When baking bread at high altitude, you can end up with a loaf that is not fully cooked in the middle or loaves that are hard as bricks! Neither of these are edible, but we do have a recipe for making a wheat bread loaf with some adjustments for our elevation.

This is a simple recipe with just a few ingredients, but the trick is in the yeast. You have to make sure it has fully activated before adding it into the recipe, and while the dough is rising, you have to watch and make sure the proper size has been achieved before moving on to the next step.

To activate the yeast, take 1 package (1/4 oz. or 2 1/4 teaspoons) of Active Dry Yeast - not Rapid Rise or Instant Yeast and mix it with 2 Tablespoons warm - NOT hot, NOT cold - water. This is where it gets tricky. Yeast is a living thing. If you mix it with water that is too hot, you will kill it but if it’s too cold, it won’t start. By not fully activating the yeast, you will waste a whole bunch of time making a bread loaf that will not turn out as expected.

Ideally, you want the water temperature to be between 110°F - 120°F / 43°C - 49°C. If you don’t have a thermometer, the water temperature should warm enough that it’s not creating steam from your faucet, but is warm enough that if you put your wrist under the water it feels very warm.

Once you get the water to the proper temperature, add the yeast and 1 teaspoon sugar which will feed the yeast and create the result you are looking for. Let this work for 5-15 minutes, depending on the temperature of your kitchen. In my kitchen at 6,000 feet, this took 10 minutes. When it is foamy on top like the bowl below, it is ready.

To a large mixing bowl, add the all purpose flour and wheat flour along with the sugar and salt. Combine the cold milk with the hot water to keep the liquid warm and the yeast happy, and pour into the mixing bowl. Then add the butter and the yeast mixture.

Mix the ingredients together to combine and incorporate the wet ingredients into the dry - about 30 seconds - 1 minute.

If you have a stand mixer or bread machine, you can use either to knead the dough for about 8 minutes. With a stand mixer, use the dough attachment and the bread machine should have a knead function based on your model. If you are kneading by hand, do so on a floured surface for 15 minutes.

Transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl, cover and let rise for 1 - 2 hours. The rise time will depend on your altitude, and higher elevations will take less time to rise in order to double in size. You want to dough to almost double in size, but don’t let it over-rise.

Once the first rise is complete, take the dough out and deflate. Form into a loaf on an oiled surface and place in an lightly oiled loaf pan. Oil the inside of the plastic wrap that will be up against the dough as it rises, and let rise for 40 minutes - 1 hour.

Your loaf should look rise and not be over 1” above the loaf pan.

Place in a 350°F oven for 30 minutes or until golden brown on top and the internal temperature has reached 190°F. If the exterior is getting too brown, you can tent the loaf with aluminum foil. Once done, remove from the oven, let it cool, slice and enjoy!