everything i've heard about kitchenaid when it comes to bread is sadly true...
my main mixer has been a bosch compact, and while it's great for bread, it uses a "beater" whisk as a paddle that's very slow and ineffective for cookies, and not useful for batters - i end up mixing them by hand. i was considering a nutrimill artiste when kitchenaid lowered the price on their professional 5 plus a lot, and an unrealized desire for a bowl lift mixer asserted itself. my husband gave me the pro 5 for christmas.
the good news is it whips through cookie dough so fast, in less than a minute they're ready to go. it took 6 to 8 minutes with my bosch, and didn't mix thoroughly. the beater rocks for pie filling and finished the chocolate cake batter i make regularly in under a minute, with almost no scraping with the regular beater.
then, dying to try a spiral dough hook for the first time, i made a batch of one of my regular breads. holy cow!!!! it struggled, running slowly and slowing more on and off. i wasn't sure it was going to make it - i almost pulled out the dough and put in in the bosch, but decided to wait it out since it wasn't hot. the spiral dough hook is awesome, but i thought that short mix and 4 minutes of kneading was going to kill the mixer. luckily it didn't break a gear.
so for any who wondered if what they've heard about kitchenaids not being the best for bread dough, it's true - at least, for the professional 5 plus. it's dandy for other stuff, has a faster speed than the bosch, so good for meringue, too. i'm not going to try bagel or pizza dough in the kitchenaid - maybe cinnamon rolls.
this is the one to which i refer -
https://www.target.com/p/kitchenaid-professional-5-qt-mixer/-/A-15840495 [1]
mine is ice blue with coated attachments