Amish Friendship Bread

Amish Friendship Bread

(Must receive a starter from someone first)

Do NOT use any type of metal spoon or bowl for mixing
Do NOT refrigerate starter
Gas (from the fermenting yeast) will form in the bag and when it does just open the top of the bag and let it out—It’s normal for the batter to rise, bubble and ferment

Day 1 – Do Nothing (this is the day you receive the bread)
Day 2 – Smush the bag
Day 3 – Smush the bag
Day 4 – Smush the bag
Day 5 – Smush the bag
Day 6 – Add the following to the bag: 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar, and 1 cup of milk
Day 7 – Smush the bag
Day 8 – Smush the bag
Day 9 – Smush the bag
Day 10 – Follow the instructions below:

1. Pour the entire contents of the bag into a NON Metal bowl.
2. Add 1 ½ cups flour, 1 ½ cups sugar and 1 ½ cups milk. Beat with electric mixer on medium-high speed until smooth.
3. Measure out 4 separate batters of 1 cup each into four 1 gallon Ziploc bags. (There will be around 2 ½ cups of the starter left in the bowl.) Mark each bag with date.
4. Keep one starter for yourself and give the other three to friends along with a copy of the recipe.
(If you can’t pass it on to a friend on the first day, be sure to tell your friend which day the bag is at when you give it to them.)

Directions for baking the bread:
1. Preheat oven to 325°F. Grease or spray with baking spray the bottoms only (not sides) of 2 large
(9x5-inch) loaf pans.
2. Optional: In small bowl, combine an additional ½ cup sugar and 1½ teaspoons cinnamon; dust the greased pans with ½ of mixture. The second half of this mixture is sprinkled on top of the batter.
3. To the remaining batter in the bowl add:
3 eggs 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup oil 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup milk 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 teaspoons cinnamon 2 cups flour
1 large box (5.1 oz) instant vanilla pudding

4. Beat with electric mixer on medium speed for about 2 minutes or until batter is smooth.
5. Pour batter evenly into pans; sprinkle remaining sugar mixture over the top, if desired.
6. Bake 1 hour 10 minutes to 1 hour 15 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center of loaf comes out clean. Cool about 10 minutes; run spatula around edges of pan to loosen loaf. Remove bread from pan; place on cooling rack. Serve warm or cold.

If you keep a starter for yourself, you will be baking every 10 days. The bread is very good and makes great gifts. Only the Amish know how to create the starter, so if you give them all away you will have to wait until someone gives you one back. Enjoy!