Soft Puffed Pita Bread

Bake. Mix water, oil, sugar, yeast, salt, plus whole wheat flour using a wooden spoon till everything is uniformly mixed and smooth in a mid-sized mixing bowl. Mix in plain flour till the mixture comes together into a shaggy mass. Work the dough in the bowl for 10 minutes or till it becomes smooth and very springy, adding only very little amounts of extra flour if dough is extremely tacky (see note) using clean hands. Alternatively, work dough at low speed in a stand mixer fitted using the dough hook attachment till dough is very elastic and smooth, around 8 minutes. Turn dough out onto a gently floured work surface and form in a smooth ball. Gently oil a clean mixing bowl and put dough inside, next rub oiled hands over this top of the dough. Cover bowl using a damp cloth plus let rise in a warm put for 1 hour. Put a baking steel or 30 cm cast iron skillet upon the top oven rack and heat oven to 260°C while that is happening. Line a plate with a big, clean kitchen towel and keep to one side. Punch down the dough, move to a gently floured work surface, plus cut in 6 even pieces. Form every dough piece in an even ball. Cover using a damp towel plus leave to rest for 10 minutes. Roll every piece of dough in around a 17.8 cm circle, no more than 5–6 mm thick, taking care not to tear dough plus keeping the thickness even all round. Put dough disks on a gently floured surface, cover using a damp towel, plus let proof till a little puffy, around 30 minutes. Working using as many pitas as will fit upon the steel at once, pick up every pita plus put upon the steel top side down. (If using one cast iron skillet, cook one pita after another.) Promptly close the oven door and bake till pitas have puffed and are a little golden around the edges, around 3 minutes. Be careful not to over-bake. Put baked pitas onto towel-lined plate plus cover using the overhanging towel. Repeat using any leftover pitas. For an extra-charred finish, heat one cast iron skillet upon the stovetop over a high flame till smoking. Working with one pita after another, briefly heat each side till charred in a few spots, around 30 seconds. Return pita to towel plus cover. Repeat using leftover pitas and eat at once.