“When the Girl Scout Samoa cookie box is empty, make this bread! It will satisfy you until the next round of cookie sales.”

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hours
Servings: 16
Yield: 2 loaves

Ingredients (click to print)

1 cup Amish Friendship Bread Starter
3 eggs
1 cup oil
1/2 cup milk
1 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups flour
2 tablespoons Dulce de Leche cream
1 box Royal Flan with caramel sauce
1 small box instant chocolate pudding
1 cup mini chocolate chips
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup coconut
1/2 box Girl Scout Samoa Cookies

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325° F (165° C).
2. In a large mixing bowl, add all ingredients up to the flour.
3. Pour half of the batter into another bowl.
4. One bowl gets the following mixed in:
   Royal Flan without the caramel sauce and Dulce de Leche cream.
5. The other bowl gets the following mixed in: instant chocolate pudding, chocolate chips, cocoa powder and 1/4 cup of the coconut.
6. Grease two large loaf pans.
7. Dust the greased pans with a mixture of 1/2 cup sugar and 1/2 teaspoon cocoa powder.
8. Pour the yellow batter evenly into loaf pans.
9. Pour the chocolate batter evenly on top of the yellow batter.
10. Sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup of coconut, sugar-cocoa mixture and add a few crushed Samoa cookies on top of bread.
11. Bake for one hour or until the bread loosens evenly from the sides and a toothpick inserted in the center of the bread comes out clean.
12. ENJOY!

Kitchen Notes

Crushed Samoas make a tasty addition. Dulce de Leche cream is a caramel like sweetened condensed milk found in most grocery stores in the Mexican/International aisle or by the evaporated milk. You could easily make this bread without using this but it is a tasty addition. Royal Flan is a mix that is found with the instant puddings. If you can’t find it then just use 1 large box of vanilla instant pudding. Toasted coconut would be a great addition.

Image Gallery

L to R: muffins (c) Friendship Bread Kitchen; (c) Friendship Bread Kitchen

Dear Kitchen Friends,

I’m embarrassed to say that we are just finally taking down our Christmas decorations. I know, I know. We’re on the verge of becoming one of those families that leaves their lights on all year (which, if you think about it, makes things a lot easier come next December). But I really want to herald in spring, so down they come.

We have lots of great Valentine’s Day treats in the Recipe Box. Here are a couple of our favorites:

Chocolate Cherry Almond Amish Friendship Bread

Chocolate Chip Cherry Amish Friendship Bread

I just finished a massive re-write for Memory Keeping, which will be out in 2013, and I’m working on an Avalon Christmas story as I wait to hear back from my editor on any last minute changes. Both have lots of new recipes (including ones for Amish Friendship Bread) and include many of the same characters you’ve come to know: Madeline, Connie and Hannah, for starters. There’s also Isabel, Yvonne, Ava, and Bettie, president of the Avalon Scrapbooking Society. If this is all Greek to you and you’re curious to learn more, click here to read an excerpt of the book that started it all, Friendship Bread.

A special thank you to everyone who submitted recipes and book comments this past month:

Brenda from Ladoga, IN
Debbie Prozzo from Forestville, CT
Gina from Jacksonville, FL
Heaven Alcorn from St. Charles, IL
Jennifer Schoenberger from Spring Hill, KS
Sandy Kelley-Jones from Pearland

Thanks for joining me in the Kitchen!

best,

Darien

Submitted by: Susan Buetow | Scraps of Life
Image (c) Susan Buetow | Scraps of Life

“Serve this bread slightly warm for a luxurious chocolatey hazelnut treat.”

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hours
Servings: 16
Yield: 2 loaves

Ingredients

1 cup Amish Friendship Bread Starter
1 cup chocolate milk
1 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup oil
2 eggs
2 cups flour
2 small boxes chocolate instant pudding
1 cup Nutella hazelnut spread

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325° F (165° C).
2. In a large mixing bowl, add ingredients as listed except the Nutella.
3. Grease two large loaf pans.
4. Dust the greased pans with granulated sugar.
5. Pour the batter evenly into loaf or cake pans.
6. Drop 1/2 cup of Nutella on top of each pan and use a knife to swirl it into the batter.
7. Bake for one hour or until the bread loosens evenly from the sides and a toothpick inserted in the center of the bread comes out clean.
8. ENJOY!

Kitchen Notes

From Susan Buetow: “Make this extra special by baking it in a Bundt pan. Check time at 1 hour and be prepared to bake it an extra 15-25 minutes. Once baked and cooled for 10 minutes, invert on to a cake platter. Let cool. Not necessary but to really dress up the cake, frost top with Nutella Buttercream. Top with crushed hazelnuts or pecans.”

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L to R: (c) Susan Buetow | Scraps of Life

“Kids and adults of all ages love these cake pops! Decorate them to suit any theme–baby or bridal showers, birthday or office parties–anything goes!”

