Amish Friendship Bread - Minus the "Friendship" (starter)

Who doesn't love Amish Friendship Bread, buttttt, you have to admit dealing with the "starter" mix is a bit of a pain! And you just get stuck with it going on and on and on, until you finally throw the stuff out, which always makes me feel a little bit guilty for some reason!

So not to sound "unfriendly" but I went searching for a non-starter Amish Friendship bread recipe and this is what I found. I just made this bread this morning and sampled it a little bit ago....soooo good!!!!!


Ingredients:

Starter-

3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup milk
3/4 cup flour

Bread:

1 cup oil
1/2 cup milk
3 whole eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 boxes instant vanilla pudding (the smaller ones or 1 large one)
1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 F. Mix "starter" ingredients, then add oil, milk, eggs and vanilla, mix well.  In a separate bowl mix flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, baking soda, vanilla pudding and nuts.  Add dry mixture to the liquid mixture and mix thoroughly.

Pour into two large well greased loaf pans, one bundt pan or 48 muffin tins.  Bake for one hour or until done, muffins will take 30-35 minutes.

Short Bread Cookies

This is my favorite short bread cookie recipe, very easy, only 3 ingredients!  Awesome cookies that will melt in your mouth. Watch them carefully while cooking or they will burn!

Ingredients:

3/4 cup stick margarine or butter, softened (I use butter)
1/4 cup sugar
2 cups all purpose flour

Heat oven to 350.  Mix butter & sugar in large bowl, stir in flour.  Roll dough 1/2 inch thick on lightly floured surface. Cut into small shapes by hand or use cookie cutters.  Place 1/2 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheet.  Sprinkle with sugar.  Bake for 12-15 minutes WATCH CLOSELY TO AVOID BURNING! Remove from oven and cool on wire rack.

Yields 1 dozen cookies.

Vegetable Samosas

Ingredients:

1 package frozen ready-made Puff Pastry, thawed *
1 potato, peeled and finely diced
1 carrot finely diced
2 cloves of crushed garlic
1 onion finely chopped
1 cup of frozen peas
1 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tspn of curry powder or your own spices according to taste**
salt and pepper to taste
100 ml vegetable stock
1 egg, beaten


* some recipes call for using filo dough, however I have found puff pastry MUCH easier to use
** I tend to use double the amount of curry powder and add cumin as well, depending on your tastes

Heat the oil in a frying pan, add onion and garlic, mix in the spices and fry until soft. Add the vegetables, more seasoning if preferred (this is when I like to add more curry) and stir until well coated. Add the stock, cover and simmer for 30 minutes until cooked. (You may need to add more stock as the mixture cooks to prevent it from drying out)

Once you've made the vegetable mixture divide the thawed puff pastry into 12 equal pieces (most come in 2 sheets, I cut 6 equal pieces from each sheet)  Roll each piece of dough into a ball and roll into a 15 cm circle (about 6 inches) Place a tbsp of the mixture in the middle of each circle then moisten the edges with a bit of water. Fold the circle over and seal the edges. Place the samosas on a lightly greased baking tray.  Beat one egg and brush the egg wash over each samosa. 

Bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes, cool on a wire rack after removing from the oven.

***I think they taste better cold  

Enjoy!!!

Mama & Maddie's Apple Pie

I love to cook with Maddie and I'm sure someday when they are old enough I will share the same wonderful times with Matthew and Amy. Aside from teaching her some valuable cooking lessons we have some great Mama and Maddie bonding time. I hope she will always remember these special times we share.  This is the recipe for our favorite home made apple pie.

Pastry for Double Crust Pie

Ingredients:

2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup shortening
6 - 7 tsp cold water (I use ice water)

In a bowl, combine flour and salt; cut in the shortening until crumbly. Gradually add water, tossing with a fork until dough forms a ball. Divide dough in half so that one ball is slightly larger than the other.

Wrap each ball in plastic wrap and put in refrigerator to keep cool while making the pie filling.

Pie filling ingredients:

7 - 8 cups thinly sliced peeled tart apples
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 tablespoons butter
1 egg yolk
1 tablespoon water

In a bowl, toss apples with lemon juice.  Combine sugar, flour, cinnamon, salt and nutmeg, add to apples and toss.  Roll out the larger ball of dough on a floured surface and place in 9 inch pie plate. Do not trim the edges. Fill with pie shell with the pie filling. Dot top with butter. Roll out second ball of dough and lay over the pie. Gently fold the top edge of the pie crust under the lower, then using your fingers and thumb create a fluted edge. (If you prefer you can trim the edges and flute with a fork)  Beat egg yolk w/ water and brush over top of crust. Cut four slits in top of crust. Cover edges loosely with foil and bake at 425 for 15 minutes.  Reduce heat to 350, remove foil and bake 40-45 minutes longer or until crust is golden brown and filling is bubbly.  Cool on a wire rack.

Sticky Chicken N' Barbeque

One of my families favorite meals is also cheap and easy to make! My husband actually came up with this one night when I asked him to make dinner. This is a kid friendly recipe, meaning your kids will love it too!

Ingredients:

2-3 chicken breasts
1/2 bottle of your favorite bbq sauce (we like Famous Dave's Hickory & Brown Sugar)
Several dashes of soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
Squeeze of honey (optional)

Cut the chicken breasts into bite size chunks, heat oil in a frying pan or wok and cook the chicken until done. While the chicken is cooking mix the BBQ sauce, soy sauce, ginger and honey in a small bowl using a whisk. Once chicken is done, drain off any fat, then add BBQ mixture. Stir fry the chicken & BBQ for several minutes until you start to get a caramelized effect. The chicken will start to get "sticky" , then you know it's done. Serve with your favorite rice, oriental noodles or roast potatoes.

Country White Bread

My favorite homemade bread recipe, full of rich flavor!

Ingredients:

2 packages (1/4 ounce each) active dry yeast
2 cups warm water (110 to 115 degrees)
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon salt
2 eggs beaten
1/4 cup vegetable oil
6 1/2 to 7 cups all purpose flour, divided

In a large mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in water. Add sugar, salt, eggs, oil and 3 cups of flour; beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough. Turn onto a floured surface; kneed until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour. Punch dough down. Divide in half and shape into two loaves. Place in two greased 9 in x 5 in by 3 in loaf pans. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour. Bake at 375 for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pans; cool on wire racks.

Egg Noodles

Once you taste these wonderful home made noodles you won't ever buy those dry, bland, full of nothing but air noodles in a plastic bag again. These noodles MAKE the soup, trust me!

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose or whole wheat flour
3 large egg yolks
1 large egg
1 teaspoon salt
1/3 to 1/2 cup water


Make a well in the center of flour in a medium bowl. Mix in egg yolks, egg and 1 teaspoon salt thoroughly. Mix in 1/3 to 1/2 cup water, 1 tablespoon at a time until dough is stiff but easy to roll.

Divide the dough into 4 equal parts. Roll one part at a time into paper thin rectangle on generously floured surface. (keep remaining dough covered) Loosely fold rectangle lengthwise into thirds. Cut crosswise into 1/8 inch strips for narrow noodles, 1/4 inch strips for wide noodles.Unfold strips and place in single layer on towels, let stand about 2 hours or until stiff and dry.

Break strips into smaller pieces. You are now ready to add the noodles to your soup.