Recipe: Chocolate Amish Friendship Bread

Amish Friendship Bread:

About two weeks ago, I was given a bag of Amish Friendship Bread Starter. For those of you that aren't familiar with Amish Friendship Bread, it is essentially the baking version of a chain letter: you receive a bag of the Friendship Bread Starter, take care of it for ten days, and by the end of the tenth day, it would have multipled by four. You're then left with four one-cup portions of the Friendship Bread Starter. You're supposed to bake one, and give three away to your friends. And so the Amish Friendship Bread "chain" continues, from one friend to the next.

I received my starter from a coworker, but if you want to try this recipe or start an Amish Friendship Bread loop amongst your friends, the starter is easy to make. I would describe the finished, baked product as a cross between a banana bread and sliced bread. It's not quite sweet or moist enough to resemble banana bread, but also not dry or stiff enough to resemble sliced bread. Give this quick and easy Amish Friendship Bread recipe a try!

Amish Friendship Bread Starter 

(makes 1 cup starter)

Ingredients:
1 (0.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup white sugar
1 cup milk

1. In a small bowl, dissolve the active dry yeast in the 1/4 cup warm water. Let stand for 10 minutes.
2. In a separate non-reactive container, combine flour and sugar and mix thoroughly.
3. Slowly stir the milk and dissolved yeast in with the flour and sugar mixture.
4. You can either cover the container loosely or pour the mixture into a Ziploc bag. If you use Ziploc bags, make sure to squeeze out the air if/when air gets into the bag.
5. This is Day 1 of the Starter. Store the Amish Friendship Bread Starter at room temperature. At this point, you can either continue with the Chocolate Amish Friendship Bread recipe below, or continue with the 10-day friendship bread cycle. If you continue the cycle, you will end up with four cups of Amish Friendship Bread Starter at the end of the ten days.

To continue the Amish Friendship Bread Starter:

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups white sugar
2 cups milk

 
6. Days 2 - 5: If your starter is in a bowl, stir the starter with a spoon once a day from days two through five. If your friendship bread starter is in a Ziploc bag, simply use your hands and mash the bag each day.
7. Day 6: Stir in 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar, and 1 cup milk.
8. Days 7-9: If your starter is in a bowl, stir the starter with a spoon once a day from days two through five. If your friendship bread starter is in a Ziploc bag, simply use your hands and mash the bag each day.
9. Day 10:  Pour the mixture into a large, non-reactive bowl and stir in 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar, and 1 cup milk. Divide the mixture into four 1 cup portions. Keep one portion for baking, one portion to continue the Amish Friendship Bread Starter cycle, and give two portions away to friends. On the bag, write the date of "Day 1."

Tip: If you're not able to use or give away the Amish Friendship Bread Starter immediately, you can freeze the starter. This stops the yeast from growing and multiplying. When you're ready to use it or gift it, simply take it out of the freezer a few hours before use and allow it to come to room temperature.

Chocolate Amish Friendship Bread

Ingredients:
1 cup Amish Friendship Bread Starter
1 large (5.9oz) package chocolate instant pudding, or two small (3oz) chocolate instant pudding
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup white sugar
1.5 tsp baking powder
0.5 tsp baking soda
1.5 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp salt
1 cup vegetable oil
0.5 cup milk
3 eggs
1.5 tsp vanilla extract
0.5 cup mini chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. In a large, non-reactive bowl, mix together: instant pudding, flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, ground cinnamon, and salt.

3. Make a well in the center of the dry mixture and add the liquid ingredients: Amish Friendship Bread Starter, vegetable oil, milk, eggs, and vanilla extract. Mix well. Add the chocolate chips and incorporate it into the mixture.

4. Lightly grease two 9x5 inch loaf pans. You can also use a bundt pan, as I did in this example. If you use a bundt pan or a large cake pan, you may need to adjust the cooking time. Pour your mixture into the pan.

5. Bake in preheated oven until a toothpick inserted in the center of the bread comes out clean (around 60 minutes for two loaf pans, and around 70 minutes for a bundt pan). Take the finished Amish Friendship Bread out of the oven and cool for 10 minutes before removing it from the pan.

 

 6. Enjoy!