I was making a copycat recipe for Double Dave's pepperoni rolls yesterday.
Simple recipe, make pizza dough, break it into 12 little balls, flatten, fill with pepperoni and cheese, roll up, put on tray, bake at 400 for 15 minutes.
While making the pizza dough, I took the time to put the yeast, sugar,and water together, and let it proof. After mixing the dough, I put it in a bowl and let it rise for 1.5 hours.
When I checked on it after 1.5 hours, it hadn't risen very much.
I took the dough, made the rolls, and baked it anyway, it came out solid.
I then followed a recipe online for making dinner rolls. This recipe called for whisking the dry ingredients (flour, yeast, sugar, salt) before putting in the wet ingredients (warm water, butter, milk). I noticed after making this dough that it rose much better 1.5 hours later. I made the rolls, and they came out nicely.
Deciding I would try the pepperoni rolls again today, I made the dough again, but used the paddle attachment on the mixer to mix the flour, yeast, sugar, and salt first. I then added the oil and water. When I put the dough out to rise, it more than doubled in size in an hour.
I made the pepperoni rolls, and I'm happy to say that they taste exactly like Double Dave's version.
I am curious about the dough rising, though. Is there some argument for proofing the yeast in water with sugar before adding the other dry ingredients? Do most people mix their dry ingredients, then add the wet ingredients? Does any part of this process make a difference on whether or not you get a good rise on your bread? Or was this just a coincidence?