Amish Friendship Bread: Starter and Recipe

Amish Friendship Bread is delicious and can become a great tradition, neighbor gift, or a great excuse to show up on someone's door just to say hello! Plus, there are so many variations from the friendship bread starter, so it's perfect for everyone. Just like friendship, you have to give it a little love and attention before it can turn into something great. I'll post a few of the recipes soon, but here is the starter to get it going:

1 package Active Dry Yeast

1 cup Milk

1 cup Flour

1 cup Sugar

*note: DO NOT USE METAL BOWLS OR SPOONS AND DO NOT REFRIGERATE

Dissolve yeast in a small amount of warm water. Mix in the remaining ingredients in an ample size plastic container or gallon re-sealable bag. IT WILL GROW! This is day 1 of the starter. Mark your bag/plastic container with the date.

Day 2: Stir once (or mush the bag)

Day 3: Stir once (or mush the bag)

Day 4: Stir once (or mush the bag)

Day 5: Add 1 cup Milk, 1 cup Flour, 1 cup Sugar and stir to combine.

Day 6: Stir once (or mush the bag)

Day 7: Stir once (or mush the bag)

Day 8: Stir once (or mush the bag)

Day 9: Do nothing

Day 10: Add 1 cup Milk, 1 cup Flour, 1 cup Sugar and stir to combine. Mark 3 bags or plastic containers with the date and add the starter (about 1 cup each). Give to friends with these instructions for days 2-10 and recipe below. Keep one for yourself.

Bread Recipe: using Starter

Starter
1 cup Oil
2 cups Flour
1/2 cup Milk
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
3 Eggs
3 teaspoons Vanilla
1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/2 teaspoon Salt
2 teaspoons Cinnamon
*3/4 cup Nuts *optional

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine all ingredients and mix well. Pour into two well-greased and sugared loaf pans. Bake 40-50 minutes or until done. Cool 20 minutes before removing from pan.

Orange Creamsicle Pie

1 pkg Orange Jello
1/3 c Boiling Water
2 containers Yoplait Orange Creamsicle Yogurt (light or regular...Any other brand would work, I just saw Yoplait brand)
1/2 quart of Vanilla Ice Cream, slightly melted
1 container Whipped Topping
2 pre-made Graham Cracker (or Shortbread) crusts


1. Start by filling both crusts up, half way with vanilla ice cream. This is easy if the ice cream is warm and a little melty...it spreads easily without breaking up the pie crust. Then put in the freezer to re-freeze while you make the rest of the filling.
2. Dissolve Jello with boiling water.

3. Stir in yogurt.

4. Stir in whipped topping.

5. Pull your pie crust, filled half way with ice cream, out of the freezer and pour half the orange mixture into each one.

6. Smooth out the top and put back in the freezer for about 3 hours.

7. Eat!

Rootbeer Cookies!

This is a recipe from my good friend Rachel and these cookies are awesome! They would be super delicious with some vanilla ice cream!

Cookies:
2 cups Brown Sugar
1 cup Crisco
2 Eggs

*Cream together the ingredients above, then add the following:

1/4 cup Buttermilk
2 teaspoons Root beer Extract
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
3 1/2 cups Flour

*Refrigerate for 1 hour. Then roll into balls and bake at 400 degrees for 5-7 minutes.

Glaze: Dip the cookies upside down while they're still warm. This time I made mine a bit thicker, like frosting, and frosted the cookies.

2 cups Powdered Sugar
1/3 cup Butter
1 1/2 teaspoons Root beer Extract
2 teaspoons Hot Water (more of less depending on the consistency you want)

Aaaa-mazing!






Root Beer

Microwave Caramel Corn

1/2 cup Butter
1 cup Brown Sugar
1/2 cup Karo Syrup
1 tsp. Vanilla
1/2 tsp. Baking Soda


Cook butter, brown sugar, and Karo syrup for 3-3 1/2 minutes in the microwave. When it bubbles, take it out of microwave and add vanilla & baking soda. Stir in about 8 cups of popped popcorn.

Twinkie Filling

I'm still working on perfecting my twinkie cake recipe. However, the filling has been through many trials and is awesome! It's delicious in any kind of cupcake!

1/4 cup Powdered Sugar
1/4 cup Flour
1 cup Milk
3/4 cup Crisco Shortening (Use regular Crisco only! NOT buttered flavor.)
1/4 cup Butter
1 tsp Vanilla
3/4 cup Sugar
1. In a small sauce pan, combine the flour, powdered sugar, and milk over medium-high heat. Stir constantly until it thickens. About 2-5 minutes. Set aside and let it cool.

