May 15, 2008...2:46 pm
Amish Friendship Bread, Part 2
Little did we know that the Amish Friendship Bread recipe that we posted 14 months ago would become the most-viewed post on MSK ever. The comment section has grown to 130 comments, all full of great questions and creative ideas for variations on AFB. What amazing readers we have!
A few weeks ago, I got a wonderful email from a helpful cook named Anne with the following variations that I just need to share with you all. Anne writes:
Fortunately for me, all of my co-workers and neighbors like any variation I have done with this recipe. Some of them have every 10 days marked on their calendars! I have reduced the fat and sugar in all of the versions by using ½ c of oil and ½ c of applesauce, and only ½ c to ¾ c of sugar instead of 1 cup. Some of my co-workers’ favorite versions are:
Fresh Cherry White Chocolate Bread – to the basic Amish Bread recipe with reduced oil and ¾ c sugar, use either white chocolate or cheesecake instant pudding mix, pit fresh cherries and cut into quarters, use 1 c white chocolate chips, 1 - 2 cups toasted, coarsely chopped pecans. Bake as muffins. They are delicious!
Fresh Blueberry Peach Muffins – to the basic Amish Bread recipe with reduced oil and ¾ c sugar, use vanilla instant pudding mix, add 2 c fresh blueberries, 1 ½ c toasted, coarsely chopped pecans, 1 – 2 c chopped peaches (I used canned sliced peaches when peaches were out of season). Put in muffin pans. Top each muffin with streusel mix. Streusel mix – 1/3 c melted butter, ½ c brown sugar, ½ c sugar, 1 c quick oats, 1 – 1 ½ finely chopped nuts. Put approximately ½ tablespoon of streusel mix on each muffin batter. If you want to have peach muffins, just eliminate the blueberries.
Pistachio Mini Loaves - to the basic Amish Bread recipe with reduced oil and ¾ c sugar, use 2 small boxes instant pistachio pudding mix, add 1 c white chocolate chips, 1 – 2 c raw pistachio nuts, finely chopped, and 2 c crushed canned pineapple. Pour batter into mini loaf pans.
Peanut Butter Bread – to the basic Amish Bread recipe with reduced oil and ¾ c sugar, use 2 small boxes instant butterscotch pudding mix, add 1 c smooth peanut butter, ½ c brown sugar, 2 tsp vanilla, 1 c chocolate chips (I added semi-sweet), 1 c peanut butter chips. I had to add an additional ¼ c milk, as the batter was too stiff. Baked in a 9 x 13 pan for approximately 40 minutes at 350.
Chocolate Brownie – to the basic Amish Bread recipe with the reduced oil and ½ c sugar, use a large box of instant chocolate pudding mix (the chocolate with caramel is very good), add 3 heaping teaspoons of dark chocolate cocoa, 1 to 1 ½ c toasted coarsely chopped pecans, ¾ c dark chocolate chips, ¼ c semi sweet chocolate chips, ½ c milk chocolate chips to the dry ingredients. After mixing dry ingredients w/wet, pour approximately ½ of the batter into the pan and sprinkle ¾ of a bag of caramel bits over batter. Spread remaining batter over caramel bits and bake. I have made this in a 9 x 13 or in small bundt pans. This is the cake that is usually eaten first.
Anne of Brighton, Michigan.
Thanks so much to Anne for her great ideas!
Because I have a slow-ish computer with a slow-ish connection, it’s taking longer and longer to load the original post and all the comments. Therefore, we are closing the comments on the original AFB post and asking that any future comments be made on this post. We are NOT deleting all those valuable comments on the original AFB post and again, we urge you to read through all the comments because most questions you might have about AFB can be found there.
Barb
22 Comments
May 15, 2008 at 2:54 pm
[...] started to bog down my computer, so I’m closing comments here and starting a new post on AFB called Amish Friendship Bread, Part 2. The new post has some great new ideas from reader, Anne. The new post also has open comments! [...]