Prep Time: 1 hour
Cook Time: 1 hour
Servings: 40-50
Yield: 40-50 cake pops

Ingredients

1 baked Amish Friendship Bread, any variety
1 package cream cheese, softened
1 package vanilla or chocolate almond bark or colored candy melts
Lollipop sticks, cut in half
1/3 cup crushed cookies (optional)
Decorative sprinkles, colored sugar, mini-chocolate chips or crushed nuts

Directions

1. Completely cool (4 hours or overnight) any Amish Friendship Bread variation.
2. Put cake in a large bowl and break it up with your hands into small pieces.
3. Add in cream cheese and mix into cake until well incorporated.
4. Cover baking sheet with aluminum foil.
5. Roll into bite-sized balls and place on baking sheet. Stick in lollipop sticks and put in freezer until firm, about 30-40 minutes.
6. When cake balls are firm, melt chocolate in melting pot, double boiler or microwave bowl.
7. Dip each ball into the chocolate until covered and gently tap off excess chocolate. Stick into Styrofoam to keep lollipops upright.
8. Add decorative topping right after you dip into chocolate. Top with extra chocolate for decoration once all the pops are dry.
9. ENJOY!

Kitchen Notes

Variation #1: Upside Down Cake Pop. Once the ball dipped into chocolate, place on a baking sheet with the stick up in the air. Decorate “upside down.”

Variation #2: Cake Ball. The quickest method for bakers on the run! Don’t stick lollipop sticks into cake balls. Once firm, use two forks or a toothpick to dip cake ball into melted chocolate and another toothpick to push ball off onto aluminum foil. Use extra chocolate to cover the top where toothpick was inserted. Decorate.

Image Gallery

From L-R: (c) Susan Buetow; (c) Susan Buetow;

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Servings: 16
Yield: 2 loaves

Ingredients (click to print)

1 cup Amish Friendship Bread Starter
3 eggs
1 cup oil
1/2 cup milk
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons mint extract
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups flour
2 small boxes instant chocolate pudding
1 cup mini chocolate chips
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 roll of Girl Scout Thin Mint Cookies, crushed

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325° F (165° C).
2. In a large mixing bowl, add ingredients as listed. Save 1/4 cup crushed cookies.
3. Grease two large loaf pans.
4. Dust the greased pans with a mixture of 1/2 cup sugar and 1/2 teaspoon cocoa powder.
5. Pour the batter evenly into loaf or cake pans and sprinkle the remaining sugar-cocoa mixture and crushed cookies on top of bread.
6. Bake for one hour or until the bread loosens evenly from the sides and a toothpick inserted in the center of the bread comes out clean.
7. ENJOY!

Kitchen Notes

This recipe will make 30 muffins. Bake for 18 minutes or unitl a toothpick inserted in the center of the muffin comes out clean.

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“A surefire favorite for chocolate lovers everywhere!”

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 75 minutes
Servings: 16
Yield:  2 loaves

Ingredients

1 cup Amish Friendship Bread Starter
3 eggs
1 cup canola oil
1 cup milk
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 teaspoon cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups flour
1 small box chocolate pudding
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325° F (165° C).
2. In a large mixing bowl, add ingredients as listed.
3. Grease two large loaf pans.
4. Dust the greased pans with sugar.
5. Pour the batter evenly into loaf pans and sprinkle with sugar on top.
6. Bake for 60-75 minutes or until the bread loosens evenly from the sides and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
7. ENJOY!

It’s January 2012, and on behalf of me, Susan, and our other virtual Kitchen assistants, we want to wish everyone a HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I’m finishing up Memory Keeping, the next book in the Avalon series (yes, I know it’s taken longer than I thought — sorry, readers!), and gearing up for the paperback release of Friendship Bread in May (new cover art on the way — I’ll share it once I have it). Once that’s done I’ll start work on a few Avalon shorts featuring the stories of different secondary characters from the novel. We’ll see if they end up as mini e-books or as part of a larger compilation–I, for one, can’t wait to revisit some of these wonderful (albeit eccentric) characters!

In the meantime, foreign editions of the novel (and the bread) are popping up around the world. It’s hit the UK by storm and we’ll be seeing it in the months to come in France, Poland, Italy and the Netherlands.

We’re still keeping busy in the Kitchen, too. We’re coming up with new Amish Friendship Bread recipes and answering your questions at the Kitchen Table, our forum for all things Amish Friendship Bread. We appreciate all the wonderful photos you’ve sent in, and hope you’ll keep sharing them with us.

As ever, we are active on Facebook as well. We passed the 70,000 mark, and are aiming to hit 100,000 in 2012. It’s mind boggling to think of what might happen if everyone from our Facebook Kitchen alone baked one loaf of bread and paid it forward by sharing the starter. In only a few rounds, we could change the world … or at least make it a little bit sweeter!

