Amish Friendship Bread

I tried the Amish Friendship Bread long ago and wasn't too impressed. It was a nice little sweet bread, but nothing to shout about after 10 days of anticipation.

My neighbor brought THIS fabulous bread to a bbq last week. I had no idea there were other variations out there. This bread is sweet, moist, fairly dense, and has a crunchy sugary crust. Jill was kind enough to share a starter with me and after 10 days of anticipation, this time . . . I feel like shouting! Love it. Why is it so good? I think it's the chocolate pudding in the mix. Don't be deterred by the steps involved. It's nothing difficult or too time consuming.

Since I didn't have the entire recipe including a start, I couldn't post it. Insert GOOGLE. After a little hunting I found a recipe that resembled the one I made. So here it is in its entirety--secrets of the Amish exposed! No waiting for a friend to "invite" you to make some bread! I'm looking forward to another 10 days from now when I can make this delight again.

For the STARTER:
1 Tbsp dry active yeast
2 cups warm water
1 cup flour
1 cup sugar
1 cup milk

Dissolve yeast in 1/2 cup warm water in a deep non-metal container (metal kills yeast).

Stir in remaining warm water, flour, and sugar.

Beat until smooth and divide into 4 1-cup portions each in a gallon ziploc bag. I wrote on each bag the dates for Day 1, Day 5, and Day 10 to make things simpler.

For the 10 Days:

Day 1 - First day of the starter. Do nothing.
Day 2 - Mash Bag
Day 3 - Mash Bag
Day 4 - Mash Bag
Day 5 - Add to bag: 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar, 1 cup milk. Mash together.
Day 6 - Mash Bag
Day 7 - Mash Bag
Day 8 - Mash Bag
Day 9 - Mash Bag
Day 10 - Pour contents of bag into a plastic or glass mixing bowl. Add 1 & 1/2 cups flour, 1 & 1/2 cups sugar, and 1 & 1/2 cups milk. Measure out 4 separate batters of 1 cup each into 4 ziplock one-gallon bags. Batter will be left in the bowl and that's what you'll make bread with on day 10. Also, keep a starter for yourself and give the other three bags to friends along with a copy of this bread recipe.

To your mixing bowl, ADD:
1 cup oil
1/2 cup milk
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
2 cups flour
2 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
1 large package (or 2 small) instant vanilla, butterscotch, or chocolate pudding.

Mix together. Grease 2 large loaf pans. In a small bowl, combine 1/4 cup sugar and 1 tsp cinnamon. Dust the greased pans with 1/2 the sugar/cinnamon mixture. Pour batter into prepared pans and sprinkle remaining sugar/cinnamon on top.

Bake for one hour at 325 or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool bread for 10 minutes into pan before removing from pans.


DO NOT refrigerate the bag during the 10 days.
DO let out extra air in the bag during the 10 days.
DO try to show some restraint and not eat the entire loaf before your kids get home from school.