Amish Friendship Bread

This recipe requires Amish Friendship Starter, which will be explained first - once made you can then make the Friendship Bread.

Amish Friendship Starter

__Starting Ingredients:__

• 2 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
• 2 cups warm water
• 1 package active dry yeast

Instructions:

Day 1: In a glass or ceramic bowl, mix the starter ingredients. Leave on the kitchen counter uncovered, don't refrigerate.

Days 2-4: Stir well with a wooden spoon.

Day 5: Stir and add 1 cup milk, 1 cup flour, and 1 cup sugar.

Days 6-8: Stir with a wooden spoon.

Day 9: Stir and add another 1 cup milk, 1 cup flour and 1 cup sugar.

Days 10, 11: Stir well with a wooden spoon.

Day 12: Ladle 1 cup of starter into each of 4 containers and refrigerate.

You can utilize one container to make the bread, and save the others for future use. To the containers that will be stored - add one teaspoon of sugar to feed the yeast and refrigerate. Be sure to date the jars, and every 10 days, remove the jars, transfer to a bowl and add 1 cup milk, 1 cup flour and 1 cup sugar. Leave outside the refrigerator uncovered for 2 days and then bake or re-refrigerate.

Friendship Bread

Ingredients:

• 1 cup Friendship Starter, at room temperature
• 3 eggs
• 2/3 cup vegetable oil
• 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
• 2 medium apples, peeled and finelly chopped

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350°F. grease two 9x5-inch loaf pans. In a large mixing bowl, beat together the starter, eggs, vegetable oil and vanilla. Add the dry ingredients, minus the nuts & apples, and blend. Fold in the nuts and apples and transfer the batter to the prepared loaf pans. Bake for 50 minutes. Allow bread to cool for 10 minutes, then tip out onto a rack to finish cooling.