Amish Friendship Bread

My good friend Brooke gave me a baggie last week with goo in it and told me to make bread. At first I had NO idea what she was talking about... but she explained that it's a "starter" bag for Amish Friendship Bread. Awesome!


So I kept the bag on the counter and followed the directions to the letter. I squeezed, I added ingredients, I let out air... and I didn't let the yeasty smell deter me. Nor was I put off by Pat's questions about the "goo," or my mom asking me why I had a "bag of slime" on my counter.



Well, let's just say (again) that if I didn't already adore Brooke, I sure would now. This bread is just so obnoxiously delicious that I am tempted to not give away my new three bags and keep them all to myself!!

(PS - Brooke is FAMOUS!)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup all-purpose flour

Combine the ingredients in a large deep glass or plastic pitcher and cover tightly. Store at room temperature and stir every day with a wooden spoon for 17 days.

On day 18 do nothing.

On days 19, 20 and 21 stir.

On day 22, stir and add 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar and 1 cup milk. Stir again.

On days 23, 24, 25 and 26 stir.

On day 27 add 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar and 1 cup milk. Stir. You will now have 4 cups of starter.

Give three friends 1 cup each of the starter, with the below instructions, and keep one for yourself to bake your bread!

Amish Friendship Bread
Helpful Hints: Do NOT refrigerate the mixture! Do not use metal spoons or bowls for mixing. If the bag puffs with air, let it out.

Day 1 - receive the start

Day 2-4 - squeeze the bag

Day 5 - add 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar and 1 cup milk to the bag; squeeze to mix

Day 6-9 - squeeze the bag

Day 10 - baking day! Squeeze the bag, the pour the batter into a glass bowl. To the batter add 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar and 1 cup milk and mix with a wooden spoon. Fill three gallon sized Ziploc bags with 1 cup batter each and give the bags to three friends with a copy of this recipe.

To the remaining batter in the bowl, add the following:

• 2 cups flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 large box instant vanilla pudding
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 3 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 325. Grease two loaf pans and coat the pans with cinnamon sugar. Divide the batter between the loaf pans and top with more cinnamon sugar. Bake for 1 hour. Cool loaves in pans for 10 minutes before removing.