Starting out/Amish Friendship Cinnamon Bread

Ok I've been ridiculously into cooking/baking recently.  It's just something I very much enjoy doing and I've been wanting a place to keep track of all the stuff I make and notes and a place to share with others the things I've been making (other than just my friends who will probably be eating most of what I make anyway).  This has been my passion for a few years and actually not something I've given up on (which is a downfall of mine).   So I've been recently pinning a lot of recipes I'd LIKE to make and now I'm going to work my way through them and talk about what I did differently or what I'd like to do differently in the future etc.  I'll probably also be talking about recipes I love to make a lot and have perfected over a couple of years :)

My Pinterest

A year or two ago, my coworker brought in a whole bunch of starters for something called Amish Friendship Bread. I tried it out and fell in love!  I was unfortunately only able to make it a few times before deciding it was making too many starters and therefore creating too much waste. At the time though I didn't think about fixing the recipe to only make one extra starter (to keep for use in another 10 days or to put in the freezer or fridge to use at another time) and seeing as it makes 2 loaves every 10 days... that's a lot of very sugary bread to be eating/giving away all the time.   So I've come up with a remedied recipe.  I have yet to try it out and see if it works the same though I'll update it in 10 days.  However here is the recipe.

Amish Friendship Cinnamon Bread Starter:
Ingredients:
1 (.25 oz) package of active dry yeast
1/4 c. warm water
1 c. All-Purpose Flour
1 c. White Sugar
1 c. Milk

Instructions:

In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in water. Let stand 10 minutes. In a 1 gal Ziploc bag, combine 1 cup flour and
1 cup sugar. Mix thoroughly or flour will lump when milk is added. Slowly stir in 1 cup milk and dissolved yeast mixture. Consider this day 1 of the 10 day cycle. Leave at room temperature.



Amish Friendship Cinnamon Bread Instructions:


Please note the following: Do not use any type of metal spoon or bowl. Do not refrigerate(while it's fermenting). If air gets into the bag, let it out. It is normal for the batter to rise and ferment.

Day 1: Do nothing, this is the day you receive the batter. The bag is dated.
Day 2: Mash the bag
Day 3: Mash the bag
Day 4: Mash the bag
Day 5: Mash the bag
Day 6: Mash the bag (unless you want to make 2 extra starters to give away in which case add 1c ea. of flour, milk, sugar)
Day 7: Mash the bag
Day 8: Mash the bag
Day 9: Mash the bag
Day 10: Follow the directions below:

1. Pour the entire contents of the bag into a Non Metal Bowl.
2. Add 1/2 C. flour, 1/2 C. of sugar, 1/2 C. of milk (unless you're making the 2 extra then add 1 c. ea)
3. Measure out 1 (or 3) separate batters (1 cup each) into 1 (or 3) Ziplock (1 gallon bags).
Note: If you keep a starter for yourself you will be baking every 10 days.

Edit: Just read a review saying they only added 1/4 cup of each ingredient on the 10th day.  I'm going to try that and see how it works instead of the 1/2.

Baking Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
2. To the remaining batter in the bowl add:
3 eggs
1 cup of oil
1/2 cup of milk
1 cup of sugar
2 tsp. of cinnamon
2 tsp. of vanilla
1 1/2 tsp. of baking powder
1/2 tsp. of baking soda
1 tsp. of salt
2 cups of flour
2 small boxes of pudding (optional)
1 cup of raisins, dried fruit or chocolate chips (optional)

In separate bowl, mix 1 t. cinnamon and 3 T. sugar. Sprinkle into well-greased loaf pans and coat the sides with sugar mixture. Do not use Pam or other non-stick spray. Bake at 350° for 1 hour or until done.




Notes:

First, the bit about not using a metal bowl or spoon? Silly. I would avoid old aluminum utensils but for the most part it's just a myth.

Second, it is NOT necessary to follow these steps precisely. If you forget to do anything with your starter for
a week, don’t toss it out. If you WANT to delay making the bread up, stick the starter in the fridge.
It will last MONTHS in a good, cold fridge. If it turns pink, it’s spoiled and THEN you should throw it out.

Third, Pam spray works just fine for greasing the loaf pans. Maybe forbidding Pam spray is supposed to make this sound more Amish, but I MUCH prefer the texture that the Pam and the sugar makes on the crust.

Although my paper doesn’t say this explicitly, I have read many different places that only the Amish know how to make the starter and it’s a deep dark secret. But that is also myth. I have no idea if this recipe started
in the Amish community, but there is nothing magical about the starter.

One thing that is NOT a myth is this. You MUST use boxes of Instant pudding. Cooked pudding mixes gives an entirely different and entirely unacceptable texture to this bread. (honestly though years ago when I made this recipe it did not call for pudding. So I'm interested to see how it'll turn out!)

Enjoy! And pass this on to others! :)