Friendship Bread

Decades ago we were the recipient of some delicious Amish Friendship Bread, and I imagine I kept the starter going for a bit, but it eventually died out. However, recently a friend dropped over some bread and starter. Wasn't that nice of her? That means it's time to do some experimenting with various recipes, and to share the results with more friends. Spreading the joy of fresh-baked goodness is the whole point of this process!

You can find many variations of Friendship Bread, but this is close to what my friend gave me. First you have to keep the starter alive! If it's in a bag (the easiest way to gift it), just mush the bag once a day for 10 days, adding a mixture of 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar and 1 cup milk on day #6. Then on day #10, "feed" it again with the 1-1-1 mixture. Remove two or three (depends upon how much you have) one-cup portions for gifting (or freezing), use another cup to make the bread recipe below, and save the last cup to feed for the next ten days. (You can find many different printables with these instructions, each a tad different, but here's one.) To finish off the starter, skip the day #10 additions and double the recipe below.

Amish Friendship Bread

• 1 cup Amish Friendship Bread Starter
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup oil
• ½ cup milk
• 1 cup sugar (try reducing to 2/3 cup)
• ½ teaspoon vanilla
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1½ teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 2 cups flour
• 1 or 2 small boxes instant pudding - any flavor
• 1 cup nuts, raisins or chocolate chips - optional

Preheat oven to 325° F (165° C). Grease 2 large loaf pans. (I prefer the 8x4" size. Note that you can also use 6 mini loaf pans. I usually do one large and three small.) To prevent sticking, line the bottoms with wax paper, then dust with cinnamon-sugar.  

In a large mixing bowl,  combine all the ingredients as listed. Pour the batter evenly into loaf or cake pans and sprinkle more cinnamon-sugar mixture on the top.

Bake for 50-60 minutes (35-40 minutes for mini pans) or until the bread loosens evenly from the sides and a toothpick inserted in the center of the bread comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes, then remove from pans.

Note: to make your own original starter, soften 1 tablespoon yeast in 1/4 cup warm water. Thoroughly mix together 1 cup flour and 1 cup sugar. Stir in the yeast mixture and 1 cup warm milk. Consider this "day #1" and continue as directed above.

So far this month we've made a chocolate version and a vanilla version. Both were scrumptious! However, they're also quite sweet. I decided to look for some other options and found recipes for regular sandwich bread. These are also sweeter than my normal bread, which just means it makes great toast! We're enjoying our experimenting.

Amish White Bread    (from Friendship Bread Kitchen)

1 cup Amish Friendship Bread Starter
1 cup sugar
½ cup oil
1 teaspoon salt
1½ cups warm water
6 cups bread flour (or regular flour with gluten - 1 teaspoon per cup of flour)

In one large bowl, mix all ingredients thoroughly. Then place dough in another large, greased, plastic bowl and cover lightly. Let stand overnight (or even 24 hours) at room temperature.

In the morning, punch dough down four or five times. Divide dough in half and knead each ball eight to ten times. Grease and dust two loaf pans with flour. Put dough into pans. Cover and let stand 4-5 hours, or all day.

Preheat oven to 350° and bake bread for 30-40 minutes. Remove from pans and cool.

Note: the first time (above) I used 2 8x4 pans and 1 9x5 pan, since the instructions said to make three loaves. However, they turned out to be pretty wimpy, short loaves of bread, so the second time (below) I used 2 8x4 pans. They were a little small! I guess I'll need to experiment again, especially since I want to see how if decreasing the amount of sugar affects the process.

I couldn't decide between the above recipe and the one below (which also adds yeast to the starter), so I tried both. Adding yeast cuts down on the rising time, but that's really the only difference, and it still takes hours. So, if you're not rushed for time and can plan ahead, go with the first recipe. Beward, though, both recipes are very sweet!

Amish White Bread with Yeast (from 12 Tomatoes)

1/2 cup warm water
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 to 2 teaspoons yeast
1 cup Friendship Bread starter
1/2 cup warm milk
3 tablespoons oil
3 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt

Add the warm water to a small bowl and sprinkle the yeast and sugar over the top. Set aside until foamy, about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine starter, warm milk, salt, oil, and 2 cups of the flour and stir until well incorporated. Once foamy, add the yeast mixture and stir until well combined.

Add remaining flour gradually until a soft dough forms that pulls away from the sides of the bowl.

Remove dough to a floured surface and knead until dough is smooth and springy, about 5-7 minutes. Add more flour as needed.

Grease a large bowl and place the dough in it. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside in a warm place, allowing the dough to rise until doubled, about 2 hours.

Once risen, gently punch down the dough and again remove it to a floured surface. Shape into a rectangle and fold 1/3 of the dough (short end) towards the center, gently pressing the seam in with your hand. Fold the other 1/3 of the dough towards the center, pressing seam in again.

Fold the dough in half lengthwise, lightly pressing edges together to seal the seam, before gently tucking each end of the dough under and sealing the ends.

Move dough to prepared pan and gently press to make sure it spreads evenly across the pan. Cover lightly with plastic wrap and let rise until it is just above the rim of the pan, about 30-45 minutes. (It will collapse if it rises more than 1” higher than the edge.)

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350°F and lightly grease a 9x5-inch loaf pan. Discard plastic wrap and bake until bread is a light golden brown, about 35-40 minutes.

Remove to a wire rack and let cool at least 30 minutes before slicing.