When I was first married I was given my first bag of Amish Friendship Bread. For about 5 months I was a bread making fiend. We ate this stuff for breakfast, lunch, and dinner (and then wondered why we gained weight). I hadn't thought about this bread for quite a while until Becci sent us this Pinstrosity.
The Original Pin
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| http://www.chef-in-training.com/2012/01/amish-friendship-bread-with-printable-version/ |
Seriously, this stuff is so dang good. If you've never been given a starter bag the link above has directions (at the bottom of the post) to get your own batch started. I know this seems like a lot of work for bread, but it really isn't all that hard and it is SOOOOO yummy. You need to try this stuff. Becci tried it out and had a little trouble.
The Pinstrosity
She told us, "It would NOT come out of the pan!!! The recipe says to coat the pan in spray then dust with sugar and cinnamon mixture. It turned into cement in the pan! It did taste delicious, though I couldn't wrap it up and give it to the neighbors. :)"
This was a problem I had early on when I first started making this bread. I figured out a few tricks though that helped.
- Instead of using baking spray to grease the pans, I would use shortening or butter. Take a paper towel (or your fingers...I just used my fingers) and coat your pan. You don't want a really thick layer but you want to make sure your pan is thoroughly coated.
- I started increasing the amount of the sugar/cinnamon mixture by half so that I would have extra. This allowed me to get an even thicker coat of the sugar mixture lining the pan. Not only did this help keep the bread from sticking to the pan, but it made it extra yummy!
- I let the bread cool for about 10-15 minutes (depending on how warm of a day it was). When the bread is a little more cool it will come out of the pan easier.
- Sometimes I would take the bread out of the oven and put them up-side-down on a cooling rack and let them cool that way. As they cooled gravity did its work and helped the bread to pull away from the pan.
Your corrections are spot on. This is one of my favorite things to make. I have used just about every flavor of boxed pudding out there, and they are all good. Especially holiday time when you can get the pumpkin, pistachio, etc. Toss in some nuts, dried fruit, etc. before baking.
ReplyDeleteMy mom and I make this all the time in the cooler months. We use the disposable aluminum pans (but haven't bought new ones in years.) We do use "spray", usually just olive or vegetable oil in a pump spray bottle. We liberally coat the pans with cinnamon sugar or other spice mixes--Pampered Chef has some awesome ones--by just pouring a bunch in and rotating the pan so it covers every square inch.
ReplyDeleteYou definitely have to let the loaves cool a bit before taking them out. Then we wrap them in foil and freeze them. :-)
My family loves this bread. Something I like to do bake it in muffin tins. It makes a quick and easy breakfast on the go!
ReplyDeleteHaven't made this bread for a few years, but when I did, I cut parchment paper to fit on the bottom of the pan (and still greased & dusted the sides. When cool, the loaves pop right out, peel off the paper & it's perfect. I use the parchment paper for most cakes/breads that I want to remove easily in one piece.
ReplyDeleteMy family always cooks Amish Friendship Bread in a non-stick bundt pan, it is so easy and it doesn't stick. Plus, it seems like there is more to go around. Try different puddings to come up with different flavors too. Our favorite is chocolate:)
ReplyDeleteI have a blooper story dealing with Amish Friendship Bread, as well. I had gotten a starter bag from my Grandma, and everything was going just fine, as instructed - I had set the ziploc bag on the top of my microwave one evening, and awoke the next morning to find the ziploc bag had exploded from the pressure build up inside and a stick bread mixture was coated all down the front and sides of the microwave. Still not sure what went wrong - if the heat given off by the microwave made it react too quickly or what - but that spoiled my attempts at ever trying to make the bread again!
ReplyDeleteThat happened to me also... I ended up placing the bag in like a rubbermaid container so it didnt have the room to topple over off of the counter. One other time I thought my brother had opened the bag up trying to be a jerk about it. Turned out the pressure in the bag just made it open.
DeleteYou can use the Amish Bread starter (which effectively is sourdough) as regular bread starter. I reduced the sugar in the feeding process until I didn't need any sugar and switched from milk to water (over the course of several "feeds") I used the starter for over a year until I had to move and it was awesome.
ReplyDeleteMy family makes this all the time and we LOVE to put chocolate chips in it! WE even had a bunch of mini M&M's so we threw them in there instead. Even mint/butterscotch chips taste good! Not helping the nutritional content, but it sure tastes that much butter! :)
ReplyDeleteI line my pans with aluminum foil when I make this. You pop it out of the pan and just peel the foil off. I also only put the cinnamon sugar mixture on top of the loaf and not down the sides. It makes a lovely crunchy topping. (I do the same with plain sugar for any sweet bread or muffin and it gives it a really professional looking finish.)
ReplyDeleteI had a blooper with friendship bread a few years ago. I hadn't made any in quite some time when my cousin gave me a bag. I thought her instructions looked a little funny but followed them anyway since it had been such a long time since I had made any. Well, I shouldn't have because when she was copying over the recipe, she replaced "tsp" with "tbs" for the baking soda and oh my word but that first batch was awful!
I am sooooo happy I found this link. This is the only bread that I have ever made from scratch. The first time I made it, my daughter couldn't get enough of it and made me make it at least once a week so I constantly had starter bags on the counter. After several moves I had lost the recipe and really missed making it. My daughter will love me when I hand her a starter. Hmmm maybe I'll just put one in her stocking for xmas LOL
ReplyDeleteI have made this bread a million times and Never Ever had a problem with it sticking to the pan... I am uber excited that this pin has the instructions for making a starter... I used to have a friend that we would share the starters and she would freeze them because well let’s be honest sometimes you really can have too much of a good thing.... hahaha... but she moved away and I lost my hook up.... and my hubby has been uber sad that we don't have this yummy bread any more
ReplyDeleteMy husband got a starter bag from a co-worker and he decided HE was going to be responsible for making the bread. Well, he is a very good cook, but he is NOT a baker. I do all the baking. But, he really wanted to do it, so I decided not to try to help.
ReplyDeleteHe did all the smushing etc, and then the day came to make the bread. He had asked me to get the pudding. He didn't specify that it wasn't supposed to be instant pudding. first mistake. Then he decided to wing the measurements. Second mistake. He also did not grease the pan. third mistake.
The result looked inedible. I decided not to try it. It sat on the counter for a few days until I threw it outside for the birds.
I have pinned the recipe and I am going to make it the next time. Everyone raves about this bread, and I do want to try it!
Most bakery aisles have paper baking pans, if you plan to give it away after making.
ReplyDeleteI use Pyrex loaf pans, and they get about a tablespoon of butter smeared into each paying special attention to the corners. Grease the heck out of your pans and your bred will come out. Use real butter and it will only add to the good flavors!
ReplyDelete