Not-so-Amish Friendship Bread Instructions
My sister-in-law brought by an Amish friendship bread starter the other day. Reading over the instructions, I decided to tweak the instructions just a little. Enjoy!
Amish Friendship Bread
Don’t use metal spoons or bowls for mixing. Don’t refrigerate the starter unless you’re lazy or forgetful. Then you can refrigerate it. Just mush it when you remember it. It’s supposed to bubble and ferment, but be sure to let the air out of the bag; it might pop.
Day 1: Accept the starter. Say thank you. Put it on the counter. Glance at the instructions, pretending to be interested. Begin plotting who you’ll foist this on next week.
Day 2: Mush the bag.
Day 3: Squish the bag. Think about who would actually accept this.
Day 4: Let your toddler mush the bag.
Day 5: Add 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar and 1 cup milk. Oh and guess what? Mush the bag.
Day 6: If you forgot to add that stuff yesterday, do it today. And mush the bag.
Day 7: Squeeze the bag repeatedly.
Day 8: Remember that you only have two days to figure out who to give the starters to. Panic. Beat the bag to vent your aggressions.
Day 9: Mash the bag. Make a list of all your friends within driving distance. Call two of them to ask if they’d like friendship bread. Sense their hesitation. Decide not to call anyone else and just drop in bearing ‘gifts.’ Go get gallon zipper bags if you’re running low and photocopy the instructions.
Day 10: Mix and divide the starter. Pour the contents of the bag into a bowl (remember non metal) adding 1.5 c flour, 1.5 c sugar and 1.5 c milk. Mix (though, if you’re on a roll, you could certainly try pouring all these into the bag and . . . you know, mushing it). Measure out 4 separate batters of 1 cup each into 4 gallon zipper bags. Write the date on the bags. Look at your list of friends again. Pick the three or four you can afford to lose if necessary. Give them the bags later. Heck, you could even ease their ‘burden’ by giving them the bags on day four. Or five. Or nine. Don’t forget to include the instructions.
With the remaining batter in the bowl, make bread. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Add
3 eggs
1 c oil (or 0.5 c oil and 0.5 c applesauce)
0.5 c milk
1 c sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
0.5 tsp vanilla
1.5 tsp baking powder
0.5 tsp baking soda
1.75 to 2 c flour
1 large box instant pudding mix (any flavor. Very Amish, yes?)
Grease 2 large loaf pans and divide mixture. Bake 55-60 minutes. Sprinkle cinnamon/sugar over the top before or after baking.
If you keep a starter bag for yourself, you must be a glutton for punishment. Or you need the stress relief of four seconds of squishing a somewhat viscous liquid. Maybe you should get a bag of honey instead. But, hey, you could have fresh Amish bread every 10 days. And continue forcing the starters on your friends. Until you run out of friends.
Only the Amish know how to create a starter bag, but apparently they got on Allrecipes. If you give away all your starters, you’ll have to wait until someone gives you one back. But I’m sure your friends would be eager to return the favor if you’d like one.
Experiment with bananas, raisins, nuts and other mix-ins (I saw a comment on Allrecipes that said they added crushed pineapple and coconut) and other flavors of pudding mix.
After the stress of baking and probably losing your daily four seconds of stress relief, it’s probably time to sit down with your loaves of Amish bread and eat them both in a single sitting.
It can’t be fattening if it’s Amish, right?
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At first I thought you were kidding, but wow.
If I’m seriously considering it, am I a bona fide masochist?
February 21st, 2008 at 5:14 pmNo, not at all. It’s not hard. Can I mail you a starter?
I used half brown sugar (half white) and butterscotch pudding, with brown sugar on top. I haven’t decided what I think of it, but I’m trying to tell myself they’re caramel cake to see if that makes a difference.
February 21st, 2008 at 5:34 pmGot a gluten-free version? (LOL - just kidding!
)
February 21st, 2008 at 6:11 pmI loe AMish friendship bread. What I did was split it into the 4 baggies and put them in the freezer until I wanted a batch. It was breaking the rules, but it works just fine. When I was down to the last baggie, I then repeated the 10 day process and put the 4 baggies into the freezer at the end.
February 21st, 2008 at 7:11 pm@childlife—LOL. I’ll leave that to the expert
@Christy—I wanted to do that but I had all these visions of endlessly multiplying gallon bags
. Did you just not add all the ingredients to the starter on day 5 or 10 or did you start giving them away after that?
February 21st, 2008 at 8:51 pmThat’s awesome! I’ve actually never received a starter from anyone, but your comments seem wonderfully accurate.
It’s not bread, but I’m having a pie recipe contest for my step daughter. We have to make pies for FFA fundraiser in march and I’m looking for recipes. If you’ve got a good one please stop by and share it.
PIE RECIPES
February 22nd, 2008 at 10:33 amhttp://www.killlashandra.org/wordpress/?p=269
Ok my link didn’t work above….
February 22nd, 2008 at 10:34 amI tried Amish friendship bread–and it made my husband and I sick. Twice. So we threw the whole thing out.
