Yes you can!

Donna this recipe is for a 1 pound loaf. If you cut it into thirds you’ll have three really small loaves. If that’s what you want, you’d portion them out after the first rise and place them in your chosen mini baking vessels to rise the second time then bake. –Rachel

Hi Neil–this isn’t sourdough and it won’t work in the same way. When using yeast, there is no fermentation process like that of sourdough–the organisms causing the rise are totally different. That’s because commercial yeast is a fungus designed only to create carbon dioxide as it feeds on the flour. If you put it in the fridge it will continue to rise and will be over proofed and collapse when baked if not totally collapsed when you get it out of the fridge in the morning. The only yeasted dough I can chill overnight is cinnamon rolls and that’s because the amount of butter, eggs and milk in the dough slow down the rise time considerably. Best to bake this loaf in one go. –Rachel

Hi Melissa, it’s not a critical mistake. Yeast does not need sugar to activate. In fact, if you look at instant yeast–it doesn’t even need to be put directly in liquid at all and it rises. Adding a sugar source during the blooming of active yeast can speed up the process, but it’s not necessary for the yeast to rise. It will awaken as it hydrates in water alone. You can expect active dry yeast to take 15 to 20 minutes to properly bloom and instant yeast can be substituted 1:1 if needed also. I assure you the positive reviews on this recipe are real. –Rachel

How could this possibly work if you’re not adding the sugar to the yeast and water? it’s never going to foam without it.

hard time believing positive reviews when no one mentions the critical mistake in step one…