Shortcut Amish Apple Bread
Amish recipes are some of the most wholesome around - not mention delicious. The Amish are especially known for their amazing homemade bread recipes, and this Shortcut Amish Apple Bread is absolute perfection.
If you are familiar with the story behind Amish friendship bread, you know that the traditional bread starter recipe is made in a 10-day cycle. It produces five cups of starter, which must be either used to bake bread, given away, or used to start a new cycle.
This version of Amish friendship bread recipe is great because it gives you a shortcut starter recipe, allowing you make the bread right away instead of in the traditional 10-day cycle. This bread can easily be made with any fruit that you prefer, but our recipe calls for apple or banana.
This delightful dense and moist bread is so tasty and goes great with a cup of coffee for a snack or light breakfast, or even as a subtly-sweet dessert. It's also a great recipe to make during the holidays for family gatherings. No matter when you enjoy this bread, it's always nice to eat it with a friend or two!
Notes
- DO NOT add an entire package of yeast! This recipe calls for much less, so it is important to measure it as such.
- Try using the cavity of the microwave in which to make a “warm place” for rising yeast mixtures.
- To make this bread into a banana version, simply substitute the 2 cups apple, for 1 large, ripe banana (mashed). If you'd like to make this bread healthier, just cut down on the amount of sugar (in the bread portion of the recipe, and elsewhere if desired) by reducing the full cup to a half cup, and by substituting whole wheat flour for white flour.
Making different types of bread at home is fun and easy with our collection of 11 Amish Recipes for Homemade Bread.
Preparation Time10 min
Cooking Time50 min
Cooking Vessel Size9 x 4-inch baking loaf pans
Ingredients
- For "Starter:"
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1/3 cup flour
- 1/3 cup warm milk (90-100 degrees)
- 1 teaspoon quick-rise yeast*
- Topping Sprinkle:
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- For the Bread:
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 eggs
- 3/5 cup vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 2 cups peeled and finely chopped apple
- 1 cup chopped nuts, divided
Instructions
-
In a small bowl, mix sugar, flour and milk with the yeast and set in a warm place(**see note) for 10-15 minutes until the mixture shows bubbles on the top.
-
Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Combine sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Grease two loaf pans well with butter and then sprinkle about half the cinnamon sugar mixture over the bottom and sides of the pans, reserving the rest for topping.
-
In a medium bowl, place flours, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and spices and whisk with a fork to mix well. In large bowl of electric mixer, place eggs, oil and vanilla. With machine on low, add the yeast mixture and then stir in the dry ingredients until well mixed do not over beat. Stir in the apples and half of the nuts by hand. Spoon into prepared bake pans, dividing equally.
-
Combine the remaining cinnamon sugar mixture with the remaining nuts and sprinkle the tops of the loaves. Bake for 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out without any wet crumbs attached.
-
Place pans on a cooling rack and let stand 5 minutes, then carefully invert onto cooling rack and remove pans to continue to cool.
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kmcartoonity 62072 74
Aug 10, 2018
I love the sweet crusty top to this apple bread. I have had trouble with baking apple and banana breads before, as they tend to turn out a little too wet and dense, but I had really good luck with this one. It came out tender and fluffy. A fabulous breakfast treat!
FoodLover
Dec 22, 2016
This recipe caught my eye. I remember at school (I was in the home economics class) with the friendship bread doing the rounds. It brought back such memories (school was 25 years ago!) I had long ago lost that recipe and now I find one here. I'm definitely going to make this and start distributing it. I wonder how many people are going to remember this trend?
Emily Michelle
Apr 07, 2015
I liked both the apple and the banana version. The apple version had a nice crumble topping and the banana version was nice and moist.
nashmeow
Apr 06, 2015
I really enjoyed this recipe with the apples in it; it had just the right balance of sweetness, was not cloying at all. The texture was just what I would expect - and want - in a rustic bread such as this one. I'd make it with different fruits, too - I think apricots would work well.
Zimm102090
Apr 03, 2015
I tried this recipe with both apples and bananas (two separate loaves, of course). While I liked the flavor that the fruits brought to the bread, I thought the bread itself was very dry and had a slightly off-putting flavor that fought with the fruit flavors. I might try it again to see if it was human error, but I was expecting more from this recipe.
CreativityGoddess
Apr 02, 2015
I loved how rustic this bread tasted! Reminded me of good, old-fashioned home cooking. Perfect with fruit added!
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