Hi Katy, it does sound to me like your expired yeast may have contributed to your lack of rise. Even though your starter was bubbly, the yeast may not have been as active as it needed to be, and because this recipe contains a fairly high percentage of sugar in the dough, this makes for a particularly challenging environment for yeast. This is because sugar draws moisture away from the yeast, causing the dough to rise much more slowly. For this type of recipe, our SAF Gold Instant Yeast is an ideal choice. It's specifically geared to work well in this challenging environment and will promote a faster rise. If you'd like to try this recipe with active dry yeast, I would be sure to activate the yeast for the starter in a small portion of lukewarm water, and then use cool water for the remaining 1/2 cup of water (since active dry may not activate well in cool water). For the dough portion of the recipe, I would use a full packet (2 1/4 teaspoons) of active dry yeast, dissolved in about 1 tablespoon lukewarm water. This should give the rise a little more of a boost. Be sure to measure your flour carefully, either by weighing, or using this method of measuring flour by cups. 

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