March 3rd, 2008 at 9:45 amRyan and I ate one piece each. Out of two loaves. I have all the starter bags, which are ready to make new loaves, sitting on the counter still. One actually ‘popped’ the other day. A bit of a mess…
March 3rd, 2008 at 9:51 amCan you send a starter through the mail to someone? If so, how long/far do you think you could send it without pushing your luck? Thanks!
March 6th, 2008 at 3:00 pmAbsolutely! Do you want one
?
It depends a lot on the weather, of course. If it’s really hot, I would guess three days would be the max. If it’s colder, probably as long as a week.
March 6th, 2008 at 3:22 pmHi! I just received a bag from a friend yesterday and am so excited about it! I want to try your not-so-Amish friendship bread recipe soon!
I am wondering if you have ever sent the starter to someone else through mail (like how do you package it and if you send it through regular mail,) since I want to share it with my mother who’s at another state. Please let me know, thanks
April 3rd, 2008 at 8:13 amI had someone give me this for Easter. I loved the bread and so did my husband! I’m not being a friend and I’m going to freeze my four bags and make it for a party (what a great idea!)
April 3rd, 2008 at 12:19 pmI make 4 breads at a time and keep one bag of starter (saves electricity and time). Most of my friends want the bread but not the starter. I wrap three of the breads and put them in the freezer to eat later or give away. Every 10 days I bake. It works great.
April 12th, 2008 at 1:25 pmI’ve received baggies several times over the years and this is the first one I’ve followed through on. It’s baking as I type. I’m hoping for the best–my starter exploded in its bag around day 8. Fortunately, my brother had warned me about this, so I had the bag in another bag. I did lose a little in the process, so hope it doesn’t mess things up too bad.
I must confess, I only saved two starters. Nice to hear I can take a chance on freezing it though! I may be able to dump…umm, generously share…one starter, but have already been asked not to share by several people!
May 18th, 2008 at 3:28 pmThank you, thank you, thank you.
I got a bag of starter from a “friend” and then on day 9 lost the instructions she gave me. I found a bunch of versions on the web, but yours was a) the funniest and almost as important b) is closest to what I remember of my printed version.
I haven’t tried the bread yet, so I don’t know if I like it, but if I do, I will probably use some of the suggestions from the commenters
July 9th, 2008 at 1:51 pmI received a starter bag at work from a coworker. I was thinking about this, and was wondering if this is really safe b/c it’s old milk being passed on from person to person?? Wouldn’t you think it would make more people sick? It is tasty though…
August 2nd, 2008 at 1:07 pmI don’t have a copier but do have a printer so I was being lazy and searched online to see if someone else had done the work for me. I like your version MUCH better than the one my neighbor foisted… errr, generously shared with me. My bread is baking now… it smells good and I didn’t have any exploding bags so it’s all good. Thanks!
August 24th, 2008 at 10:55 pmI made Amish Friendship bread on the 16th of August. The bread was a big hit. But I have three starter bags left and lost track of the days. My question does it really matter if I do day 6 today? or are those three bags of starter spoiled?
Ryan
August 25th, 2008 at 10:05 amseriously…..has anyone ever died from this?….One of my employees gave me a starter today, just wondering if she is trying to kill me…?
September 3rd, 2008 at 2:22 pmHey, you make all this sound too hard! I make this bread for market every week and it’s our hotest item. No, it doesn’t matter if you do things exactly on the correct day. I do mine for 14 days, feeding it on day 7. That way my baking day comes on the same day each week. I keep two starters going, feeding one and baking one each week. I used all of it in baking except for enough for the next starter. Needless to say I double and sometimes triple the starter batch to make enough to meet the demand. And this thing of squishing a baggie and worrying about it exploding - forget the baggie. I mix mine in a glass or ceramic bowl and cover it with “Press ‘n’ Seal” (or could be plastic wrap). Then I stir it with a silicon whisk. This is much easier to mix and add ingredients. I also add salt and increase the cinnamon a bit.
October 22nd, 2008 at 1:15 pmI’m trying to figure out how to stop multiplying my starters every 10 days. Are you saying that I can use HALF of the starter after adding the 1 cup each flour/sugar/milk to bake a regular sized loaf with the normal amount of ingredients and save the other half as a starter? will that work? Won’t it throw the amounts off?
November 18th, 2008 at 9:56 pmI received a starter a week ago. I want to know if I have to add the ingredients to start up 4 more starters. I don’t have anyone to give the starters to. I just want to make the bread. Can I cheat and skip that step? Has anyone ever done this?
November 19th, 2008 at 7:30 pm@Michelle—I think you can keep a starter going by adding two tablespoons each of milk, sugar and flour on day ten, then taking out a cup of starter before making your loaf.
@Tisha—I think you can skip adding material to your starter just before you bake it if you just want to end it, or do the above to keep it going without multiplying it.
