Friendship ? Bread

I put a question mark there for a reason…

A friend sent me a recipe for a no kneading bread.

That even a 4 year old could make it..
Which reminded me, back in the 1980’s there
was a recipe that went around called Friendship Bread.
I guess it is taken from the Amish Friendship Bread recipe.
You would take and give what was called the STARTER and
a loaf of bread to a friend  and the recipe.

 

You take the STARTER and followed the recipe… then on

Day 10… you divide it up in 4’s… One cup you put away for
yourself…

Then take two, one cup…. And make two loaves of the

bread from the bread recipe. 
Then take one loaf and the left over cup of STARTER, and
Head over to your friend’s house. Give her the STARTER,
And the instructions.. with the loaf of bread, so she will know
what it taste like.. You could make it sweet with fruit and etc.
And it actually did taste good..

Only trouble is, it doesn’t take long before you run out of friends

to give it to… besides your friends who you already gave it to
have given it to your mutual friends..  And some friends start
to side step you in the grocery store, in case you have one on
you. 

Then you are getting tired of making up the stuff too… so you end up

making 4 breads to get rid of the starter..  We can laugh about
this now, but back then it was hard to see your friend run
past you as you came over to their house, or hide behind the door.

But for those who have never tried it… or for those with fond
memories… here is the starter recipe and the bread recipe.
Good luck… oh, and no I don’t want any… thank you..

 

Friendship Bread starter

 I got this from this site.. incase you would like to try it...

http://www.friendshipbreadkitchen.com/pantry/recipe-amish-friendship-bread

Need a Starter?

If you ask around, chances are you’ll find somebody you know with an Amish Friendship Bread starter to share (exercise good judgment if accepting a starter from someone you do not know). If not, here is the recipe for making your own (you can also go to our Recipe Box for a printable version of the recipe by clicking here):

Ingredients

1 (0.25 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

Directions

1. In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in water. Let stand 10 minutes.
2. In a 2 quart glass, plastic or ceramic container, combine 1 cup flour and 1 cup sugar. Mix thoroughly or flour will lump when milk is added.
3. Slowly stir in 1 cup milk and dissolved yeast mixture.
4. Cover loosely and let stand at room temperature until bubbly. Consider this day 1 of the 10 day cycle. For the next 10 days handle starter according to the instructions for Amish Friendship Bread.

Note: When you make a starter from scratch, you can sometimes end up with a much greater yield than 4 cups depending on the temperature of your kitchen and eagerness of your starter! If this happens, reserve one cup for baking and divide the remaining batter into Ziploc baggies of 1 cup each to freeze or share with friends.

You can find several sites that give you bread recipes to use this with...

If you run out of friends you can freeze the extra and make bread with it..
There are so many recipes out there.. fruit, sweet, sour dough and etc.
This is commonly called Amish Friendship Bread. Which kind of made me
wonder... because even if only one woman started it.. I would think that with
everyone else making it too.. they would run out of members of the community who would want it.. but then again.. they could sell it in their stores they have.. they have excellent breads...

 

The Recipe

Following are the recipe and instructions for Amish Friendship Bread as it was given to me. You can also go to our Recipe Box for an easily printable version of the recipe by clicking here.

NOTE: Do not refrigerate starter. It is normal for the batter to rise and ferment. If air gets in the bag, let it out.

Day 1: Do nothing.
Day 2: Mash the bag.
Day 3: Mash the bag.
Day 4: Mash the bag.
Day 5: Mash the bag.
Day 6: Add to the bag: 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar, 1 cup milk. Mash the bag.
Day 7: Mash the bag.
Day 8: Mash the bag.
Day 9: Mash the bag.
Day 10: Follow the directions below:

1. Pour the entire bag into a nonmetal bowl.
2. Add 1 1/2 cup flour, 1 1/2 cup sugar, 1 1/2 cup milk.
3. Measure out 4 separate batters of 1 cup each into 4 1-gallon Ziploc bags.
4. Keep one of the bags for yourself, and give the other bags to 3 friends along with the recipe.

REMEMBER: If you keep a starter for yourself, you will be baking in 10 days. The bread is very good and makes a great gift. Only the Amish know how to make a starter, so if you give all the bags away, you will have to wait for someone to give you a starter back.

Should this recipe not be passed onto a friend on the first day, make sure to tell them which day it is when you present it to them

Friendship Bread Kitchen

“We love all the wonderful variations but the classic Amish Friendship Bread recipe is by far the simplest and the best!”

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Servings: 16
Yield: 2 loaves

Ingredients

1 cup Amish Friendship Bread Starter
3 eggs
1 cup oil
1/2 cup milk
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups flour
1-2 small boxes instant pudding (any flavor)
1 cup nuts, chopped (optional)
1 cup raisins (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325° F (165° C).
2. In a large mixing bowl, add ingredients as listed.
3. Grease two large loaf pans.
4. Dust the greased pans with a mixture of 1/2 cup sugar and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon.
5. Pour the batter evenly into loaf or cake pans and sprinkle the remaining sugar-cinnamon mixture on the top.
6. Bake for one hour or until the bread loosens evenly from the sides and a toothpick inserted in the center of the bread comes out clean.
7. ENJOY!

Kitchen Notes

If you’re watching your cholesterol, this recipe can be a little tricky. Fortunately there are plenty of oil and egg substitutes available; our favorite is flaxseed meal. If you like raisins, combine different variations (golden, Thompson, and red flame) to keep it flavorful and interesting! We also like to use candied pecans or walnuts (leftover from the holidays and kept frozen in our freezer) to add an extra sweet crunch.

 

Nutritional Information

Approximate nutritional information, per slice (based on 10 slices per loaf and not including optional nuts and raisins): 300 calories, 13 g fat, 1.5 g saturated fat, 35 mg cholesterol, 300 mg sodium, 41 g carbohydrate, 1 g fiber, 29 g sugar, 3 g protein
Nutritional analyses by Joannie Dobbs, Ph.D., C.N.S.