You followed the recipe. You did everything right. And yet... your dough is just sitting there like a lump, refusing to rise. Don't panic. This happens to everyone. After 35 years in kitchens, I've seen every bread failure imaginable — and most of them come down to a handful of common mistakes. Here's what's probably going wrong and how to fix it. 1. Your Yeast Is Dead This is the #1 culprit. Yeast is a living organism, and if it's dead, your bread isn't going anywhere. How t