What was I doing wrong? A couple of things:
1) Cold bowl that wouldn't warm up. It's important to make sure the bowl you use to let the dough rise is pre-warmed. A cold bowl = bored yeast. I was also told that warming the measuring cup for the warm water is also important. Since my Kitchenaid mixing bowl wouldn't warm up, I put a greased Pyrex bowl in the oven on low for a few minutes and transferred the dough. Much better.
2) It's possible I didn't have the water warm enough - apparently 130 degrees F is the best temperature for bread (warm enough to get the yeast excited but not too hot to kill it).
3) The kitchen wasn't warm enough. Following good advice, I preheated the oven to 175 degrees F and turned it off before putting the dough in to rise.
I was really starting to wonder if my dough was EVER going to rise after sitting so long in an inactive state. Let this be a lesson to all of you aspiring bread makers: don't give up on the dough too quickly! Try everything before giving up - it's worth the effort to have that smell of freshed baked bread permeating your house.
So thanks again to all my friends with their bread wisdom to share - it won't be another six months of despair before I attempt another loaf of bread. :)
And I must give kudos to Lisa - that sweet bread is AMAZING! It tastes very much like the rolls at O'Charley's. In case you need the link again to her recipe, here it is:
Yum! I'm so excited that you made the bread.
ReplyDeleteA warm oven is my fav place for letting the dough rise. Bethany's mom would place her bowl in the kitchen sink with warm water, which also works great.
Sometimes, after kneading the dough, I will put it in a covered, not airtight, container and throw it in the fridge. It will still rise overnight. The next day, lightly punch down and knead, form into golf-sized balls, put close together in a greased pan, let rise in a warm spot then bake! Yum.