2. Cream Crisco, butter, vanilla and sugar in a stand mixer until well combined. (You can use a hand held mixer but just a warning, the motor may not be able to handle the next step!)

3. Add cooled sugar, flour, milk mixture to creamed sugar, butter, vanilla and Crisco. Mix for at least 5 minutes. It will be completely combined, light, and fluffy.

4. Spoon mixture into a pastry bag with a tip. I just put a tip in the corner of a Zip-lock bag. It works great, and you can just throw the bag away when you're done!

5. Fill cupcakes with filling.

6. Enjoy!

Easy Key Lime Pie

Some family friends shared this recipe years ago and it is my go-to dessert!

1/4 c boiling Water
1 small pkg Lime Jello
2 containers Yoplait Key Lime Yogurt
1 container Cool Whip
Zest of 1 Lime
1 pre-made Graham Cracker Crust


Mix boiling water with Jello until dissolved. Mix in the yogurt and the Cool Whip. Zest in 1 lime. Pour into crust and chill for at least an hour. It sets up so fast you can serve it sooner than that if you need, but an hour is usually the perfect amount of time.

Sugar Cookies with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

I became a sugar cookie pro and frosting expert this week in preparation for baby girl's birthday party! Below is the best cookie recipe, and the Lemon frosting was a hit. There is also a great swiss meringue buttercream recipe over at Our Best Bites. Check out more pics from the party HERE.

Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting:

1 (8 oz) pkg Cream Cheese, room temperature

1/2 cup Butter

2 tsp Lemon Extract

4 cups Powdered Sugar

Zest of 1 Lemon

Combine cream cheese and butter with electric hand mixer or in stand mixer. Add powdered sugar 1 cup at a time and mix until smooth. Add lemon extract and zest and mix until incorporated. *Add up to 2 tablespoons of milk if it's too thick for your liking.*

Lion House Sugar Cookies:

1 1/2 cups Sugar

2/3 Butter flavor Crisco

2 beaten Eggs

2 tablespoons Milk

1 teaspoon Vanilla

3 cups Flour

2 1/2 teaspoons Baking Powder

1/2 teaspoon Salt

Cream together sugar and shortening. Add eggs, milk, and vanilla. Mix in dry ingredients combining thoroughly. With hands, shape dough into a ball, wrap with cling wrap, and refrigerate about an hour. Roll out on floured surface until 1/2"-1/3" thick. Cut out desired shapes. Bake at 400 degrees for 8 minutes or until center is cooked but the bottom is not yet browned.

Christmas Treats

We had fun making treats! I'm not a very good baker so this year I decided to go with mostly candy for my plates of Christmas treats for friends and neighbors. I found some great recipes that will become a holiday tradition, and also used some family recipes that are a tradition already!

Carmels: Grandma Stahle

2 c. Sugar

1 can Evaporated Milk

1 c. Light Karo Syrup

1/8 tsp. Salt

1 c. Butter

1 tsp. Vanilla

Mix together and stir constantly while cooking slowly over medium-low heat. Cook until it forms a firm ball in water (232-245 degrees) about 20 minutes. Take off heat and add vanilla. Pour into buttered glass pan. Let set then cut into small squares.

Tish's Microwave Fudge: click HERE 5 minute super easy and yummy fudge!

Marshmallows from Our Best Bites HERE I made mine with peppermint flavoring (soo good with hot chocolate) and then dipped them in red candy melts and crushed candy canes.

Pretzel Turtles from Our Best Bites HERE So easy and delicious!

Nutter-Butter Santa's:

1 pkg. Nutter-Butter Cookies

1/2 pkg. white Candy Melts or Almond Bark

1/2 pkg. red Candy Melts

small white Marshmallows

shredded coconut

red & black jel icing

Melt white candy melts according to package directions. Take a nutter-butter and dip the top and bottom in to the white chocolate. Dip one side into coconut. Set on wax paper to set. Once all cookies are dipped in white chocolate then coconut and set, melt red candy melts. Dip the non-coconut end of cookie into red chocolate leaving a little bit of the white chocolate showing, to form the hat. Stick a marshmallow on the side and put on wax paper to set. Marshmallow will stick as it cools. Use black and red jel icing to add eyes and a nose. Not hard, just a little time consuming!

Carmel Icing

Happy Birthday to me!

Grandma Stahle's Recipe!

