French Bread Baking

Why does the bread machine say "rest"?

I've noticed in the past when I've baked bread in the bread maker that it will just sit there and "rest" for a while before it starts mixing. Why does it do that? I'm crunched for time and am making some french bread dough and the timer said it will take 3.5 hours. Well it's "resting," and I need it to hurry up, so what is the purpose of this resting business and can I skip it?
The yeast is still in the dispenser.

If you don't wish to wait for the bread machine to cycle properly, make your french bread by hand!

Put your ingredients in bowl and mix them up. Knead the dough for at least 15 minutes and allow it to "rest" til doubled in size, punch down and knead again for 15 minutes. Allow bread to rest 5 minutes and shape into loaves, allow it to "rest" til doubled, cut the traditional slashes in top, brush with egg white and sprinkle on sesame seeds or whatever. Bake.

French Bread - Making and Kneading the Dough


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