A friend, Jan Thornton, gave me my first Friendship Bread at my bridal shower and it was delicious.  I have always wondered about the starter for that recipe then a couple years ago Jake’s cousin Mandy gave me another starter recipe.  Here’s the starter recipes as well as the steps you need to follow to make the Friendship Bread:

• 1 (.25 ounce) package Active Dry Yeast
• 1/4 cup warm Water (approximately 110 degrees)
• 1 cup All-Purpose Flour
• 1 cup granulated white Sugar
• 1 cup Milk

Dissolve yeast in water and let stand for 10 minutes. In a non-metal bowl combine flour and sugar. Mix thoroughly. Slowly stir in the milk and dissolved yeast mixture. Cover the bowl loosely and let stand until batter is bubbly.  Do not refrigerate batter.

1. Consider this Day 1 of the 10 day cycle. Leave loosely covered at room temperature or store in a ziplock bag.
2. Day 2 – Squeeze Bag
3. Day 3 – Squeeze Bag
4. Day 4 – Squeeze Bag
   
5. Day 5 – Squeeze Bag
6. Day 6 – Add 1 cup of Sugar,  1 cup of Flour, and 1 cup of Milk and Mix in a Non-Metal Bowl
   
7. Day 7 – Squeeze Bag
   
8. Day 8 – Squeeze Bag
9. Day 9 – Squeeze Bag
10. Day 10 – Add 1 cup of Sugar,  1 cup of Flour, and 1 cup of Milk and Mix in a Non-Metal Bowl
    

Scoop out 4 (1 cup) portions for of the starter mixture and put each cup in a separate ziplock bag.  Give 3 of the bags to friend and keep one for your family.  With the left over starter mixture add the following ingredients:

• 1 cup Oil
• 1/2 cup Milk
• 3 Eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon Vanilla

Mix together thoroughly then add the remaining ingredients to the mixture:

• 2 cups Flour
• 1 cup Sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder
• 1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
• 2 teaspoons Cinnamon
• 1 large box of Vanilla Instant Pudding
• Optional Items to Add – 1 cup nuts, Chocolate Chips, Coconut, Raisins and more!

Mix the dough thoroughly then divide into two greased loaf pans.  Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour.

Once you have made the starter (the 1 cup you kept for your family) you can consider it Day 1 and proceed to Day 2 the next day.  One of the problems I encountered the last time I did this recipe is that before long you have more Friendship Bread then you can give away.  If you are getting too much and want a break from doing Friendship Bread for a couple weeks you can freeze the starter batch measured out into 1 cups for later use.  The frozen starter bread will take at least 3 hours at room temperature to thaw before using.  This gives you the ability to always have it to restart but also an opportunity take a break for a little bit too!  Just remember to pull it out and start the process since it takes several days if you are planning on using it on a specific day!  You’ve hear the saying that “Good things come to those who wait…..”  this friendship bread is so delicious it is always worth the wait!

Photo by Binder of Daemons