I couldn’t tell you how many times I’ve made Amish Friendship Bread over the past two years. If you’ve never had a slice of this wonderful delicacy, you should know that it’s a bread that requires a starter (of which I happen to have a few spares, if anyone is interested) and then several days of adding ingredients and mushing the bag around. It’s essentially a loaf of cinnamon and sugar, with a little flour added in. Basically, it’s epically delicious. When I started making the bread a few years ago, I just used the original recipe and made ‘plain’ (if you can call something so delicious by such a boring word) Amish bread. But as the weeks went by, I got a bit more experimental and made lots of variations on the classic loaf, throwing in bananas or pumpkin or chocolate chips. Eventually, I get tired of making the bread and give up for a while, but it seems that Amish bread and I were made for one another, as it keeps coming back to me. (My high school calculus teacher once said to me: “Allyson, you’d make a fine Amish woman.”)
This time, the family I work for gave me a starter, and I knew Eric would be thrilled if I made some bread. I think Amish bread might be one of his favorite foods. So after the 10-day prep cycle (Amish bread is not for those searching for instant gratification), I made an apple oatmeal version that was super delicious, and even happened to include some of Real Simple’s 30 healthiest foods! (You can read about this healthy eating goal here.)
So to start, I’ll share the traditional Amish bread recipe, and then I’ll share my latest variation. Reminder, you need a starter to make the bread.
Amish Friendship Bread
Each starter makes 2 loaves of bread.
Use a large ziplock bag and store on countertop. Do not refrigerate.
Day 1: Do nothing.
Day 2-5: Mush bag two times a day.
Day 6: Add and mush together thoroughly 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar, and 1 cup milk.
Day 7-9: Mush bag and let air out of the bag two times a day.
Day 10: Pour contents into a large bowl and add 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar, and 1 cup milk. Stir together and measure out four 1 cup starters into Ziploc bags. Give these out to friends.
You will have a little left in the bowl. Add:
1 cup oil
½ cup milk
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
Mix well and set aside.
In another bowl, mix together:
2 cups flour
2 tsp cinnamon
1 cup sugar
1 large box instant vanilla pudding
½ tsp salt
1 ½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
1 cup chopped pecans (optional)
Add dry ingredients to first mixture, mixing well.
In a small bowl, mix together enough sugar and cinnamon to coat the bottom of two loaf pans and to sprinkle on top before baking. Spray pans with cooking spray and divide batter between the pans.
Bake at 325 degrees for one hour or until knife comes out clean.
Tomorrow starts Day 1 again. Be sure to keep one of the starters for yourself.
Note: This recipe will also make 12 muffins and 1 loaf of bread or 30 muffins baked for 30 minutes.
Each starter equals the amount of batter needed for one batch of bread. If you want to make a double batch of bread, you would make three starters and double the bread recipe.
So that’s the classic, no fail Amish bread recipe. To make the oatmeal apple bread, follow the same directions for the 10-day process, mushing the starter and adding sugar, milk, and flour. Once you hit baking day, here’s what to do:
Day 10: Pour contents into a large bowl and add 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar, and 1 cup milk. Stir together and measure out four 1 cup starters into Ziploc bags. Give these out to friends.
You will have a little left in the bowl. Add:
1 cup oil
½ cup milk
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
Mix well and set aside.
In another bowl, mix together:
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour (I would normally use 2 cups whole wheat flour, but I ran out while I was baking.)
½ cup whole oats
½ cup steel cut oats
1 cup sugar
1 large box instant vanilla pudding
½ tsp salt
1 ½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
1 medium apple, cut into small pieces
Add dry ingredients to the first mixture, mixing well.
Spray two loaf pans with cooking spray. Divide batter between the two, and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar. Bake at 325 degrees for one hour, or until knife comes out clean.
I’ll be baking more Amish bread in the weeks to come, so I’ll be sure to share any yummy concoctions I come up with! If you have any suggestions for ingredients to try, I’d love to test them out!
-Ally
chefshellina says
Looks incredible! Thanks for sharing. Yum, carbs.