Amish Friendship Bread I

"I hate to burst bubbles, but after several cycles of making this recipe, I got suspicious of what the starter was actually adding to the mix. So I just completed two loafs: one with 1/2 c. starter an..." See mored one exactly the same without the starter. the breads came out virtually the same!!!! I was hoping the starter would add a tang or ? but there was no taste difference and we actually preferred the texture without the starter, it was a bit moister?!? So I'm afraid I will omit the starter in the future...."

"My boss gave me a list of his variations. In each one, he adds a box of pudding mix (whatever flavor you choose). It makes the bread very moist, and it stays moist for days. Our favorites include: ..." See more add 1 cup of craisins (dried cranberries), 1 cup of walnuts, and 1 box of vanilla pudding. Another includes: 1 smashed banana, 1 cup of walnuts, and 1 box of banana cream pudding. Yet another is 1 cup white chocolate chips, 1 cup macadamia nuts (chopped), and 1 box of white chocolate pudding. YUM!!! These are always big hits, and are great for the holidays! I'll warn you though, you may think you've done something wrong when you mix these in on day 10, because the batter is more the consistancy of cake batter than of bread dough, but it's OK, it bakes up just like bread."

"I love experimenting and trying all kinds of combinations. Because I'm so frugal and couldn't find enough friends to keep giving starter to, I now only "feed" 1/4 cup of each ingredient, make 2 loave..." See mores at the end of 10 days and then have just enough starter in my zip bag to continue without wasting any. Still works perfectly. By the way, a favorite is pistacio pudding & chopped pistatios!! Excellent!"