She seeketh wool, and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands. Proverbs 31

Monday, May 12, 2008

From My Kitchen ~ Amish Friendship Bread



Here is Mrs. Smith's recipe for Amish Friendship Bread that so many asked about.

In order to make this recipe, you need some starter from a friend or you can begin your own. I found a good recipe for making your very own starter.

Amish Friendship Bread Starter
1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup white sugar
1 cup milk

In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in water. Let stand 10 minutes. In a 2 quart container glass, plastic or ceramic container, combine 1 cup flour and 1 cup sugar. Mix thoroughly or flour will lump when milk is added. Slowly stir in 1 cup milk and dissolved yeast mixture. Cover loosely and let stand until bubbly.

Consider this day 1 of the 10 day cycle. Leave loosely covered at room temperature.



Amish Friendship Bread
With starter that you have made above OR starter from a friend ~ follow this schedule for 2 delicious loafs of bread.

HINT: Mrs. Smith gave me the starter in a heavy duty 1 gallon zip lock bag. It really made preparing this bread so simple. It was easy to mix. She wrote the dates on the bag which made remembering when to add ingredients much easier as well.

Day 1: Stir or squeeze bag.
Day 2: Stir or squeeze bag.
Day 3: Stir or squeeze bag.
Day 4: Stir or squeeze bag.
Day 5: Stir or squeeze bag.
Day 6: Add 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar and 1 cup milk.
Day 7: Stir or squeeze bag.
Day 8: Stir or squeeze bag.
Day 9: Stir or squeeze bag.
Day 10: Pour all the starter in a large bowl. Add 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar and 1 cup milk. Mix.

Pour 3 - 1 cup starters into separate containers or ziploc bags. Keep 1 bag for yourself to begin the process again and give 2 starters to friends so they can enjoy some bread too!

Use the remaining starter to bake your bread using the following recipe:

Important notes to remember:
Do not refrigerate
Do not use metal spoons or bowl
If using a plastic bag, release air when necessary
It is normal for starter to thicken, bubble & ferment


Okay ~ let's get started!

Add to the remaining starter:
1 cup oil
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
3 eggs
1/2 cup milk
2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsps baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 large box vanilla instant pudding
2 tsps cinnamon
Fruit, veggies or nuts of your choice

Mix ingredients well and pour into 2 greased and sugared loaf pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. Cool.

It is sooooo good! I really enjoy the versatility of this bread. You can use whatever fruits or vegetables that are in season or on sale at the market. The loaves I made were just stuffed with plump blueberries that I got from a local farmer last year.

My "vultures" would hardly let me get a photo before they were holding out their plates. They were so ashamed that the covered their faces when I turned the camera toward them! LOL



Thanks Mrs. Smith! You've made my boys very happy.

Happy Eating,
Lea

12 comments:

Paisleyand Polka Dot Patterns said...

Oh! I made this a couple of moths ago...it was so much fun to share! Yum!

Unknown said...

This is yummy! I have a 30 year old starter that I got from MaryJanes Farm, someone was giving away starts from it and it makes a WONDERFUL bread! I hope you had a great Mother's Day Lea, your a treasure!

Rachel said...

looks yummy!

April said...

I love amish bread, but unfortunatly, I am not that patient to wait for 10 days! LOL!

Paula said...

Oh I had this recipe once a long time ago, and I lost it... thank you so much Lea for posting this- I will write it down AND make a couple of extra copies this time!!! THANK YOU!!

Pam said...

That bread would make me very happy too!!!!
Thank you for posting the recipe, and for the starter, too!
Blessings-
and hugs!
Pam

Toni said...

I love friendship bread!!Glad your family enjoyed it!!Thanks for sharing!!

Anonymous said...

I just love friendship bread! I did my first batch last Christmas but didn't have a good starter recipe. Thank you for sharing!

Julie said...

I have made Amish bread, well I should say my daughter has made Amish bread--I lost patience with the 10 day process, but she persisted. We actually received 3 starters at Christmas time from neighbors and friends--so we were busy. It was really good bread though--so moist.

Anonymous said...

I can't wait to make the starter. I had this recipe years ago and have been looking for it. Thanks so much.

junebugmal said...

Lea...
Bread looks great..No patient to
wait that long...I want it now..
hehehe
Aunt lynda

Anonymous said...

Thank you so much! I received a starter for the first time 10 days ago and it turned out wonderfully!