Being Latina, it is in my blood to feed people. And to feed them A LOT. Most of the time I don’t even eat the things I bake, but this is one recipe that I LOVE! I was ransacking my mom’s recipe box (which, honestly, I was shocked she had one!) when I found this scanned, handwritten recipe that I had not thought of in 15 years! I nearly threw the rest of the recipes out, just so I could get started baking this one sooner!
When I was 10, my mom was gifted with this recipe! I have no idea where she got it from, so while I wish I could claim this gem, I can’t. I can only tell you how much I loved this growing up. It was literally the ONLY thing my mom could actually make, and it never lasted long. The best part about this is that the name is not just a name. It’s called ‘Friendship Bread’ because not only is this a labor of love (and I don’t mean this in a cliche way, I mean it in a ‘this takes 10 days to make’ way), but one recipe makes about 3 loaves. Now when you’re treating yourself, you can treat your friends at the same time.
Ingredients
5 c. flour (I usually just use regular white flour, organic if I can swing it, but you can always swap out for your favorite flour. Experimenting in the kitchen is half the fun, after all.)
4 c. sugar (I use GMO-free pure cane sugar and it tastes even better than refined, white sugar-plus, there’s no calculating necessary. Who doesn’t love any easy swap?)
3 c. milk
3/4 c oil (I prefer unsweetened applesauce to make it a little lighter without losing the nice texture or sweetness, but use whatever you feel comfortable with.)
1 1/4 t. baking powder
1/2 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
1 lg box of vanilla instant pudding
3 eggs
1 c. chopped nuts (optional)
1 t. vanilla
1 t. cinnamon
Step by Step (10 Days of Love):
Day 1: Mix 1 c. flour, 1 c. sugar, and 1 c. milk. Cover and refrigerate.
Day 2: Stir.
Day 3: Stir.
Day 4: Stir, drool, and re-cover.
Day 5: Add 1 c. flour, 1 c. sugar, and 1 c. milk. Recover.
Day 6: Keep stirring.
Day 7: Stir. Almost there!
Day 8: Stir. Are you exhausted by this labor of love yet? 🙂
Day 9: Stir. drool and re-cover. Just one more day to go!
Day 10: Add 1 c. flour, 1 c. sugar, and 1 c. milk.
Now, the next steps are up to you! If you want to bake them for family, friends and/or yourself, there are a few more things to do. If you want to hand off the batter, place 1 c. of mixture into three containers and be sure to give them the following steps (or follow them yourself):
Preheat oven to 350. Mix oil, remaining sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, instant pudding, eggs, nuts, vanilla, cinnamon and remaining flour (last). Pour into greased and sugared loaf pans. Bake for 40-50 mins. Cool 10 mins.
Depending on what you use, this makes 3 8” loaves or 5 mini loaves.
I cannot stress how awesome this stuff is! Feel free to add chocolate, because really what doesn’t taste better with chocolate? Or leave it as is. Either way, it’s worth the time and effort! You could also make these into muffins or mini muffins if you like! These make the perfect gifts or bring along to your next Holiday meal.
Also, I like to sugar the top of the loaves as well. If you love cinnamon (like me) you can mix the cinnamon and sugar together and then just sprinkle as much or as little as you like across the top and/or the inside of the loaf pan. It adds a few more calories, but it gives it that perfect crunch and hint of extra sweetness.
