Friendship Bread Part I

We are waiting at the airport getting ready to board and I thought I would take advantage of this time to use the wifi and write down my thoughts and recipe for the delicious sweet bread I have been making for the last week and a half.  Little did I remember how much I hate the airport's wifi because about a million people are using it, so it takes FOREVER to load!

Anyway, I am super excited about this bread!  When I was young I would always be so excited when we got a batch of "starter" from a friend, then we would make some loaves for a few months, get sick of the bread, give away all of the "starter" and hope more would come around when the craving hit.  Well it has been years since I have seen some "starter" and I have been having a huge pregnancy craving for this bread!  Unfortunately being a college student in the "west" doesn't lend itself to getting much "starter".  So I combed the internet for a recipe to create some "starter" and therefore make the recipe on my own.  I found a few that sounded alright, so I tried two different ones so that I could compare the end results and see which method I liked better, or if they seemed identical.

The first uses dry active yeast and the second calls for a more "traditional" method by utilizing a natural yeast fermentation process.  I must make a note that if you have yet to try making and/or eating this bread you are in for a treat!  It is often called "Amish Friendship Bread" or "Mennonite Friendship Bread", I just go with "Friendship Bread" and people usually know what I am talking about if they have had it before.  The name is such because when you make the batter/dough you always have 2 cups leftover that you can give away (or keep if you want a ton of bread, I guess) to a friend for them to enjoy.  I personally like making a loaf and giving a bag of starter away, that way the recipient has a sample to see how good it is!

It is a nice sweet, almost cakey bread that is so versatile to many different interpretations for additions, flavors, etc.  This first batch I chose to do a traditional cinnamon & sugar since that was what we always did when I was a kid.  However, since I now have my starter (and discovered that it freezes beautifully, so I should perpetually have starter forever!) I will be posting many recipes for my different variations every two weeks or so.  Following are the two recipes I tried.


Friendship Bread Starter (Packaged Yeast Method)


1 package (or 1 Tbsp) of active dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water (110 deg. F)
1 cup flour 
1 cup granulated sugar 
1 cup milk 


-Empty the yeast into the bottom of a medium sized plastic or wooden bowl (it's very important that no metal bowls or utensils are used when preparing this recipe because the metal will react with the natural fermentation process). 
-Pour the warm water over the yeast and let it sit for 10 minutes.
-Mix the flour with the sugar and mix into the yeast mixture.
-Slowly mix the milk into the mixture, stirring with a wooden or plastic spoon to avoid lumps.
-This is considered the starter on day one, lightly cover with plastic wrap or a light kitchen towel and keep the bowl at room temperature.




This method is fine, however I found out that the yeast is actually unnecessary since the sugar and milk ferment on their own at room temperature, and by leaving the mix uncovered the yeast is extracted from the particles in the air naturally.  It sounds hokey I know, but it works, trust me!  If you still feel better about using the yeast, that is totally fine as well.


Friendship Bread Starter (Traditional)


1 cup flour
1 cup sugar
1 cup milk


-Mix the flour and sugar together in a medium sized plastic bowl, removing any clumps.
-Slowly add in the milk and stir with a wooden spoon.
-This is considered day one of the starter, leave the bowl uncovered and at room temperature.


Regardless of which method you choose, here is the recipe for Friendship Bread once you have the starter, or if some is given to you by a friend.


Friendship Bread


Bread starter
2 cups flour, divided
2 cups sugar, divided
2 cups milk, divided


-On day one (this is the day that you receive the starter from a friend, or the day that you begin making the starter) stir the mixture only with a wooden spoon in a plastic medium sized bowl.
-On days two, three, and four stir the mixture again with a wooden spoon
-On day five, stir in 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar, and slowly pour in 1 cup milk being careful to remove the lumps that might form.
-On days six, seven, eight, and nine stir the mixture again with a wooden spoon only.
-On day ten, stir in the remaining 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar, and 1 cup milk stirring any lumps that might form.
-After mixing everything on day ten, take out three 1 cup portions of the dough/batter.
-Pour two of the portions into baggies to give away and one of the portions into a clean medium sized bowl to begin the process all over again.
-Use the rest of the batter/dough to bake into two (or four if you make your own starter) loaves.


I will post the recipe for baking the bread in a few days when my second starter is ready to go!  I'm still doing research on the best recipes for baking a typical cinnamon & sugar loaf, and I will probably end up making my own based on some commonalities, then adjust the measurements as necessary.

So far, I have made the starter with the yeast and it looked & smelled like normal Friendship Bread dough/batter.  I've no idea how it tastes because I had to freeze the bags before I left home, but will definitely try them out when I get back in January.

I'm also now on day three of making the starter with the "traditional" recipe without yeast, and it seems to be doing ok, it definitely doesn't have as many bubbles as the first one did, but I'm hopeful and will continue posting as it turns out!