Amish Friendship Bread

A week ago, my friend Bertie gifted me with her much loved hand written recipe for Amish Cinnamon Bread and a starter (more about that in a minute). She also sent me home with some of the loaf she made so we could try it before I made my own, and it was so good I decided to go for it (my first time making this bread)...today was day 10 (the day you bake the bread) and as soon as it came out of the oven, I took some over to Bertie so she could try it and let me know what she thought.  To might delight, she said it was delicious!

This is the recipe Bertie gave me...you can tell it's been a family favorite!

And this is my starter.  The starter is passed along to friends, and is the basis for the bread.  Click here to learn more about Amish Friendship Bread.

The recipe isn't really difficult, but it takes 10 days from the time you begin with your starter.  This recipe is a little different from the one you will find on the link above. 

Amish Friendship Bread

Ingredients:

Bread starter (you will either receive this from a friend or you can purchase it)
For each of day 6 and day 10:
1 cup milk
1 cup sugar
1 cup self rising flour

Also For Day 10:

1 cup oil
1/2 cup milk
3 eggs
1 tbsp pure vanilla extract
2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 tbsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup chopped walnuts
2 small boxes instant vanilla pudding
Raw sugar
I added a pinch of nutmeg and a tiny splash of almond extract as well (they both work well with cinnamon and walnuts)

Directions:

Leave the starter on the counter, do not refrigerate
Use self-rising flour
Use wooden or plastic spoons, no metal

Day 1 - put starter in a bowl with loose lid
Day 2, 3, 4 & 5 - stir the starter each day, keeping the lid loose
Day 6 - put the starter into a large bowl and add in 1 cup milk, 1 cup sugar and 1 cup flour, mixing well

It looks the same as the starter you began with, only there's more of it.

Day 7, 8, & 9 - stir the batter once each day, keeping the lid loose
Day 10 - add 1 cup flour, 1 cup milk, 1 cup sugar and mix well (same as day 6)

I combined the flour and sugar first (to mix evenly)...

...added the milk to the starter to combine...

...then the dry ingredients.

Looks like the starter, only thicker and more of it!

Now using 3 separate containers, pour 1 cup of the batter into each container (this is your starter to share or freeze).

I like using the plastic freezer bags because they store easily, and it makes it easy to share with friends!

Set the remaining batter aside (this is your starter, the batch you use to make your bread).

Beat 3 eggs, then add 1 cup oil, 1/2 cup milk, 1 tsp vanilla and a splash of pure almond extract...

...combining well.

Add to the starter above mixture.

In a separate bowl, combine 2 cups flour, 1 cup sugar, 3 tbsp cinnamon, pinch nutmeg, 1/2 tsp salt, 1 cup chopped nuts and 2 boxes of instant pudding.

Now combine with wet and dry ingredients.

Your batter will be very thick, a little sticky (gloppy is a fitting descriptive, but not very appetizing, lol).

Grease 2 bread pans and sprinkle the raw sugar and cinnamon to cover the bottom of the pans (I made sure it went up the side enough to cover the curve of the bottom of the pan).

Pour in the batter and sprinkle raw sugar and cinnamon on the top of the batter.

Put the pans in a preheated 325 F oven for an hour, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  As the recipe indicates, I put my oven on 300 F, and after 50 minutes the bread was still quite wet, so I increased the temperature to 325.  My smaller loaf was finished 15 minutes after I increased the oven temp (total of 65 minutes), the larger one took a total of 75 minutes.

It is delicious, with just the right amount of chew in the crust and a smooth cinnamony bread with the crunch of walnuts here and there...worth the 10 days to make!  And I can't wait to share the starter:)

Thanks for reading my blog, you are the best f/f/r/s/f's, see you tomorrow,
Lise

Visit Flour Me With Love: Mix It up Monday! for more interesting recipes.