Free Wisdom Online: Amish Bread Howto

electronic edition, v. 0.2

http://www.freewisdom.org/amishbread/

Pre-Conditions

This document assumes that you have received it from a friend who also provided you with a container with Amish Friendship Bread Starter (later referred to as “the Starter”). You should have received approximately 240 ml (hence force referred to as “a Cup”) of the Starter, which should look like liquid batter and smell like yeast.

The person who provided you with the Starter should have also indicated to you on what date the Starter’s “Cycle” began, which should be within the 10 days prior to you receiving the Starter. If those assumptions do not hold true, please contact the person from whom you received this document to resolve any differences.

The Bag

The Starter is commonly passed on in a large Ziploc™ plastic bag (later referred to as “the Bag”). If you received it in a different container, you may transfer it to your own Bag, or you can use any other plastic container. If you keep the Starter in a different container, stir it with a wooden ladle whenever the instructions call for squeezing the Bag. Do not put the Starter into any metal containers and do not use metal utensils for stirring it.

The Starter Life-Cycle

The Starter goes through a ten day cycle (further referred to as “the Cycle”), at the end of which it is ready for use and redistribution. Note that the Starter that you received might not be in the 1st day of the Cycle. Find out from your supplier which day of the Cycle the Starter is in and proceed to the instructions for that day.

Day 1: Do nothing
Day 2: Squeeze the Bag (or stir the Starter with a wooden ladle)
Day 3: Squeeze the Bag
Day 4: Squeeze the Bag
Day 5: Squeeze the Bag
Day 6: Add 1 Cup of floor, 1 Cup of milk and 1 Cup of sugar. Squeeze
and mix.
Day 7: Squeeze the Bag
Day 8: Squeeze the Bag
Day 9: Squeeze the Bag
Day 10: Follow the instructions below:

Instructions for Day 10

Move the content into a bigger non-metal bowl (later “Bowl A”). Add 1 Cup of flour, 1 Cup of sugar and 1 Cup of milk. Stir.
Check-point: You should now have about 4.5 cups of the Starter
Take 3 Bags and put 1 Cup of the Starter into each of them.
Check-point: You should now have a little over a cup of the Starter left in Bowl A.
Give two of the Bags to your friends and send them a copy of this document. Keep one Bag for yourself to start a new Cycle, or give it to a third friend. Use the remainder for baking the bread.

Baking

Add the following ingredients to Bowl A (which should already contain about a Cup of the Starter):

1 cup oil
1/2 cup milk
3 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla

Mix the content of Bowl A with a wooden ladle.

In a separate bowl (“Bowl B”), combine the following ingredients:

2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1-½ tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Mix the content of Bowl B well.

Optionally add some of the following ingredients to bowls A or B:

1 – (5.1 oz) box instant vanilla pudding
1 cup nuts
1 cup raisins
1 cup of melted chocolate

Add contents of Bowl B to Bowl A. Mix well with a wooden ladle. Pour the content into two well greased and sugared bread pans. Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour. Cool for 45 minutes before removing from pan. Eat.

About this document

This is an electronic version of the Amish Friendship Bread instructions. This version was produced with the intention of reducing the need for paper copies of the instructions, and thus saving trees. It was compiled using several sources, including the personal experience of the Author. The instructions were adapted for the more technical audience.

Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with the title (“Amish Friendship Bread Howto”) as the Invariant Section, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts. The full text of the License is available at http://www.gnu.org/licenses/fdl.html.