Foodie Obsessed

Martha Stewart and Amish Friendship Bread

by Tracey Thompson on July 25th, 2008

During the Summer, Martha Stewart has had a couple of weeks of new shows with a lot of recipes, crafts and good things to help keep your Summer doldrums in check.

Yesterday one of her staff members shared a recipe for Amish Friendship Bread.  This is basically a chain letter for bakers.  You create a starter, help it “grow” for a few days and then bake with it and share it with some pals.  It was funny watching Martha’s staff try to explain this concept to her.  The whole idea can get a little confusing and I don’t think that her staff was really prepared to explain it.  Funny thing is that is seems that this has nothing to do with the Amish. 

Now, I did a little bit of surfing to see if I could find out more information and ended up getting just about as confused as many of the commenters on Martha’s site.  Just about every recipe I found had you begin with yeast; the one from Martha’s show did not.  One person said that the mix ends up fermenting and creating its own yeast, so it is not needed, but all the recipes I discovered on-line had you begin with yeast.  A lot of bakeries use this technique and use some sort of yeast to start.  A recipe posted back in the 1990’s from a Girl Scout troop has you begin with 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar, 1 cup milk and 1 package of yeast.  If you are someone who receives the mixture already started, then you just add 1 cup sugar, 1 cup milk, 1 cup flour and knead or stir every few days. 

My Sister’s Kitchen had a Amish Friendship Bread post with a great deal of comments.  The Sister’s Kitchen said that you don’t HAVE to add yeast to the starter, that “wild” yeasts will grow, but the taste will be more sour and have a different “personality”.  Their bread posts have some great information along with over 100 comments that will probably answer any question you may have.

A couple of things that are important, no matter what version you try…you can freeze the mixture at certain intervals to slow down the process, do not use any metal bowls or utensils and the mix needs occasional air.  Now, I don’t know all the whys..how about you?  Is anyone had any experience with Amish Friendship Bread?

This is great to use at home and share with friends.  A lot of commenters also suggested variations of the bread.  You can used different types of pudding mix and fruits.  Substitute the vanilla pudding for chocolate and the nuts for chocolate chips.  The combinations are actually quite endless.  I even discovered ways to use it for waffles and pancakes.  The nice thing with this, is that you can experiment with it and if it doesn’t work out…there is always more mixture.  The only danger is the great possibility of weight gain.

Read more about bread starters and Amish Friendship Bread.  There are a couple of other sites, Armchair and Allrecipes that have recipes for the starter and ideas of how to use it. 

The version they shared on the Martha Stewart show is below:

Amish Friendship Bread

Ingredients

Makes 2 loaves and 3 starters

• 5 cups all-purpose flour
• 4 3/4 cups sugar
• 3 1/2 cups milk
• 1 cup vegetable oil or 1/2 cup vegetable oil and 1/2 cup applesauce
• 3 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 tablespoons baking powder
• 4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. To prepare starter: Place 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar, and 1 cup milk in a 1-gallon resealable plastic bag. Seal bag and knead mixture until well combined. Let stand at room temperature overnight.
2. For the next 4 days, continue kneading mixture once a day; keep at room temperature. On the sixth day add 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar, and 1 cup milk to bag. Seal and knead to combine; let stand at room temperature overnight.
3. For the next 3 days, knead mixture twice a day. On the 10th day, transfer mixture to a large bowl. Add 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar, and 1 cup milk; mix until well combined. Measure 1 cup of the mixture into each of 3 resealable plastic bags. Seal plastic bags and give each bag of starter mixture to a friend to make their own friendship bread.
4. To make bread: Preheat oven to 330 degrees. Add oil to bowl with remaining starter mixture along with eggs, remaining 1/2 cup milk, and vanilla extract. Stir until well combined; set aside.
5. In another large bowl, mix together remaining 2 cups flour, 1 cup of sugar, baking powder, 2 teaspoons cinnamon, salt, baking soda, pudding, and nuts, if desired. Add dry ingredients to starter mixture and stir until well combined. Divide batter evenly between two 8-by-4-by-2 1/2-inch loaf pans.
6. In a small bowl, mix together remaining 3/4 cup sugar and 2 teaspoons cinnamon; sprinkle evenly over batter. Transfer to oven and bake for 1 hour. Let cool 15 minutes before removing from the pan.

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POSTED IN: Baking, Martha Stewart, Restaurant Opening