Over a week ago, our daycare provider, Lisa, gave us “Amish” friendship bread. Its instructions were simple. Moosh the bag for five days, add flour, sugar, and milk on the sixth day, and moosh the bag for four more days. On the tenth day, follow the recipe instructions to make two loaves of bread and four one-cup starter bags to give out and/or keep.
Today is day ten. Tristan was my assistant in the kitchen as we added ingredients, divided the starter batter, and added more ingredients to make the bread. I have four bags, one of which I’ll keep for myself, and three others I will distribute to friends.
While my bread is baking, and filling our home with its yummy aroma, I decided to do a bit of research.
According to Wikipedia, Amish Friendship Bread is “a type of bread or cake made from a sourdough starter that is often shared in a manner similar to a chain letter.” Although named “Amish” Friendship Bread, the recipe itself did not originate with the Amish. “True Amish Friendship Bread is just sourdough bread that is passed around to the sick and needy” – Wikipedia. In fact, this method of feeding yeast every five days is an old method dating back to Ancient Egypt. Before cultured yeasts became available and commercialized, bakers would use natural yeasts to make sourdough bread. It is not uncommon for a baker’s starter dough to have years of history. In fact, each bakery can have it’s own distinct taste based on culture, air temperature, humidity, and elevation.
As for the friendship bread, it is a neat thing to share with friends and family. There is a air of mystery as I often wonder when our batch of starter really got its start. Regardless, I’ll be passing this along to three people who I believe will truly appreciate the mix.
In my search I found a website that shares the starter recipe, the ten day instructions on what to do with your starter, a basic (the most common) recipe, and variations of that recipe to suit your tastes.
At MomsWhotThink.com (http://www.momswhothink.com/bread-recipes/amish-friendship-bread.html) the starter, the ten day instructions, and the basic recipe are included on this one page. They include some variations; however, I found more at armchair.com (http://www.armchair.com/recipe/bake002.html – scroll to the bottom for their variations page). I have the instructions and basic recipe below since the recipe I was given varies slightly from those on the websites.
Since I am keeping one of the four starters, I plan to make more bread and distribute more starters to friends who have shown an interest. However, I plan on trying the variations.
Update: The bread came out of the oven and meant to take pictures. But it smelled oh so yummy that I couldn’t resist. The children and I love it! It is a bit sweet, but it goes great with a glass of milk.
Instructions
Day 1 – Do nothing. This is the day you receive the starter batter
Day 2 – 5 – Moosh and burp the bag. Since the yeast is fermenting inside the bag, you’ll notice it bubbling. Just squish the bag to mix up the batter and let the air out.
Day 6 – Add 1 cup each: flour, sugar, milk. Moosh, then burp the bag.
Day 7 – 9 – Moosh and burp the bag
Day 10 – Moosh and burp the bag, then make the bread
Use non-metal utensils and bowls. Loaf pan can be metal.
Pour contents of bag into bowl.
Add 1 1/2 cups flour, 1 1/2 cups sugar, and 1 1/2 cups milk.
Pour 1 cup of the mixture each into four gallon sized Ziploc bags (or plastic containers with lids if you have no Ziploc bags).
Give three to friends and keep one for yourself if you want to make more bread in 10 ten days. (Mark the date on the bag just in case you don’t give your friend the bag on the first day).
In a small bowl mix 1/2 cup sugar with 1 tsp cinnamon
Add to the remaining batter in the bowl the following ingredients:
1 cup oil
3 eggs
Mix batter.
Add the following:
1/2 cup milk
1 cup sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups flour
1 large box vanilla instant pudding mix
Mix batter.
Divide batter evenly into two bread pans (pans greased and lightly dusted with cinnamon/sugar mixture). Top with dusting of cinnamon/sugar mixture. Bake for 1 hour at 325 degrees.
Variations I plan on trying:
Healthier mix – substitute 1 cup oil with 1 cup applesauce, use sugar free pudding mix, and 2% milk instead of whole
Cinnamon rolls – so not healthy, but sounds oh so yummy
Pancakes and waffles
Creating a chocolate version with chocolate pudding (instead of vanilla) and 1 cup of chocolate chips.
And so many more!
