Merry New Year and Happy Holiday. I am happy to give you the ultimate re-gift. Friends, Suzy and Steve Kremer, have been so kind to share the recipe for the most moist, perfectly sweet and tastiest bread ever. I love it. From their family to yours….Enjoy.
This adapted recipe was originally called “Amish Friendship Bread“. According to the Kremers, it’s popularity is based on the actual “sharing” of a starter bag of some of the ingredients, given as gifts with instructions for finishing. The Amish version involved natural fermentation over the course of 5 days and rules such as not using any metal or refrigeration.
“We broke all original rules of the recipe in making this luscious holiday bread that can actually be served any time of year”, Suzy wrote. “Our niece Heather brought the starter bag and recipe to us in 2004! A big thanks to Heather as this bread has been a people pleaser for a few years now. We give it as gifts at Christmas and many people think “Oh no, the obligatory bread gift… (thinking it is yukky) until they taste it… we have actually had people ask us for more. What a compliment! And once you start giving it as a gift each year…people will look forward to it – expect it! This bread can also be frozen. We
discovered two small loaves in our freezer from last year. We thawed them out and they were still as delicious as if they had just been baked!”
Friendship Cinnamon Bread
For batter, mix together the following:
1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
3 large eggs
1/2 tsp. salt
2 cups of all-purpose flour
1/2 cup plus 2 tbs. whole milk
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 large box of instant vanilla pudding
2 tsp. cinnamon (plus more to taste, be generous!)
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
For loaf pans:
In separate bowl, mix 1 tsp. cinnamon and 3 tbs. sugar. Generously spray the loaf pans with cooking spray and sprinkle with the sugar mixture. Pour batter into pans. See below for pan sizes. Bake at 325 for 1 hour or until done.
Here some tips from Steve and Suzy:
-They mix all the ingredients for the batter in their KITCHEN AIDE ELECTRIC MIXER.
-They make a triple batch.
-When they do the triple batch, they changed the amount of cinnamon used from the required 2 teaspoons to 2 tablespoons – this makes a huge difference in the taste.
-The cinnamon they use is the SAIGON CINNAMON from the MCCORMICK GOURMET COLLECTION – Steve feels this is a much better tasting cinnamon!
-They also glaze the tops of each loaf of bread with a mixture of milk, sugar, and cinnamon. They do not measure this. They just mix it up in a bowl to their liking and then brush it on the loaves about 5 minutes or so at the end of the baking process…
-Steve uses 3 x 5 1/2 x 2 inch deep loaf pans. He fills them half full with batter. You can use any size loaf pan you want as long as you watch and adjust the cooking time.
-The small loaves are a great gift size!
-Use wire racks to finish cooling the loaves, once the pans are cool enough to handle.
If you wish you can add 1/2 to 1 cup of raisins, nuts, or chocolate chips, etc…
Do yourself a favor and try making the bread without any of these additions and I
think you will be very happy!
Steve and Suzy…thank you so much for sharing!
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
Merry New Year and Happy Holiday to “Well Spiced Life”, love checking my
mail and seeing that I have received an email from “Well Spiced Life” it’s
like getting a present. I also have had the delightful pleasure of tasting
the Friendship Cinnamon Bread and yes again, thank you Suzy and Steve!