A Million and One Ways

A friend gave me a starter of Amish Friendship Bread about 2 months ago and I have been on a kick ever since to perfect the recipe and make it somewhat healthy! Well, as healthy as you can get for a dessert bread.
For those of you who aren't familiar with it, Amish Friendship bread is a fermented bread that goes through a 10 day "sitting" process before final ingredients are added and it is baked. Where the name came from, I'm not really sure because I highly doubt it has anything to do with the actual Amish community. One look at the recipe and it screams "modern day America", 1 cup of oil (eeewwwwwwww,) 1 lg box of instant vanilla pudding mix and more sugar than you could every imagine. Yep, sounds like something you'd see Sara Lee baking up.

Anyhow, every time you bake a loaf you have starter left over. Some to share with friends and some to keep and start the whole fermenting process over again. So, every 10 days I have been tweaking the recipe and baking it to see how it turns out. Over the past few loaves, I have totally omitted the oil, used butter, left the last part of the sugar out, added more vanilla, added less flour, left out the pudding mix and added pumpkin. I also always forgo the sugar and cinnamon coating on the outside. And it always seems to turn out perfectly!!! Now, I'd love to say that it is just my keen baking abilities that allow it to always be so good but I have to wonder, is it possible to mess this recipe up?? Apparently not.

Just don't go asking me for the recipe, unless you want to hear, "Add some pumpkin, put in less flour, and only use a little sugar." If you're good with that kind of direction, then I can help. I don't really measure anything and that's about as specific as I get! But really, Layton could bake this stuff up and have it turn out great!