Amish Friendship Bread

A few weeks ago I thought, "A loaf of Amish Friendship Bread sounds really good right now." For those of you familiar with that type of bread, you may be saying to yourself, "Yeah, it's good, but passing on the starter bags you make is hard." To that I say, "I know, but I typically make more than one batch of bread, making for less new starter bags." :) The other problem was finding a starter bag... BOOM! This week there was a bag in the lounge at work. I swiped it up and took it home, ready to feed and burp it until I was able to turn it in to a great loaf of bread.

Then, my excitement got the better of me because I figured out I wasn't going to be able to bake it on day 10 - I had class that night. So, I Google-searched about baking it on day 9 and found some great stuff about this delicious treat, like two blogs that have put a great spin and some laughter to the whole thing. I also knew that the recipe that comes with it isn't the only kind that has to be made. Since many websites say "the recipe is forgiving," I searched for different variations. I found some great websites with excellent ideas, (seriously, search and you'll find all kinds of ideas) but picked two from this one and decided to go for the lemon and orange cranberry in addition to the regular recipe that came with my bag of bread goo

Tonight was the night to bake it (even though it's technically day 9). The only problem was that I should have double checked my pantry before I went grocery shopping. I knew I needed pudding and egg substitute, and assumed I had everything else. I ended up being short on egg substitute and oil. But, holding to the thought that "this recipe is forgiving," I proceeded. I followed the directions for making the new starter bags, made 2 bags and then put what was meant to be the other two starter bags in bowls (1 cup each). This left me with three batches of starter goo.

I made one batch of regular cinnamon, one of lemon poppyseed, and one orange cranberry. This is where it got interesting... I decided to use what egg substitute I had and divide it 3 ways. For the oil, I was planning on using 1/2 oil and 1/2 applesauce anyway, but with the shortness of oil it just ended up being 1/4 c oil and 3/4 c applesauce. (Also, the lemon variation recipe called for an additional cup of milk. I did not do this because the batter seemed fine without it.)

As I type this blog all 6 loaves are in the oven and my house smells DELICIOUS! (a positive outcome to the length of time they are taking to bake tonight) I plan on keeping the mini-loaves out for snacks and breakfasts, and will freeze the larger loaves for another day.

Also, here are a couple other things I've learned this week:

• The starter bag CAN be frozen, but you'll have to do your own search to find out what to do.
• You can make a smaller batch, resulting in NO bags to pass on. I remember seeing one site that said at each "feeding" just add 1/2 cup of the ingredients and then complete the recipe. (of course, now I can't find it when I want to)
• Lots of people make this bread, and opinions vary widely. I, for one, love it!