May 15, 2008 at 11:38 pm
Hi! I have been reading through all of the wonderful comments and suggestions about AFB here and have learned a lot! I was gifted some starter about 2 months ago by a friend. I had a starter several years ago, but we were overseas and I could not bring it back with me to the States. I knew that I needed to come up with a solution to deal with all of that extra starter that I am supposed to give away, but would quickly make my friends think it was Amish Nightmare Bread if I was constantly trying to foist it on them! My solution is to use part of the starter to make sourdough bread, which I then freeze to have on hand when needed. Now, if you use straight AFB starter to try to make bread, it is truely nasty-way too sweet! What I have been doing is to divide the starter in half at Day 5. To one half, I add half of the regular feeding ingredients (1/2 c. flour, 1/2/ c. sugar & 1/2 c. milk). To the other half I add 1/2 c. flour and 1/2 c. milk (the flour is enough to feed the starter). This essentially turns the second half into a sourdough starter. I usually deal with the sourdough bread on Day 9-just to make life easier! I do it in my bread maker-also to make life easier! On Day 9, I add
1/2 c. flour & 1/2 c. milk to the sourdough starter. This gives me a bit over 2 cups of starter with which to bake 2 loaves of sourdough bread.
The recipe that I have been using is:
SOURDOUGH BREAD for BREAD MACHINES
1 c. starter
1/2 c. milk
1 1/2 T butter
1 1/2 tsp. salt
2 1/2 c. bread flour
1 1/2 tsp. yeast
Put everything in the bread machine according to the order recommended by the manufacturer of the machine. I put it on the dough cycle so that I can shape the loaves myself, but you could just let the machine do all the work! If you do it on the dough cycle, take the dough out when it is done. Shape the dough into whatever shape you like. Put it on a greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 degress for 40 minutes. Repeat with the other half of the starter. Serve a fresh loaf with dinner and freeze the other for later.
On Day 10, I deal with the AFB starter. I mix it with a half cup each of flour, sugar and milk. I then take out the 1 cup for next time and then use the remainder to make one recipe of AFB. I am left with no starter to torture friends with! If a friend asks for some, then I will just do it the normal way and gift them with some at the end of the 10 days. If my freezer fills up with sourdough bread, I feed the starter in the recommended manner and at the end of 10 days, I use the starter to make yummy pancakes!
AMISH PANCAKES
Combine in a large bowl:
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
Combine in a smaller bowl:
2 T. oil
2 cups Amish starter
1/2 cup milk (+/- 1/4 cup)
1 egg
Add ingredients on the smaller bowl to the large bowl and mix on medium speed.
Spoon batter onto greased griddle.
To make waffles, increase the oil to 1/4 cup.
May 16, 2008 at 12:34 am
Dear Holly,
Thank you so much for sharing your recipes! I agree that the idea of using the straight starter for making bread sounds wayyyyyyy too sweet….but your variation on Day 5 changes everything! What a great idea! Thanks for sharing.
Barb
May 16, 2008 at 2:41 pm
Why do the Amish get all the good stuff?
May 19, 2008 at 4:46 pm
Hi Barb and Laura,
I’ve read all the comments and don’t see this discussed much: replacing pudding with other ingredients to obtain the same texture. My daughter is allergic to vanillin, so I can’t use commercial pudding mixes, but I still would like the texture it gives. We are on Day 9 of a new starter and I haven’t tried AFB before (I threw away the starter once because it sounded like too much of a commitment). I’m wondering if using a softer flour like cake flour or spelt flour would help, and also using a tsp. or so of cream of tarter (which is the magic ingredient that makes biscuits light and tender). Since I can’t make it the regular way with pudding, I won’t have anything to compare to. Has anyone tried leaving out the pudding but adding other ingredients to achieve the same texture?
Thanks. Love the website.
May 19, 2008 at 8:52 pm
Hi Tammy
I went back through the comments on the original post, looking specifically for information on eliminating the pudding mix. Several readers mentioned that they just left the pudding out and it turned out just fine. One reader substituted a cup of plain yogurt. I’m guessing that that variation requires a little extra baking time because it will be moister. One reader suggested reducing the milk by 1/2 c. if you leave out the pudding mix. Several readers substituted applesauce, fresh pumpkin, or bananas.
The pudding mainly affects the texture. One thing that I’ve considered doing is researching what dry ingredients go into making homemade pudding and adding those ingredients.
Good luck on your “research”!
Barbara
June 3, 2008 at 12:29 am
Hi! I’ve enjoyed reading all the comments and variations on AFB. I baked my first one last week and really enjoyed it. My question is about the original starter. I’ve read through all the comments but am a little confused. Is the original starter 1 cup milk, 1 cup sugar and 1 cup flour? Or is it those ingredients plus 1 T yeast? I have a friend who’d like to try it but can’t eat anything with yeast. If you do the starter without yeast is the process any different? Thanks.
