My yeast recipies seem to harden somewhat after baking

I am using a kichen Aid dough hook machine. I made some great cinnamon rolls, but after they cool they become somewhat hard to the touch. I can reheat in the microwave for about 15 seconds and they become perfectly soft as they should be. Am I missing something in the preparation?

bread

Best Answer

Using a dough hook versus hand-kneading won't make your bread harden after baking. If your rolls are hardening then you have either overcooked them, or there's not enough water in the dough. This can happen for several reasons:

The recipe doesn't call for enough water. Use a different recipe or add a bit more water to the one you have
The flour your are using is a higher protein content than the recipe is designed for. Gluten is a protein, and higher protein flours use more water. This isn't a bad thing necessarily, gluten makes your bread stretchy. The answer is the same: add more water
You are adding too much flour when kneading. I made this mistake for years! When you put flour on your surface to keep it from sticking you are reducing the moisture content of your dough as you work it in. This can turn a dough dry very quickly. If you want flour to knead with then reserve some of the recipe flour, but don't use more. Some doughs are meant to be sticky. If you want to keep it from sticking knead with oil instead. Personally, I let the dough stick and use that stickiness to stretch the glutens, it makes for faster kneading that way

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Why is my yeast dough hard?

The overworked dough will often feel tight and tough. This means that liquid molecules have been damaged and won't stretch properly, causing the bread to break and tear more easily. Conversely, a dough that is underworked will be harder to form into a ball shape.

Why is my dough hard after baking?

Overworked dough can happen when using a stand mixer. Dough will feel \u201ctight\u201d and tough, as the gluten molecules have become damaged, meaning that it won't stretch, only break, when you try to pull or roll it. Underworked dough on the other hand, won't form a ball shape easily.

How do you fix yeast failure?

Add more yeast. Open a new package of yeast, and mix a teaspoon of yeast with 1 cup (240ml) of warm water (at about 110\xb0F/43\xb0C) and 1 tablespoon of sugar. Let this mixture proof for about 10 minutes, until it gets 1/2- to 1-inch of foam. If this fails, you will need to get fresh yeast and try again.

Why is yeast not working?

The environment is too cold. Too much flour in the dough \u2013 if it's too dry and heavy, the yeast can't lift it! Not enough kneading \u2013 the gluten didn't develop enough to let the yeast lift it. Salt was added to yeast directly or too much salt was added \u2014 this can kill the yeast!

The 7 Most Common Breadmaking Mistakes You’re Probably Making

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