The Recipe

 

Important Note: Don't use metal spoons or equipment. Do not refrigerate. Use only glazed ceramic

or plastic bowls or containers.

 

Required Main Ingredient

 

1 cup live yeast starter (see above)

day 1:

Do nothing with the starter.

days 2-5:

Stir with a wooden spoon.

day 6:

Add 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar, and 1 cup milk. Stir with a wooden spoon.

days 7-9:

Stir with a wooden spoon.

Day 10:

Add 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar and 1 cup milk. Stir. Take out 3 cups and place 1 cup each into three

separate plastic containers. Give one cup and a copy of this recipe to three friends. To the balance (a

little over one cup) of the batter, add the following ingredients and mix well.

 

1 cup oil

1/2 cup milk

3 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

 

In a separate bowl combine the following dry ingredients and mix well:

 

2 cups flour

1 cup sugar

1-1/2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 - (5.1 oz) box instant vanilla pudding

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup nuts

 

Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients. Mix and pour into two well greased and sugared bread pans. Bake at

325 degrees for 1 hour.

 

 

 

Amish Friendship Bread

 

Variations on a Theme #1

 

The original Amish Friendship Bread recipe comes to us from Mrs. Norma Condon of Los Angeles

(Basic Recipe). These delicious additions come to us from Mrs. Cherii Martin of Fresno, California,

Suzette Pierce, and Lori Panzino of San Bernardino, California. Use the basic recipe and add or

delete ingredients as per instructions!

 

By the way, if you have a favorite variation on the basic Amish Friendship Bread theme and would

like us to include it with credit to you, email us at recipes@armchair.com. Let's see how many

variations we can come up with!.

 

 

 

Cherii Martin's Banana Amish Friendship Bread

Omit cinnamon and vanilla pudding in the basic recipe and add two bananas (mashed)

 

Cherii Martin's Chocolate Amish Friendship Bread

Omit cinnamon and vanilla pudding from the basic recipe and add 1 - (5.1 oz) box of instant chocolate

pudding, 3 tsp. cocoa and 3/4 cup chocolate chips. Bake for 1-1/2 to 1-3/4 hours.

 

Cherii Martin's Apple Cinnamon Friendship Bread

add one cup of raisins and one small diced apple.

 

Suzette Pierce's Pudding, Chocolate Chip and Nut Variations

Suzette Pierce writes: "You can use many different flavors of pudding. My favorite is pistachio flavor.

You may also use different flavors of chocolate chips and nuts."

 

Lori Panzino's Butterscotch Amish Friendship Bread

Lori Panzino writes: "Add 1 box of butterscotch pudding and 1 cup of butterscotch chips. We bake the

cake in a 13" x 9" pan. It's my family's favorite cake! She adds "Don't forget to omit the vanilla pudding"

 

Chocolate Variations

 

Note: these variations require the basic Amish Friendship Bread batter

 

Robin Sandwick, Charlotte, NC

 

Replace the vanilla pudding with chocolate and add 1/2 cup each of chocolate chips and coconut.

I use small (about 1 cup size) bundt pans and bake for 45 - 50 minutes

 

Becky Stathos

 

Instead of using two loaf pans, I bake it in a bundt pan. Another favorite is to use chocolate instant

pudding, and add pecans, chocolate chips and coconut. Let your imagination and taste buds guide

you.

 

Karen & Randy Bell Maggie Valley, North Carolina

 

Here's one we came up with ourselves .... Substitute almond ALMOND flavoring (NOT

Imitation) for the vanilla flavoring... substitute WHITE CHOCOLATE pudding For the vanilla

pudding....`

 

Sharon Allardyce

 

My variation for the Friendship Bread is a chocolate one, but I use 1/4 cup cocoa, or even a little

more (I prefer Hershey's European Chocolate), and either the vanilla or chocolate pudding can be

used. I reduce the cinnamon to half (1 teaspoon). Everyone that tastes it thinks it is outstanding.

The cinnamon gives it an even better taste than just using chocolate alone.