This year I’m hoping to hear your stories about the power of giving, either as the giver or receiver of Amish Friendship Bread. Share your story on our Facebook wall or at our forum and we’ll choose winners at random throughout the year. Winners will receive a gift chosen by Darien or Susan, or our Kitchen community as a whole. This lovely picture from Tina Butler at Mommy’s Kitchen is a wonderful reminder of what a simple but much appreciated gift Amish Friendship Bread can be.

So happy new year, everyone — here’s to a great year for ALL of us!

warmly,

Darien

“Need to eat your Amish Friendship Bread on the run? These lemon poppyseed muffins will do the trick.”

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Servings: 24 servings
Yield: 24 muffins

At a Glance

• omit cinnamon
• replace vanilla instant pudding with lemon instant pudding
• replace vanilla with lemon extract or fresh lemon juice
• add 1/4 cup poppy seeds

Ingredients (click to print)

1 cup Amish Friendship Bread Starter
3 eggs
1 cup oil
1/2 cup milk
1 cup sugar
1-2 teaspoons lemon extract
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups flour
1 small box lemon instant pudding
Zest of one lemon (for topping)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325° F (165° C).
2. In a large mixing bowl, add ingredients as listed except grated lemon zest.
3. Grease muffin tins.
4. Dust the greased tins with sugar.
5. Pour the batter evenly into muffin tins. Sprinkle the tops mixture of sugar and grated lemon zest.
6. Bake for 25 minutes or until the bread loosens evenly from the sides and a toothpick inserted in the center of the bread comes out clean.
7. ENJOY!

Kitchen Notes

Poppy seeds can quickly go rancid so are best store in your refrigerator or freezer. If you prefer to use fresh lemons to lemon extract, you can replace 2 teaspoon grated lemon peel for each teaspoon of lemon extract, or 3 teaspoons fresh lemon juice for each teaspoon of lemon extract. You can use loaf pans for this recipe. It will make 2 loaves of bread. Follow the same instructions and increase baking time to 50-60 minutes or until the bread loosens evenly from the sides and a toothpick inserted in the center of the bread comes out clean.

“This is the perfect Christmas treat that brings together chocolate, candy canes and Amish Friendship Bread!”

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Servings: 16
Yield: 2 loaves

Ingredients

1 cup Amish Friendship Bread Starter
3 eggs
1 cup oil
1/2 cup milk
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 small box candy cane instant pudding 
1 cup chocolate chips
1 candy cane, crushed

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325° F (165° C).
2. In a large mixing bowl, add ingredients as listed.
3. Grease two large loaf pans.
4. Dust the greased pans with a mixture of 1/2 cup sugar and 1 teaspoon cocoa powder.
5. Pour the batter evenly into loaf or cake pans and sprinkle the remaining sugar-cocoa mixture on the top.
6. Bake for one hour or until the bread loosens evenly from the sides and a toothpick inserted in the center of the bread comes out clean.
7. Sprinkle the top of the hot bread with the crushed candy cane.
8. ENJOY!

Kitchen Notes

The candy cane instant pudding used in this recipe is a seasonal pudding found at most local stores. If you can’t find the candy cane pudding substitute with vanilla pudding and 1 teaspoon of peppermint extract.

To make cupcakes, you pour batter into lined muffin cups and bake 12-15 minutes and a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Once cooled and ready to serve, top cupcakes with whipped topping and sprinkle on crushed candy canes.

From Tamara Jessee: Another variation is to leave out the cocoa powder, candy cane and chocolate chips and stir in 1 cup of chopped Hershey’s Kisses candy cane flavored.

Images

L to R: ingredients (c) Friendship Bread Kitchen; loaf (c) Friendship Bread Kitchen; loaf (c) Friendship Bread Kitchen; cupcakes (c) Friendship Bread Kitchen; cupcakes (c) Friendship Bread Kitchen

“This Amish Friendship Bread cobbler is perfect to serve on a cool, crisp night.”

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 40-50 minutes
Servings: 12
Yield: 1 – 9 x 13 inch pan

Ingredients

1 cup Amish Friendship Bread Starter
1 cup flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking powder
4 cups peaches, sliced
3 tablespoons of flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 teaspoon sugar for topping

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350° F (175° C).
2. Butter the bottom and sides of a 9 x 13 baking dish.
3. In a bowl, mix peaches with 3/4 cup sugar, 3 tablespoons of flour and 1 teaspoon of cinnamon.
4. Pour peach mixture into baking dish.
5. In another bowl, mix together starter, flour, 3/4 cup of sugar, vanilla and baking powder.
6. Pour starter mixture over peaches.
7. Sprinkle top of batter with 2 teaspoons of sugar.
8. Bake for 40-50 minutes or until the top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center of the bread comes out clean.
9. ENJOY!

Kitchen Notes

This recipe was made with fresh peaches. Have fun experimenting with other fresh stone fruits or berries.

Images

L to R: (c) Friendship Bread Kitchen; (c) Friendship Bread Kitchen