November 20th, 2008 at 9:01 amThank you!! I’ve been trying to cut down on my starters… You’re right, you run out of friends quickly as
December 8th, 2008 at 4:06 pmthey pass the starters on.. I have 6 starters in my freezer so I just have to stop it all until I want
to make the bread again. I have two starters fermenting as we speak so that means I can make 4 loaves and
be done with it…for now… My daughter’s friends call it ‘crack’ and it really is habit forming…but a great
gift for the holidays.
To bake more loaves and keep only one bag going, dip out only one cup of glop instead of 4. The glop left is roughly the amount needed to bake a double batch of bread. (I figured this out by weighing the stuff after adding the milk, sugar and flour on baking day, and doing some math) This way you can give away lots of yummy bread and not lose friends. I bake mini loaves and the double recipe makes around 12 of them.
December 12th, 2008 at 10:44 amThanks, Linda! You’re a lifesaver!
December 16th, 2008 at 10:45 amOK I cheated. I took 4 starters up to day 5 - added the 5th day ingredients then FROZE them all!! I pulled one from the freezer on Sunday and called Monday Day 6. The starter is acting exactly as it is supposed to (fermenting and all) and I’ll be making bread on Friday (Day 10). The way to make the bread without making starters is to just add the bread ingredients (not the 1.5 cups of flour, sugar and milk first)…go directly to make the bread..I tried that last time and my daughter said it was the best ever!! Have Fun
December 17th, 2008 at 4:40 amthe longer it ferments the better. Try filling the loaf pans the night before and leave out on the counter. Bake next morning real EARLY. I get up at 5:30 am for work. Won’t have any trouble waking up the rest of the house, if the wonderful sweet cinammony smell doesn’t roust them up first. Of course, Breakfast is READY!!!
Hey, one thing , whats with all this I don’t wanna share stuff??? Its FRIENDSHIP BREAD !!! PEOPLE. give it up! for the good of the cause!
January 22nd, 2009 at 9:41 pmThe aroma is intoxicating.
Diane- thanks so much! i have been looking everywhere for recipes that could omit the ingredients to make more starters…i baked my first batch yesterday and have four starters, and no one to give them to!
i plan on getting them all to day five, freezing three and keeping one to make more. this way once i get down to my last frozen one, i can make it as the original recipe states and do it all over again. my family loves it and i can’t wait to make all kinds of variations.
March 11th, 2009 at 4:41 amok, I have already added the 1.5 cups of milk, flour and sugar…but before I baked (was going to do that tonight) today my bag exploded and leaked everywhere…so I have no idea what the baggy minus 4 cups for friends leaves you… so that you use ‘the rest of the bag’ with all the other ingredients to make your 2 loaves…HOW MUCH do I use to make the loaves and what do I do NOW!!!!?????
please someone email me….ccbp@alumni.utexas.net
April 1st, 2009 at 9:37 pmIt’ll take about four and a half cups of starter to make the batter. I think.
Good luck!
April 1st, 2009 at 10:03 pmCan I take the “give away” starters an just add days 5 and 10 indgredients to it and bake it the same day or is it better to wait a day?
April 13th, 2009 at 10:59 pmIt’s better to wait to let them ferment, but it’ll probably work anyway.
April 14th, 2009 at 8:27 amAnybody tried using Splenda when baking the bread?
May 4th, 2009 at 11:48 amWhy are some of you guys bags expolding? Didn’t you read the part about if air gets in to the bag, let it out?
May 7th, 2009 at 3:22 pmthis is basically a sourdough starter, so if you handle it correctly (don’t let it get too hot or in direct sun)and you shouldn’t get sick. people have been doing this for hundreds of years before refigeration, don’t you think they would have stopped if it made them sick?
the yeast in the bag is creating the gas in the bag, just burp it a little bit from time to time. why deal with an explosion if you dont need to?
as for the splenda in the starter, I would avoid it since you are feeding the yeast in the starter and I don’t know if they can process spenda the same way hey process sugar. but I do use splenda when i bake my own bread.
have fun and enjoy creating and sharring your own friendship bread!
May 9th, 2009 at 9:39 amThanks, Heather! I didn’t think Splenda would be appropriate for anything other than just baking, but I did want to check to see if anyone else was using it - -
Another question - I have not found the pudding in the 5.1 oz in anything other than vanilla and chocolate. When using other flavors is the smaller box (usually 3+ oz) sufficient or do you use approximately 1 1/2 boxes?
May 13th, 2009 at 2:55 pmthis is day 4 of my starter. do I have to add the flour, etc tomorrow or can I skip it and wait til day 10 to bake?
May 18th, 2009 at 3:59 pm@Karen—Either way is just fine.
May 19th, 2009 at 6:24 amoops! Help! I accepted a starter and mashed it on days 2 and 3 and then promptly forgot about it until today, which is day 9.
I added the day 5 ingredients today and am just wondering if my starter will be ok. I truly hope so, because I am very interested in making the bread.
May 23rd, 2009 at 8:32 pmI’m sure it’s fine.
May 23rd, 2009 at 9:40 pm