 

Marilyn Di Palma from Sedona, AZ

 

1 to 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips - this is great if you put the chocolate chips in a bowl and shake

1/2 teaspoon extra cinnamon to coat them. This is very popular. 1 to 1 1/2 cup chocolate chips

and orange zest to taste.

 

SA Brown

 

I substitute chocolate pudding for the vanilla and add 1 cup of chocolate chips for an awesome

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Bread. My friends beg for it! I even had a restaurant ask me to bake it

for them. Try it, you'll like it!

 

Lemon Variations

 

Note: these variations require the basic Amish Friendship Bread batter

 

Robin Sandwick, Charlotte, NC

 

Use lemon pudding and add 1/4 cup of poppy seeds. I bake these in a very small muffin pan for

about 20 - 25 minutes.

 

Jean M. French

 

For lemon bread, I substitute lemon pudding mix and lemon extract, omit the cinnamon and nuts,

and add poppy seeds.

 

Mary Dierick

 

Lemon Amish Friendship Bread Use 2 sm. boxes of instant lemon pudding instead on the vanilla

pudding, replace poppy seeds for the cinnamon, & use lemon peel instead of the vanilla. Bake for

about 1 1/2 hrs. Very Good!

 

Carol Williamson, Ontario, Canada

 

I love to make mine with dried pineapple and lemon instant pudding.

 

Nancy Scheiner

 

Lemon-Poppyseed Variation: Use lemon pudding mix instead of vanilla pudding. Add 2-tsp.

Lemon extract instead of vanilla. Eliminate cinnamon. Add 1/4 cup poppyseed.

 

Michelle Fox, Taylorsville, North Carolina

 

Lemon-Poppyseed Friendship Bread Use two small pkgs. of lemon pudding rather than the vanilla

and lemon flavoring in place of vanilla flavoring. Add one tablespoon of poppyseed. This is

excellent for making lemon-poppyseed muffins.

 

Lynn Davis

 

Here are some more variations on Amish Friendship bread - I forgot who gave them to me!

Lemon Coconut - Delete cinnamon, nuts and vanilla. Use lemon flavored pudding, add 1-tsp.

lemon extract and 2 cups coconut.

 

Ann Fowler, Fortson, Georgia

 

"Here is my recipe for the Amish Friendship Bread Variation.

Lemon Walnut Friendship Bread: Omit Cinnamon, Vanilla Pudding in basic recipe and add 1

teaspoon lemon extract, 1 package lemon pudding and one cup of chopped walnuts. Umm Umm

Good! "

 

Kelly Glasser

 

Kelly writes: "Lemon pudding and cranberries are my variation to the friendship bread!"

 

We also received lemon poppyseed variations from Darcey of Omaha, Nebraska and Kim Strid. We thank

you!

 

Banana and Zucchini Bread Variations

 

Note: these variations require the basic Amish Friendship Bread batter

 

Robin Sandwick, Charlotte, NC

 

Use banana cream pie pudding and two mashed bananas. I have also added 1/4 cup of chocolate

chip to this on occasion. I use the small bundt pans and bake for about 40 - 50 minutes.

 

Jean M. French

 

For banana bread, I substitute banana cream pudding mix and a mashed banana, and omit the

cinnamon.

 

Robin Sandwick, Charlotte, NC

 

Add 1 cup of grated zucchini. Make sure you squeeze out the excess liquid. bake for about 75

minutes but start checking after 50 minutes.

 

Cranberry Variations

 

Note: these variations require the basic Amish Friendship Bread batter

 

Connie Davis, Janesville CA

 

I've found that a cup of dried cranberries and a tsp of orange zest, along with a cup of chopped

nuts, makes a nice holiday variation to the cake!

 

Merry Axtell, Woodinville, WA

 

I used the basic cinnamon amish bread recipe and added 1 cup of craisins (dried cranberries) as

well as the pecans. It made a great Christmas Bread this year which I gave to my brothers &

sisters (6) and their families as well as friends. They all loved it including the children and adults

that won't eat raisins. I received many requests for the recipe and people were surprised when

they had to take a cup of starter along with them. But it was great fun.

