Amish Friendship Bread

On the fateful day of April 28, a co-worker gave me some starter for Amish Friendship Bread. Thankfully, she asked first. And, thankfully, I'm wise enough to know to not try to pass this along. At least, not pass it along without asking or ambushing....

The sweet bread recipes that accompany the starter taste wonderful, but it got my creative cooking juices flowing to create something "not sweet". ("Savory" is what my co-worker called it, but I have a different sense of what that means.) With my suspicion of this being a sourdough starter confirmed, I shall take my first aim soon. I'll start with a bread and possibly try other concoctions. Going the route of taking ingredients away rather than adding them should lead me into interesting creations. Hopefully, they'll be edible, too. My first bread tasted decent. I omitted the packet of pudding mix, but the oil seemed to collect at the bottom when baking. Interestingly enough, the rest of the bread tasted perfectly fine. So, I should be able to omit further ingredients, experiment with combinations, and possibly come up with my own recipe that, to me, would be less sweet and taste really good.

The good thing about this large-volume bread starter is the sheer volume itself that you can create. That should allow me to try many recipe options without worrying about running out. If I grow weary of this, I may try my hand at making a regular sourdough. I can keep that in the 'fridge, which would be a good thing given the lack of space in my kitchen. My childhood memories of sourdough pancakes and waffles may serve as my primary motivator for that route. Even if I could make a regular sourdough bread, it would be worth the effort.