Hi Susan, if you happened to substitute a lower protein flour for the Bread flour called for in this recipe, this could have made for a slightly wetter, weaker dough that wasn't able to hold its structure over time. Another possibility is if you used very warm water to mix the dough, or allowed your dough to rise in a very warm environment, this could have accelerated fermentation, causing the dough to weaken later in the process. Check out this article on Desired Dough Temperature for some helpful tips on achieving a dough temperature in the ideal range (75-78°F), which will promote a steadier and more consistent rise. 

• Reply