Amish Friendship Bread

The equivalent of a chain letter landed on my desk at work ten days ago, yet I didn't cringe.  A challenge. An adventure. What would this little bag bring to my life? A culinary gesture to say "you are my friend" started by the Amish and passed on one bag at a time. What was in the bag? Well, nobody can say for sure. But, it came with detailed directions and I decided to partake.

The Amish Friendship Bread takes 10 days from the date of inception to gently mush and mold into a delicious bread in loaf or muffin form.  I made one loaf and 5 muffins with the gift, passed on three bags to my best girl friends and kept one for myself to make another batch in 10 days. 

So here's how it works.  First, you must receive a starter bag from someone.

Day 1: Do nothing (date is on the bag)
Day 2: Mush the bag
Day 3: Mush the bag
Day 4: Mush the bag
Day 5: Mush the bag
Day 6: Add 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar, 1 cup milk and mush the bag
Day 7: Mush the bag
Day 8: Mush the bag
Day 9: Mush the bag
Day 10: Follow instructions below

1. Pour the entire contents of the bag into a non metal bowl
2. Add 1-1/2 cup sugar, 1-1/2 cup flour and 1-1/2 cup milk. Mix with a non metal spoon.
3. Measure out 4 seperate batters of 1 cup each into 4 one gallon zip lock bags. Label each with a date. Keep one starter for yourself and give the other three batters to friends along with a copy of the recipe (or this blog link). 
4. Preheat the oven to 325
5. Add the following to the remaining batter:

3 eggs
1 cup oil
1/2 cup milk
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups flour
1 large box instant vanilla pudding
Optional: raisins, nuts, etc.

6: Greast 2 large loaf pans, or muffin pans and mix an additional 1/2 cup sugar and 1 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon in a small bowl. Dust the greased pans with the mixture.
7: Pour the batter evenly into the pans
8: Bake 1 hour, cool 10 minutes. Turn onto serving dish.  (if you are cooking muffins, shorten the bake time to approximately 30 minutes)

Important note: Do not use any type of metal spoons or metal bowls while mixing. Do not refrigerate (leave on counter) - if air gets in the bag, let it out. It is normal for the batter to rise, bubble and ferment.

Enjoy your friendship bread!