Shortcut Amish Friendship Bread!
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This is one of those recipes where we really need a little door in your computers that you could open right now and I could hand you a warm piece of this amazing bread. Pictures cannot tell you how delicious it tastes and smells – warm cinnamon and vanilla mixed with mama’s hugs. So I’m going to have to hope that you have faith in me and try to make this as soon as possible so that you can taste this tender bread for yourself.
The original recipe for Amish Friendship Bread is legendary. But with my recipe, no starter is needed!
But goodness, that bread is high maintenance! My version doesn’t require a starter or any forethought beyond “Hey, I think I’ll go make some Shortcut Amish Friendship Bread!” but it still has that wonderfully moist flavor that is perfect for a snack for the kids (or you) or coffee time treat. It’s so simple, you can just make a loaf for a friend rather than saddling them with a starter that they have to remember to feed each day. Low maintenance deliciousness is just another reason to love this version.
Begin by placing all of your dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl and stirring them together by hand.
Add remaining ingredients and beat with an electric mixer until fully blended, about two minutes.
Divide evenly among two loaf pans that have been sprayed with cooking spray and bake at 325 for about an hour.
Note: If you remember the old Amish Friendship Bread you are probably looking at this and wanting to sprinkle cinnamon sugar on top. However, doing this will cause the tops to cave in while it bakes and it won’t be pretty.
As an alternative, I’ve made sure to include lots of cinnamon flavor in the bread itself.
I know these loaves look a bit plain on screen but they are one of the most amazing air fresheners to hit kitchens since chocolate chip cookies!
Give a loaf to a friend – or keep them both for yourself. I won’t judge. 😉
Holler back if you make this! I wish I could let you taste it right now!
Ingredients
- 3 cups self rising flour
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 box 5.1 ounce instant vanilla pudding mix
- 1 heaping tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 1.5 cups buttermilk or whole milk
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup butter melted and cooled slightly
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325. Liberally spray the inside of two 9x5 inch loaf pans with cooking spray and set aside.
- Place flour, sugar, pudding mix, and cinnamon into a large mixing bowl. Stir together with a wooden spoon until well blended. Add buttermilk, vegetable oil, butter, eggs, and vanilla and beat with an electric mixer at medium speed, scraping down sides as needed, until smooth and fully blended, about two minutes.
- Divide batter evenly among the two loaf pans. Bake until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, about one hour. Allow to cool for 10 minutes in pan before turning out and allowing to cool completely. Okay, confession: I always eat at least one slice warm! Enjoy!
Nutrition
It’s not happy people who are thankful – it’s thankful people who are happy.
~unknown
Other recipes you might enjoy: Easy Dutch Oven Bread, Crunchy Honey Lime Chicken, Soft Unleavened Bread, Ambrosia
This bread is wonderful. I used to make the old way but this will be the new quick way. Thanks so much and Happy Mothers Day
If someone needs cinnamon sugar, they could always sprinkle it on the cut slices or wait until it cools and spread some melted butter on top and sprinkle it then. Sounds like there is enough in the recipe, though, to make virtually everyone happy.
I just had a warm slice with butter. It is so yummy! I love to bake, but some recipes are overly complicated. I love the beautiful simplicity of this one that taste like you did a lot of work.
Do you refrigerate your bread or do you leave it on the counter?
Oh, and I used buttermilk. I think it’s wonderful when baking. Makes breads/cornbreads so moist!
I do both Kim. It really depends on how fast I think it will get eaten. If we have a busy few days I will refrigerate it so that it will last a little longer but if everyone is home for a day or two I will just leave it out.
Goodness Christy this is amazing. I used the whole milk as that is what I had on hand and I baked them in two 8×4 inch pans so they came out a little taller than yours but so delicious. It mixed up, smelled, and tasted exactly like the original recipe. I cannot get over it. I used to love the original but it was a lot of work and waste of ingredients to keep the starter going. I will only make this one from now on. So easy and yummy. Thank you!!!
Thank you so much for trying it Teresa, I am so glad to hear that you liked it!!!
Making some for my grandson, but he wants chocolate chips in the bread. Should I use 1 cup or more. He is a real sweetie and make him banana bread with chocolate chip. Hoping he will like it. I love baking and he loves to come over when it is baking. He also likes zuchinn bread.
That should be its without an apostrophe! I really do know better than that…lol
Thank you! I’m going to have to give this a try. I made the Amish Friendship bread a lot back in the 90’s. Boy, it was a lot of work! I finally put a starter in the freezer & stopped making it. I got it out again a few years later & made some again because we all just loved it & all it’s variations. But! The work! So thank you so much for this short cut! I also liked to try all the different variations. One of our favorite was to use lemon pudding mix & add poppy seeds. I also sometimes made mini loaves, & then also baked them in mini muffin tins. That was a big hit too! I can’t wait to try this short cut!
P.S. I finally got that picture on my phone uploaded to my computer (the pic of my recipe page for Elvis cake!) so I will post it on the facebook group as soon as I can when I get back online, hopefully today! LOL
I hope you get the chance to give this version a try soon Linda!! I love the lemon poppyseed version!!!
thank you so much. it is a very light fluffy cake. I made the Amish bread and used white chocolate pudding in the first two loaves and pistachio in the second two as that was all the pudding I had and they are both great can’t wait to share with the family. going to try apples and then cinnamon. this is a great recipe and thank you for sharing
I am so glad you liked it!! Which flavor was your favorite?
pistachio was the best. this is so fast and easy and so moist. really great recipe