Martha Stewart and Amish Friendship Bread
July 25, 2008 by Tracey Thompson
Filed under Food & Nutrition
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:
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
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
Funny enough, my best friend just brought me a starter and I am now “growing”" four bags on the counter in my kitchen waiting to give it to friends. The bread was more like a cake I thought (pound cake style) but is really good!
You really don’t need yeast to start it. I just put a 1/3 cup each of flour, milk, and sugar in a bag and then follow the 10-day instructions. It’s really amazing. Try it!
My bags have just sat there for 12 days. All I’ve done is mush the bag. Are they safe to bake with? Do I just follow the baking instructions if I don’t want to feed it to multiply? I’m trying to break the chain but don’t want to waste any, if at all possible.
I THINK I JUST MESSED UP. I KNEW, BUT FORGOT AND USED MY METAL WISK TO STIRE IT UP WITH. WILL IT BE ALRIGHT OR SHOULD I JUST DUMP IT AND TRY AGAIN. WHY NOT THE METAL? THANK YOU, SARAH HEFFNER.
I have not found anywhere that explains why you shouldn’t use metal. I suppose it has something to do with the reactions but if you go to the following link they have a bunch of information about starters and amish friendship breat and she says “horsefeathers” don’t worry about it and just keep moving forward
http://mysisterskitchen.wordpress.com/2007/03/22/amish-friendship-bread/
Leave milk out overnight? Aren’t we looking at potential for food poisoning? Please let me know what you all think about this!
I was thinking the same thing, but I read all over the internet…it isn’t a problem with the combination of ingredients….I don’t understand the chemistry, but it is probably like making curds and whey…I did that as a little kid in science class…sadly I am not smarter than a 5th grader so I don’t remember why. It has something to do with the bacteria that your are growing….the good kind.
Thank you… You saved me, I just watch the show with Paula Dean & her friend making the Cinnamon rolls on her show, but they didn’t give the starter mix. Thanks for putting this on your page. nancy
Just wanted to let you know that the amount of baking powder on Martha’s recipe is more than I have seen in the others that I have been looking at. I have made the recipe as stated and the bread over runs the pans, no matter what size pan I use. Let me know if I have done anything wrong.
It’s not 1 1/2 Tbsp of Baking Powder, it should be 1 1/2 Tspn Baking Powder.
I lost track of the days and added the flour,sugar and milk on the 8th day instead of the 6th. Has anyone experienced this? Can I still stick to the 10 day instructions or should I let the mixture ferment an extra 2 days and bake it on the 12th day instead of the 10th?
I too got mixed up on the days. I am behind two days. Does that matter?
My Amish Friendship bread is a better recipe.
A friend passed on a loaf and a started a couple of months back and I have been baking every 10 days since we love it so much. However, I’m having a problem with the loafs falling near the end of the baking period. Does anyone know what would cause this?
How can you adapt this recipe so you don’t end up with all the
extra giveaways - I don’t have that many friends.
Thanks,
h
Think outside the box… it’s not just for friends..give the extras to coworkers, your landlord, the person who works on your car, neighbor, pastor, teacher, a stranger. Common… this isnt rocket science.
I agree Martha, I give the extras to people I want to bless… it’s so tasty, I’ve had people rave over it! Im about to make a batch tomorow morning so my hubby can bring them (as “cupcakes”) to his coworkers. And yes… Martha’s recipe at the top is incorrect, the baking powder should be 1 1/2 tsp NOT 1 1/2 Tbsp. Enjoy it Bakers and Happy People Makers!