 

Ronda Lambert & Stacy Tuck, Pulaski, Va

 

. I got a starter for Amish Friendship bread from my friend, Stacy Tuck. We like to add

Craisins(dried sweetened cranberries) and chocolate covered raisins to our mix. We also like the

bread with chocolate pudding instead of vanilla. We'd be tickled if you added our variation to

your list. Thanks!

 

Miscellaneous Variations

 

Note: these variations require the basic Amish Friendship Bread batter

 

Carol Williamson Ontario, Canada

 

Carol loves to make Friendship Bread with dried apples and caramel instant pudding (makes it

like caramel apples).

 

Sandy Moffet, Olympia WA

 

Last night I tried 3/4 cup white chocolate chips, 3/4 cup macadamia nuts and used cheesecake

pudding. Delicious!!!

 

Marilyn Di Palma from Sedona, AZ

 

Substitute 2 tablespoons molasses for equal amount of sugar and add spices to make gingerbread.

 

Becky Stathos

 

I like to throw in a box of chopped dates and a cup of chopped pecans. Then, instead of using

two loaf pans, I bake it in a bundt pan. Let your imagination and taste buds guide you.

 

Deborah Andrews, Newberry Springs, CA

 

I add 1 cup of drained crushed pineapple, 1 cup shredded coconut and pistachio pudding (instead

of vanilla). Very yummy.

 

Phyllis Mehler, Louisville, KY

 

Great bread (cake) !!!! My neighbor gave me a starter before leaving for vacation... I've gained 5

lbs. but it's worth every bite. I used 1/2 cup nuts and 1/2 cup white raisins; to die for.

 

Carolyn Jones, Paducah, KY

 

Variation 1: use 1 small box of orange jello, 1 c. drained mandarin oranges

Variation 2: use 1 small box of strawberry jello, 1 c. thawed strawberries. These are very good

and I get raving reviews about them .

 

G. Bekaert

 

Use Cheesecake pudding instead of vanilla pudding and add chopped maraschino cherries (about

6 with some juice). This tastes great and looks very festive.

 

Sheryl Riley

 

" I have made the friendship bread for a number of years and love it. One thing you can do to

make it different is to use different flavors of pudding. Bannana, lemon, chocolate, and butter

pecan are all good. We have also made it with fruit in it. Blueberries and raspberries work well."

 

Sandy Woodward

 

"I tried the standard recipe for cake with the vanilla pudding, cinnamon and added glazed fruit mix

with walnuts and almonds. The result was a tasty fruitcake."

 

Malissa Chapin, Oshkosh, WI

 

Mallisa sends us a different low fat variation:

 

"to make it more healthy I've had great success with using 1/2 c oil and 1/2 c unsweetened

applesauce instead of 1c of oil. I also use sugar free pudding. I made my last batch with vanilla

pudding and 2c frozen blueberries--wow! "

 

Joyce House, California

 

Joyce writes:

 

"It was suggested that I can put anything in it (i.e. into the basic Amish Friendship Bread recipe

- AW) to add flavor. On my first attempt with the recipe I used 1 cup of frozen blueberries (slightly

thawed) and 1 cup of chopped pecans. It was delicious. "

 

Joyce Croul, Gilroy CA.

 

Joyce writes:

 

I like to use a small can of well drained pineapple in one of my variations with 2Tb. coconut

scattered over the top half way through the baking.

 

Rebecca Amerson

 

Rebecca writes:

 

My favorite is to add a small can of well drained crushed pineapple, coconut, and chopped

pecans!

 

Karin Conrod, Ontario Canada

 

Karin writes:

 

My favorite twist on this bread is to use banana cream pudding, with shredded coconut. I also like

using coconut cream pie pudding with crushed pineapple. Absolutly yummilcious!!

 

Michele Maddox

 

Michele writes:

 

Use cappicino pudding , 1/2 C. chocolate chips and 1/2 C. nuts of choice