out to 1/4-inch thickness using a rolling pin. Place pitas on lined baking sheet or baking stone and let rest about 10 minutes.
6

Bake for 15 minutes, or until pitas are just browned. Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly before serving with your favorite pita fillers on top.

Nutrition Information

No nutrition information available for this recipe

More About This Recipe

If there's one thing I'm picky about (though, let's be honest, I'm picky about a lot of things), it's pita bread. Unless it's a certain way -- thick, but not too thick; pliable, but strong enough to hold a lot of fillings; chewy, but soft -- I have a hard time enjoying the whole meal.

I've had the works when it comes to pita bread -- thin, puffy, bland, flavorful, flimsy, crunchy, large, miniature. You name it, I've probably had it because I love to make meals on pitas. Just the other day, we ate pizza on pita bread. Other times, I love filling them with sandwich staples, like cheese, lettuce, mayo and tomatoes. Sometimes, just peanut butter and jelly between warm pita bread slices is just what I need. But often I find the pita itself is just a conduit through which its fillings get into my hungry belly.

With this Cheesy Onion Pita Bread, I hoped to make a pita -- not too thin, not too thick; not too crusty, not too flimsy -- that was packed with flavor all on its own. With shredded sharp cheddar cheese and crunchy, sweet red onion mixed right into the dough, these pitas are a mini-meal in themselves. Just spackle on some hummus, or cream cheese and cucumbers, and the meal is made.

One thing to keep in mind when you make these: Make sure you roll out the dough fairly thin before you bake them. You'll think you're rolling them out too thin, but you're probably not -- the dough rises quite a bit in the oven. As you can see in the photos, the pitas I made were a tad thicker than I normally like them, but no less tasty. I just didn't know how eager they would be to rise in the oven!

This recipe offers a lot of room for variation. Though I kept mine simple with red onions and cheddar cheese, these ingredients can easily be swapped for mozzarella and chopped basil or sundried tomatoes; white cheddar and herbs; or blue cheese and walnuts, if you want to go a little crazy. Cut the pitas lengthwise and stuff them like a sandwich, or don't cut them and fold them like a taco with the fillings inside. Either way, this pita bread works as a flavorful replacement for the boring, old, plain option.

Stephanie (aka Girl versus Dough) joined Tablespoon to share her adventures in the kitchen. Check out Stephanie's Tablespoon member profile and keep checking back for her own personal recipes on Tablespoon!