Chocolate Cherry Almond Amish Friendship Bread

Submitted by: Friendship Bread Kitchen
Image (c) Friendship Bread Kitchen

“Wow, wait until you try this moist and chocolatey bread using Amish Friendship Bread starter!”

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 60 minutes
Servings: 16
Yield: 2 loaves

Ingredients

1 cup Amish Friendship Bread Starter
3 eggs
1 cup oil
1/2 cup milk
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups flour
1-2 small boxes instant chocolate pudding
1 cup whole cherries, pitted, defrosted and drained
1 cup whole almonds, coarsely chopped

Directions

1. Preheat over to 325° F (165° C).
2. In a medium-sized bowl mix Amish Friendship Bread starter, eggs, oil, milk, vanilla and almond extracts.
3. In a large bowl mix sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, flour, and pudding.
4. Add wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until just incorporated. Fold in cherries and almonds.
5. Grease two large loaf pans and dust with a sugar-cocoa mixture of 1/2 cup sugar and 1 1/2 teaspoon cocoa powder.
6. Pour the batter evenly into the pans.
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.

Kitchen Notes

This is one of our favorite Amish Friendship Bread variations — it’s moist and full of flavor, and the coarsely chopped almonds pair beautifully with the cherries and chocolate. It’s easy to find the whole, pitted cherries at Trader Joe’s and most supermarkets.