June 4, 2008 at 5:29 pm
Just reporting back…our school was having a bake sale, so I experimented with several loaves to get a tender texture without using pudding. I made one just leaving out the pudding, to compare with, and my daughter made one with chocolate pudding. Mine was good but dry and coarsely textured. I also made one with 2 apples, shredded and 1/2 cup chopped walnuts, and it was very moist because of the apple. In other loaves, I tried spelt flour (similar to cake flour), cream of tarter, and arrowroot powder in various combinations and amounts.
Today is baking day again, and I have just taken out the best loaf so far. I used the regular recipe with all-purpose flour, but instead of the pudding, I substituted 2 heaping tablespoons of arrowroot powder and 1/4 tsp. cream of tarter. It is tender and delicious, without the tart kind of pudding flavor that instant pudding gives it. It is still warm (and I spread a little soft butter on it, bad me), so I don’t know how it will compare when cool, but I really like this. The loaves didn’t fall, but came out flat, and I like them a little domed, so I will experiment some more with the amount of baking powder and soda, and maybe add a little more flour (or powdered milk, to replace the dry bulk of the pudding mix). If it’s better, I’ll let you know! Best wishes.
June 7, 2008 at 9:50 am
The original AFB starter I got was 20 years ago! My dear friend Bridget who was from Wisconsin gave it to me. That recipe was for muffins but did NOT have pudding in it, and I still can’t wrap my head around the Amish using instant pudding. I got the recipe everyone has now about a month ago and I have made it both ways since and both are good. Here is the original recipe I have:
Day 10 - add 1 C each flour, milk, sugar, divide into 3.
To remaining batter add:
3/4 C oil
3 eggs
2 C flour
3/4 C sugar
1/2 t baking soda
2 t baking powder
2 t cinnamon
1 t salt
Mix well, add raisins/nuts/fruit whatever you like - bake in muffin pans at 350 for 18-20 min. til golden. : )
Today we are trying the waffle variation! Thx for all these ideas!
June 19, 2008 at 9:15 pm
hi all, really enjoying the site..you will not believe this, but i was going thru old recipes a few months ago (a favorite past time for the long winter nites) & decided since i hadnt used my friendship bread recipes in at least 10 years, i might as well get rid of them-so i did. and not a month later, my daughter calls me to say some one at work had given her a bag of friendship bread starter and did i have any recipes!!! so, i hit the internet for ideas. you are so right about the ‘forgiveness’ of the starter/recipes; last week my daughter did not know she was down to her last cup or 2 of flour & asked what to do-i suggested oatmeal but all she had was 2 packages of instant w/peaches (my grand daughter doesnt like that kind) so we put them in and added a bit of almond flavoring and it was delicious.
June 25, 2008 at 7:32 pm
is there a recipe for white and wheat bread so you dont have to knead.I would like to be able to make it in plastic bags like afb.thanks
July 2, 2008 at 5:23 pm
Hi Barb, I read through all of the old posts and these ones here but couldn’t figure out something.
My recipe says on day 6 add 1 cup each flour, sugar, milk. Then day 10 add 1.5 cups (unlike most other people who’ve commented so far) each flour, sugar, milk. Then measure out 4 separate batters of 1 cup each to give away/keep. There’s a handwritten note on the paper that says after I take out the 4 cups to give away/keep, I should have 2 cups to add all the other ingredients to. But I had 1 cup. And the amounts of the ingredients to add to the starter are basically the same as what everyone mentions on this site (3 eggs, 1 cup oil, 1 cup sugar, 1/2 cup milk, etc. etc.).
So I called my friend who gave the instructions to me, and she said when she baked, she measured and had two cups of starter to work with. So I took one of the bags I was going to give away and used it - and baked with two cups. The bread turned out great.
So here are my questions: Should I be adding 1 cup of everything or 1.5 cups on day 6? And based on that answer, what should I be baking with - 2 cups of starter (and give away three bags) or 1 cup (and give away four bags)?
If there’s any chance of a quick answer I’d greatly appreciate it - I have to give away bags soon and want to retype my faded instructions for my friends and give away the correct amount! Thanks!
