Amish Friendship Bread

About ten days ago my friend brought us some Amish Friendship Bread for breakfast.  She also gave me a starter and directions on what to do with the starter for the next ten days.  I really like how the bread ended up and thought the whole idea was kind of fun.  Since I didn't have a  recipe for the starter I went to allrecipes.com.  Here's the recipe I found for making the starter.

Ingredients: 

1 package active dry yeast

1/4 cup warm water

3 cups all purpose flour divided

3 cups white sugar divided

3 cups milk

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in water.  Let stand 10 minutes.  In a 2 quart container that is not metal, 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.  Cover loosely and let stand until bubbly.  Consider this day 1 of the 10 day cycle.  Leave loosely covered at room temperature.
   
2. On days 2 through 4; stir starter with a spoon (not metal).  Day 5; stir in 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar, and 1 cup milk. Days 6 through 9; stir only.
3. Day 10; stir in 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar, and 1 cup milk.  Remove 1 cup to make your first bread, give 3 cups to friends along with the 10 day instructions and your favorite Amish Bread recipe.

NOTE: The starter I received was in a large ziploc bag which worked very well.  Also it is important to not use a metal spoon or bowl for mixing.  Do not refrigerate the starter.  It is normal for the batter to rise, bubble, and ferment.  If air builds up in the bag, just let it out.

For the Amish Bread Recipe I was given; after adding the flour, sugar, and milk on the 10th day and separating the starters . . .

Add:  

1 cup oil

1 cup sugar

2 tsp cinnamon

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

3 eggs

1 large package of instant vanilla pudding

1/2 cup milk

1/2 tsp baking soda

2 cups flour

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp salt

Pour into greased and sugared loaf pan (the starter I received made two loaves).  Sprinkle top of batter with cinnamon and sugar.  Bake at 350 degrees for 45 to 60 minutes.  Cool for 10 minutes and remove from loaf pan.  Enjoy!

If you've ever made Amish Friendship Bread with a different recipe I'd love to give it a try.