Recipe of the Week: Amish Friendship Bread - all the sweetness with a healthy twist

My friend Paula is the first one who gave me the starter for this fabulous cinnamon bread. I modified the original recipe (Hopefully, the Amish don't get mad) so it's a bit healthier. If you want some of the starter, please let me know and I can pass it on. The starter is made over 10 days and then you bake the bread. Some call it Pass-It-Along Bread. It's fabulous for breakfast or for dessert.

Amish Friendship Bread
NOTES:
-Do NOT use any type of METAL SPOON OR BOWL for mixing.
-Do NOT refrigerate.
-When the bag fills with air, let it out.
-It is normal for the bag to rise, bubble and ferment. This is part of the process.
*I modified the recipe I was given by my friend to give it a healthier twist. My modifications are in parentheses.

Day 1 – Do nothing.
Day 2, 3, 4 & 5 – Mush the starter bag with your fingers to mix dough.
Day 6 – Add the following ingredients & mush bag:
1 cup of milk (raw)
1 cup of flour (whole wheat white or whole wheat pastry)
1 cup of sugar (evaporated cane juice or raw turbinado sugar)
Day 7, 8 & 9 – Mush the bag

Day 10 –
1. Pour entire contents into a NON-METAL bowl
2. Add & mix
a. 1 ½ cups of flour (I used whole wheat pastry flour.)
b. 1 cup of sugar (1/2 cup evaporated cane juice/raw organic sugar)
c. 1 ½ cups of milk (raw)
3. Measure out 4 separate batters of 1 cup each into four one-gallon Ziploc bags. This is called a starter. Keep one for yourself and give the other three to friends along with a copy of the recipe. Be sure to mark the bags with today’s date.
4. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
5. To the remaining batter in the bowl, add:
a. 1 large box instant vanilla pudding (I use the Trader Joe's brand because of all the unhealthy stuff in most instant pudding like preservatives, aspartame and dyes.)
b. 3 eggs (cage-free)
c. 1 cup oil (1 cup applesauce or plain yogurt)
d. ½ cup milk (raw)
e. ½ cup sugar (evaporated cane juice/raw organic sugar)
f. ½ teaspoon vanilla
g. 2 teaspoons baking powder
h. ½ teaspoon baking soda
i. ½ teaspoon salt
j. 2 teaspoons cinnamon
k. 2 cups flour (whole wheat pastry flour)
l. (1/4 cup ground flaxseed)

6. Grease two large loaf pans or 4 mini loaves and mix additional ¼ cup sugar with 2 teaspoons cinnamon. Dust the greased pans with half the cinnamon-sugar.
7. Pour the batter evenly into loaf pans and sprinkle with second half of cinnamon sugar.
8. Bake ONE HOUR. Cool until bread loosens from pans evenly (about 10 minutes). Turn out onto a serving dish and serve warm or cold.

Here are some other fun variations of the bread I found. Our fave variations are to add 1/2 cup of raisins to the batter or to sprinkle the top of mini loaves with chocolate chips.