The Yeast Roll... high altitude version...

{I will not be defeated.}

High altitude baking is a challenge. And in Castle Rock, Colorado, we are 6,000 feet above sea level.This is a whole new world for me. I've never met a kitchen challenge I couldn't accept but this has really been different.

My amazing go - to Chocolate cake recipe resulted in dry flat cupcakes, which stuck to their papers so badly we were licking and biting most of the cupcake out of them. 

My go-to Carrot Cake recipe tasted better because I added extra liquid and extra flour, but wasn't nearly as high as it usually was back in NY. It was dense and thick. Definitely needs some other adjustments. 

So I've done some research. I've pinned some suggestions, and I am working it out. Seriously though, it takes time... and working 45 hrs a week with an hour round trip commute doesn't leave a whole lot of time for playing in the kitchen.

{BRING ON THE SNOW DAY}

Haha yes, you did read that right. A snow day. April 9th, 2013 and we have a snow day.
Most of the state actually is shut down. It came in from the north last night - changing everything from sunny, clear and 63 degrees to below freezing, with 50-60 miles per hour winds and predictions of 9-12" of snow. 

Can anyone say Bi-polar weather? 

And I thought Buffalo was bad. 

Well back to the yeast rolls. I have an entire Pinterest Board dedicated to bread recipes. Most of them are not high altitude unfortunately, so while they worked perfectly well back in NY, they need some serious adjusting here in Colorado. With little experience, and a million options for change ups, I really wasn't sure how they would come out. 

As you can see... PRETTY DANG DELISH!

The original recipe was courtesy of Dine & Dish and is pretty darn good.

However, if you live at 6,000 feet you know that the low pressure and high altitude cause the breads, cakes and cookies to rise quickly and then fall when they start to bake. The "cell" structure from the all purpose flour and the sugar are very delicate and fragile. (Don't I sound all informed and stuff? LOL!) 

mmmm.... they are sooo yummy. Chewy and gooey and just devine. 

You wanna know how I did it? 

Oh I know you do :) Stop drooling though, you'll ruin your keyboard! 

So here is what I did.

Apparently, to counter act the fast rising and then deflating, you can try using only 1/2 a tspn 

of yeast per cup of flour in a recipe. Yes, it takes FOREVER for the rolls to rise, but their structure

is solid, and they won't deflate when the heat hits them. 

Mile High City Butter Dinner Rolls 

1 cup water, plus 1 tablespoon water

1 large egg

4 1/2 teaspoons vegetable oil

1/4 cup sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

3 1/2 cups bread flour

1 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast

2 tablespoons melted butter

2 tablespoons melted butter 

Instructions

1. Combine Yeast and 1 Tblspn warm water and allow yeast to come to a bubble, about 3-5 minutes. 
2. Combine the rest of the ingredients in your Kitchen aid or stand mixer, equipped with your dough hook, except the last (2) tblspns melted butter. Knead with the dough hook on speed 2 or 3, until the dough is smooth and elastic.
3. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set aside to rise until the dough has doubled in size. (The original recipe says this should take an hour. With the reduced yeast, and high altitude, it took about 4 hrs for mine to double in size). 
4. Once dough has risen, remove it from the bowl onto a lightly floured surface. Cut and shape into 15 uniformed sized balls. 
5. Lightly butter a 9x13 baking pan. Place rolls onto baking pan, cover and let rise until double in size (This step took almost 2 hrs, but was faster than the first rise time).
6. Bake in a 325°F oven for 20 minutes or until a light, golden brown.
7. After removing from the oven, brush with remaining melted butter. Serve warm.

Just like the texas road house, and "Tye" approved! mmmmm go make some today!