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Amish Friendship Bread

Friendship Bread Without the Amish!

By Linda PaulPublished 6 years ago 4 min read
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I am a huge fan of Amish Friendship Bread. I used to make it years ago until eventually I ran out of friends that wanted a bag of starter.

You see, Amish Friendship Bread starts either as a pre-made bag that someone gives you, or a do it yourself version.

The do it yourself version is a very time consuming process which employs packages of yeast, lots of sugar and flour, and a whole lot of dirty dishes. Needless to say I started out with a bag of starter gifted to me by a very relieved friend. I didn’t understand why she had called me out of the blue after a 20 year absence… but I took the bait and went out for coffee with her. We chatted and at the end of our visit, she handed me a bag that looked like it was filled with pancake mix.

She hastily explained that it was starter for Amish Friendship Bread, and that the instructions were included in the attached envelope. Then she ran away and I never saw her again.

I was actually really excited when I looked at the recipe attached to the bag. It was a little complicated but I thought that the idea of making my own 2 loaves and then sharing three bags of starter with friends was an awesome idea. I knew at least 3 friends who would be interested.

The first part of the instructions seemed simple enough. It involved squeezing the bag of starter once a day for 10 days before using it.

I dutifully squeezed my bag of starter each day and on the day number 10, I assembled all the ingredients I needed to make my bread.

I added the eggs, oil, milk, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, baking powder, salt, baking soda, flour, and instant pudding to the starter mix and added some walnuts and raisins which were optional. I poured into two greased pans and let it bake for an hour.

The result of my endeavors was an amazing cake like bread that inspired me to eat almost a half a loaf myself by the time the kids got home from school. They devoured the rest basically as soon as they walked through the door.

I decided to use another couple of bags of starter mix to make more bread. And, again I put three more bags aside to give to friends. I had pretty much run out of flour and sugar at this point anyway, so I took a couple of bags with instructions included to my co-workers. Fortunately, only one of them had dealt with this type of bread before. She avoided me studiously until all my bags were given away. I left work with a lovely feeling of sharing and caring.

As time went by my co-workers stopped speaking to me and I ran out of friends with whom to share my starter mix. The kids cringed when they saw the loaves of bread sitting on the counter. Our love affair with Amish Friendship Bread was over. And, I did receive an apology card from the friend of mine who had started the whole process.

There is something really spooky about Amish Friendship Bread that simply does not allow you to get rid of the left over starter. Or maybe it is because it takes a lot of flour and sugar to make each batch. I’m not sure, but I know I was in a hypnotic trance until that last bag was given away and I broke free.

Then it happened. I was browsing through my mom’s old cookbooks and I found a recipe for Amish Friendship Bread... or maybe I should say Friendship Bread without the Amish because it was a starter free version!

Here is the recipe:

  • Preheat oven to 325 F
  • Add the following ingredients into a large mixing bowl.
    • 3 eggs
    • 1 cup oil
    • 1-1/2 cups buttermilk
    • 1 cup sugar
    • ½ teaspoon vanilla
    • 2 teaspoons cinnamon-sugar
    • 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
    • ½ teaspoon salt
    • ½ teaspoon baking soda
    • 2 cups flour
    • 1 small box of vanilla pudding
    • 1 cup walnuts and 1 cup raisins (optional)
  • Grease two large loaf pans.
  • Dust the greased pans with ½ cup sugar and ½ teaspoon of cinnamon.
  • Divide the batter evenly between the two pans and sprinkle with the remaining sugar and cinnamon.
  • Bake for one hour or until the bread loosens from the sides of the pan and a toothpick inserted in the center of the bread comes out clean.

I have to say that the end result is as good as the starter induced version of this bread. And, I can still keep my new found friends!

Enjoy!

recipe
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About the Creator

Linda Paul

For as long as I can remember, I have wanted to be a writer. I tend to see life as a series of snapshots and magical moments. My six children are grown now, I am retired, and I would dearly love to pursue my love of the written word.

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