Hi Michael, thanks for reading! I think it would work fine to add your hydrated active dry yeast to the autolyse if you're having trouble incorporating it after. While not quite a true autolyse, you'll still see benefits when using this method. These days active dry yeast and instant yeast are produced in a similar way, so you could also try adding the (dry) active dry yeast in with the flour, since I suspect it will hydrate sufficiently during the 30 minute pause. The yeast may take a bit longer to activate this way, but that could actually be beneficial if you're trying to delay fermentation until after the autolyse. The trick will be to see if your active dry yeast dissolves properly during the autolyse, and activates well after the 30 minute pause is complete. When trying this method be sure not to use very cool water for the autolyse; I'd recommend water at least in the 80-90F (27-32C) range.

I hope this helps! Let me know how it goes. 

Barb

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