Have Some Bread: Country-Style Whole-Wheat Pita

The first thing I think of when describing these is FUN! I just love different methods of delivery for all sorts of foods.
Now on a slightly different note: I did not exactly have what you would call success with this recipe, they didn't bubble up really at all. I cut them in half, cut out some of the bread and still filled them, and they were delicious!

But I think I can chalk up this failure to having no experience making this type of bread, and I am DETERMINED to figure it out. So I am sharing the recipe for those of you who know all the secrets. And as for me, well I will do "Pita Revisited" when I figure out all those secrets! Hopefully in the next few months. leave a comment if you have tips/advise for me!

Start with 1/2 a cup of warm water (105-115 F), to which you sprinkle over the top 1 packet (or 1 tablespoon) active dry yeast and a pinch of sugar (or drizzle of honey).

In a large bowl: 2 cups of warm water, 3 cups of whole-wheat pastry flour, 1/4 a cup olive oil, 1 tablespoon of salt.
Mix well, then add the yeast mixture, as well as 3 cups of unbleached all purpose flour, 1/2 a cup at a time. Mix well with each addition.
Feel free to change up the amounts of each flour if you want to. I didn't have pastry flour so I used two cups of regular whole wheat, put it in the food processor for several minutes to make it a little more fine, then added 4 cups of the white.
I used the dough hooks on my hand mixer, but you can use a stand mixer if you have one. Or you can mix by hand.
When the dough leaves the side of the bowl scrape it onto a floured work surface and knead about 5 minutes. You want a firm, but soft, dough. It kinda feels like a sweet roll dough.

Then place in a greased bowl and cover with plastic. Let raise 1- 1 1/2 hours. Or until doubled.

Preheat the oven to 475 F with a baking stone set on the lowest rack.
Gently deflate the dough and divide in half.

Place one of the halves back in the bowl and cover with plastic while you work with the other.

Divide into 8 balls, then let rest while you divide the second half. You want to handle it as little as possible (similar to tortilla dough) so the gluten doesn't fully awaken and make it difficult to flatten each ball.

You can use a rolling pin, or flatten with your hands. Which is what I opted to do. You want them about 1/4 an inch thick. Sit them on a floured dish towel. Don't stack.

Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper and place 8 circles at a time.
Place the pan on the baking stone and bake 10-12 minutes. Then do the same with the second 8.