July 2, 2008 at 11:39 pm
Jessie, what I would do is try it out. Does it turn out the way you like it when you add more on Day 6? Which loaf do YOU like the best….the one made with 1 c. of starter or the one made with 2 c.? You could use pretty much ALL the starter just doing the research this time and then go with whatever suits you best for the next round. Personally, I’d probably stick with the 1 c. of sugar, flour, and milk on Day 6 but that’s because I’m pleased with the way it all turns out using those proportions.
Barb
July 7, 2008 at 2:31 pm
Does anyone have a solution for reducing the starters? I have run out of people to give them to and don’t want to just throw it out.
July 7, 2008 at 6:45 pm
Pam, I think if you look thru the comments on this post as well as the comments on the first AFB post (http://mysisterskitchen.wordpress.com/2007/03/22/amish-friendship-bread/)
you’ll find lots of creative ideas for managing the excess starter you have after you’ve gifted all your friends.
Barb
July 9, 2008 at 1:05 am
Hey, just wanted to let you all know that I FINALLY got a chance to try out a couple of the newer recipes. Today, I FINALLY got to bake my 1st batch of HollySix’s “Sourdough Bread for Bread Machines” recipe & it was DEE-LISH!! Since it was too warm outside to heat up the whole kitchen to bake in my oven, I just went ahead & baked it in my bread machine. I used the Basic setting, & the Medium crust color setting as well. It was oh-so-easy, too! LOVE IT!! Btw, what I do to avoid that stinkin’ paddle hole at the bottom of my bread, is I gently lift my loaf up in the last half hour of rising, just before the baking cycle begins. Tah dah! No more “holey” bread!! LOL
I’ve also recently baked up a batch of Cherry-Pistachio Bread as well. But this recipe came elsewhere on the web. It uses 2 small boxes of pistachio pudding mix & 1 cup of chopped maraschino cherries along with 2 Tbsp of cherry juice that you mix in with the chopped cherries & then fold into bread batter. Of course, you eliminate the cinnamon in the original recipe & the cinnamon sugared coated pans, & replace the cinnamon sugar w/plain sugar for the sugar dusting of the pans.
I always sub the 1 cup oil that the original recipe calls for with 2/3 cup unsweetened applesauce & only 1/3 cup oil in the recipe.
I also LOVE to use turbinado sugar (Sugar-In-The-Raw) over the tops of my unbaked loaves so it gives them a nice crystalized crunchy top.
Speaking of toppings, I tried Anne’s Streusel Mix & OMGoodness, was it deelish!! Everyone in my house as well as friends that I shared my Apple Streusel Amish Bread with couldn’t get enough of it!! However, the recipe made up WAY TOO MUCH topping IMO, so I only used half of the recipe & saved the rest in a ziploc bag & stashed it in my fridge for my next batch of Apple Amish Bread.
Thanks again for such wonderful recipes, tips, & ideas!! Though I can’t say that my waisteline is very thankful!! LOL
Marian
In sunny, SoCal
July 10, 2008 at 9:23 pm
Has anyone incorporated sour cream into the AFB? If so, how did you do it? Thanks.
July 14, 2008 at 9:15 pm
Liz, I think that you should be able to substitute sour cream for at least 2/3 of the oil that the recipe calls for. You could do an experiment where you substitute 100% sour cream for 100% oil, just to see what happens.
Let us know how it comes out.
Barb
July 14, 2008 at 9:18 pm
Peggy,
I apologize for not answering your question about making a no-knead bread in ziplock bags. If you do a search on the site for “Clair’s sourdough” and “whole wheat sourdough” you’ll find a couple of recipes that make wonderful crusty bread and don’t require kneading. I’ve never done them in a ziplock bag….I think you’d need a HUGE ziplock or you’d need to divide it up into smaller portions. You could also keep your sourdough starter in a ziplock as long as you made sure that you “burped” the bag frequently after you fed the starter.
Barb
July 14, 2008 at 9:29 pm
Has anyone tried using reg cook and stir boxed pudding instead of the instant pudding?
July 15, 2008 at 6:16 am
[...] had started asking the same questions over and over again. So we closed the comments and wrote a second post. To our surprise, people were still not finished talking about AFB. More questions, more answers, [...]
July 16, 2008 at 1:15 pm
Awesome info! On part one there were people talking about splenda, etc., people asking about the quantity of Splenda, but I couldn’t ever find the answer to how much Splenda and what kind of Splenda to use on Day 10 and if it can be used in the starters on day 5… Help!
Thank you!!!
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