The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 7 plus 3 plus 5 letter word KNEADED THE DOUGH
K
N
E
A
D
E
D
T
H
E
D
O
U
G
H
Buddy explains!
The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.