1 cup Brown Sugar

1/2 teaspoon Salt

1/3 cup Evaporated Milk

3 tablespoons Butter

1 teaspoon Vanilla

Powdered Sugar

Combine brown sugar , salt and milk in saucepan. Bring to boiling point. Turn heat back to medium and cook about 5 minutes, or until slightly thickened. Remove from heat and add butter and vanilla. Cool slightly. Add powdered sugar until of spreading consistency. Beat until smooth.

Tastes like the frosting on maple bars...So good on chocolate cupcakes!

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

From Deanna in the Fromm Family Cookbook...I've decided they are my favorite. Plus, you can use ingredients like wheat flour and oats from food storage!

1/2 cup Butter Flavor Shortening
1/2 cup Butter, softened
3/4 cup Brown Sugar
3/4 cup Sugar
2 Eggs
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/4 teaspoon Salt
2 cups Oatmeal
3/4 cup Whole Wheat Flour
3/4 cup White Flour
1 teaspoon Vanilla
6-12 ounces Chocolate Chips

Cream butter, shortening and sugars well. Add eggs and mix well. Add remaining ingredients in order. Drop by rounded teaspoon on greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 10-13 minutes or until bottoms barely start to brown. Do not over bake or they will harden when cool.

Pie Crust

I've decided this is my favorite pie crust recipe!

2 cups Flour
1 cup Butter Flavored Shortening
1 teaspoon salt
5-6 tablespoons COLD water

Cut shortening into flour and salt. Add in water and mix lightly with a fork. Handling as little as possible, form into 2 even size balls. Refrigerate until cold. Roll out with well floured counter and rolling pin. Bake according to filling directions. (Cut recipe in half for one crust.)

It's great for fruit pies, or savory pies. Last night I had some left over turkey so I added it to a can of Cream of Chicken soup, celery, onions, carrots, and peas. Then, put it in this pie shell and baked at 375 degrees until golden brown. Delicious!

Tish's Microwave Fudge

1 1/2 cups Milk Chocolate Chips
1 1/2 cups Peanut Butter Chips
1 can Sweetened Condensed Milk
1/4 cup Butter
*1/2 cup Nuts (optional)

Put in bowl. Microwave on half power for 3-5 minutes-stopping to stir every minute until melted. Put in pan and cut into squares when cooled.

Mojito Bars--Better than your average Lemon Bar!

Crust:

3/4 cup Butter

1/3 cup Powdered Sugar

1 1/2 cups Flour

Zest of 1 Lime

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix flour, sugar, and zest. Cut in butter like making pie crust dough. Press into 9 x 13 inch pan and bake for 15 minutes.

Filling:

3 eggs

1 1/2 cups Sugar

5 tablespoons flour

1/3 cup Lime juice (about 3 limes)

Zest of 2 Limes

1 teaspoon Mint, finely chopped

2 oz. White Rum or 2 teaspoons Rum Extract

Whisk all ingredients together until smooth. Pour into partially baked crust. Bake 16-18 minutes. Sprinkle with powdered sugar. Cool and cut into bars.

Lucious Lemon Bars

Here is an updated version of Mom Fromm's delicious Lemon Bars! I'm not a very good baker, but theses are easy and so much better than a boxed mix!

Crust:

3/4 cup Butter

1/3 cup powdered Sugar

1 1/2 cups Flour

Zest of 1 Lemon

Mix sugar, zest, and flour. Cut butter into flour mixture like when making pie crust. Press into a 9 x 13" pan and bake for 15 minutes on 350 degrees.

Filling:

3 eggs

1 1/2 cups granulated Sugar

4 tablespoons Flour

1/3 cup Fresh Lemon Juice (about 2-3 lemons)

Zest of 1 Lemon

Whisk together until smooth.

Pour over cooked crust. Bake another 15 minutes at 350 degrees. Remove from oven and dust with powdered sugar. Cool completely before cutting into bars.

Grilled Peaches with Honey & Goat Cheese

This is so delicious, and fairly healthy dessert!

You can make as little or as much of this recipe because it's just simple ratio's: 1 peach per person with equal parts honey and Goat Cheese.

For 4 people:

4 Peaches, cut in half and pit removed
4 tablespoons honey
4 tablespoons Goat Cheese

Grill peaches flesh side down 5-7 minutes on medium heat. Mix honey and goat cheese. (This recipe makes a thick syrup like consistency but you can do more or less of either ingredient to your own taste.) Remove fruit from grill and top with 1/2 tablespoon honey, goat cheese mixture on each half of a peach. Serve warm.

So, yummy and you get a peach cobbler taste without all the fat!