Tuesday, March 04, 2008

"Amish Friendship Bread Challenge"

Have you ever heard of Amish Friendship Bread? I had never heard of it until last Saturday. My demo gave me a small loaf of banana bread last Saturday morning. It was soooooo good. We had stamp camp later that afternoon and she gave me a gallon size zip loc bag with some white goo inside (which is the starter mix) along with a recipe for Amish Friendship Bread. When we were talking about it and as I was reading the directions for the bread, I almost got sick. (not literally) The idea of the bread is that you make a batch and then take out three cups of "starter mix" and give them to three friends along with the recipe for the bread. Then they make the mix and pass it on to their friends and so on.

Here is the problem. The starter mix has milk in it and it sits on your counter for a week before you make the bread. Also the starter mix I got from her, she got from someone else, who got it from someone else, who got it from someone else and so on. Who knows how long this starter mix has been going around. Doesn't that sound not safe? But the bread was so good. I am on day 6 today so I am going to add more milk and stuff and then keep it on the counter until I make the bread on Saturday. I think it is very weird and unsafe, although the bread was super delicious. I am going to follow through on this, I know it is safe cause I didn't get sick and if the Amish do it, it has to be good right? My challenge to you is for you to do it and let me know how it turns out for you.

Also, have you tried the new M&M's? Dang it that they are a limited edition. They are DELICIOUS!! I am a sucker for anything cherry too.

15 comments:

Tara said...

You should try using lemon pudding sometime, it's soooo good!

Lee said...

Ohhhh......haven't tried the Cherry M&Ms yet.......I sure loved the Raspberry ones!!

Rochelle W said...

Wait!! There were raspberry M&M's? Man I totally missed those. I bought the raspberry kisses but I would have loved the M&M's.

Melissa said...

I've done the amish friendship bread thing before and never really thought about it like that. Either way it's pretty tasty!

Many Blessings,
M.

Shellie Shufelt said...

I have been making Amish bread for years! Try using Lemon pudding and adding poppyseed. Or bannana pudding and 1 or 2 mashed bananas. Or White chocolate pudding, almond extract, and frozen raspberries. Chocolate pudding, almond extract, and chocolate chips. These are just a few of my favorites. You can also make them into muffins, or a cake. AND instead of giving the extra bags away to friends, what I do is save a starter for me, then take the remaining, divide it in half, and you have enough to make 2 batches! Then freeze it - it's so yummy reheated in the microwave. Enjoy! :)Shellie

Jan Scholl said...

some starters you can do in the fridge. But the best breads I have ever had are made with counter top starters. All that terrific french bread you get in good restaurants especially in San Fransisco? Made with a starter. as for having milk in it-I have never used milk in bread. I dont use milk ever. I just took another bread making class from a French trained baker, and I think I could spend my life making yummy breads. I just made one with calamata olives and soy based cheese. I think I need another slice! bye.

Sandra Smart said...

This bread sounds so good, but I was reading about it and all articles say you need a starter! Guess I will have to wait to try it! :(
But the articles did say it was safe...so if you want to read about it, here is a good site:
http://www.ext.colostate.edu/safefood/newsltr/v1n2s04.html

Anonymous said...

We used to make bread like this before I became allergic to gluten. It wasn't called Amish Bread here, though. It was called "Herman." Seriously. Friends would ask for "Herman" if they needed more starter or a coffee cake for a brunch or church meeting. Yummy, that Herman was. Now I wonder if I could get a good Herman started with potato flour. I'll have to check into that. Any ideas?

JoAnna Goodman said...

My stepmom makes Amish bread all the time. It seems like every time we go over there, she has a starter bag on the counter!

Jennifer Orbaker said...

My mom used to call it Herman too! Does anyone know how to get a starter going? I would love to start doing this!!

Kelley said...

Absolutely love Amish Friendship bread!! Made batches and batches for months last year.....the one with the chocolate pudding is my FAV! Just took a baked loaf out of my freezer last week! Can't get enough! Hope you enjoy it!

Chris said...

i love amish bread!!! when we lived in navy housing, it started going around and i could not get enough!!! i wish i had a starter. i think i once read how to make a starter on www.allrecipes.com i think i'll go back and check....and i love anything that is choco-cherry...i am so looking for those m&m's!!!

Anonymous said...

I love Amish Friendship Bread! If anyone knows how to make the starter, please give directions.

crazy4mycrafts said...

I have made Amish Friendship Bread for years for Christmas. I make all the starter bags and give them away! They are super easy to start... And if you google it, you can find soooo many different variations to the bread... add just about anything and it turns out good! I have a starter recipe somewhere.

Bella Rose Creations said...

It is totally safe! I had it going at one point but it got out of hand. Basically the yeast in the starter eats and outcompetes all the other 'bad' bacteria. The only time it would go bad is if you forget to feed it, then the yeast die off and other 'flora' can take over. One tip...if you aren't feeling friendly is to cut the whole recipe down at the baking day (it works) so you are only left with 1 cup of starter...enough for you! Because after a while you friends will kind of run when you come by with 'Herman' in hand.