Amish Wheat Bread

http://www.experience-ohio-amish-country.com/amish-wheat-bread.html








Ingredients: 3/4 c. sugar
3/4 c. flour
1 Tbsp. salt
3 c. warm water
2 Tbsp. (2 pkg.) yeast
3/4 c. vegetable oil
2 c. whole wheat flour
6 c. white flour
Mix sugar, flour and salt. Add water. Stir well and add yeast. Let set until it rises a bit, then add vegetable oil. Mix well, then add flour. Mix well. Let rise until double. Form into 3 loaves and let rise. Bake at 350° for 25-30 minutes.


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Since moving to the boonies of SW Ohio we have been eating more and more food made by the Amish and Mennonite communities nearby.

This bread is probably our favorite - it is just so special and tasty, whether with butter or peanut butter and jam or with cold cuts.

A Mennonite lady with 6 kids who converted from the Amish religion provides us with a supply regularly.  (her recipe is closesly guarded and was handed down to her by her mother).

While I cannot guarantee the preciseness of this recipe it probably comes the closest to the way her bread tastes.  Chewy, airy and delectable with a hint of yeast aroma.

We love it too. Here in Sarasota County we have several Amish restaurants. Mom's in Sarasota serves the bread with a peanut butter/honey combo in a squeeze bottle to go with the bread. Yum!

Love their bread(and all the great Amish dishes when we're on one of our frequent trips to Lancaster. Made friends with an Amish family and had a nice meal with them....DELICIOUS!!!!!

NYPizzaNut, that Amish bread recipe is pretty straight forward. Two things stand out though. They use way more sugar and oil than most recipes would call for. I would have thought, however, that they would have used butter instead of oil because I know Amish cookies are usually pure butter.

Here is good description of the bread:

http://locallygrowngardens.com/tag/wheat-bread/

Finally, our Amish-made wheat bread loaves are moist, supple and dense all at once—the perfect, almost nutty counterpart to tart end-of-summer jams. Expect them next Thursday.

I'll tell you what else that goes great with the bread-  Amish Wedding Spread, a combination of peanut butter and marshmallow cream.

Davydd


NYPizzaNut, that Amish bread recipe is pretty straight forward. Two things stand out though. They use way more sugar and oil than most recipes would call for. I would have thought, however, that they would have used butter instead of oil because I know Amish cookies are usually pure butter.

I spoke to Lydia, our Mennonite baker, and she tells me she uses vegetable oil, but as little as she can get away with (she generally makes 10 to 15 loaves at a time - for our family and our neighbor and for her own family.)

I will post a photo of slices of the bread shortly, and you can hopefully observe it and its texture.

NYPIzzaNut

Davydd


NYPizzaNut, that Amish bread recipe is pretty straight forward. Two things stand out though. They use way more sugar and oil than most recipes would call for. I would have thought, however, that they would have used butter instead of oil because I know Amish cookies are usually pure butter.

I spoke to Lydia, our Mennonite baker, and she tells me she uses vegetable oil, but as little as she can get away with (she generally makes 10 to 15 loaves at a time - for our family and our neighbor and for her own family.)

I will post a photo of slices of the bread shortly, and you can hopefully observe it and its texture.

This bread had been in the freezer a couple of weeks or more so it does not look as good as when it is freshly baked and sliced but you can still get an idea of its look and texture - also included is the finished turkey and dressing sandwich with mayo my wife just polished off:

This lovely bread also makes a great Egg-in-a-Hole:

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2008/07/egg-in-a-hole-see-alternate-names-below/

I just used this bread for a nice brisket sandwich - yummy.

Looks a lot like my wheat rolls:

Davydd


NYPizzaNut, that Amish bread recipe is pretty straight forward. Two things stand out though. They use way more sugar and oil than most recipes would call for. I would have thought, however, that they would have used butter instead of oil because I know Amish cookies are usually pure butter.

No doubt on the sugar content. Seems like from experience it would take over the taste big time...

Thanks for the recipe! I'll be trying it out this weekend. I so enjoy my visits with Amish families who provide evening suppers to the tourists to Lancaster PA. The first one my group visited served the peanut butter and marshmellow creme spread on homemade bread - delicious. I also love the simple baked chicken and corn pudding they serve. We had rhubarb pie and homemade ice cream that visit. One of my friends had never had rhubarb and made a little pig of herself!

Hi, the only family we knew who had dinner guests no longer do it...Can you give some info on how to have dinner with amish families in the Lancaster area? Thanks.

The first family we had a meal with have moved from the area and the second couple are no longer serving meals but did as a favor to our guest home owner. I would contact the Mennonite Information Center for any info on meals with area Mennonite and Amish families.

I made the bread recipe today -- making only two loaves, not three. It is very good and easy to make. I used 1 heaping TB of instant yeast which still may have been too much. The bread is very airy and light, but the flavor is good even though I think the two loaves over-proofed in the final rise. I think I will make this again, using less yeast. I used 1/2 cup sugar and 1/2 cup oil for 6 cups of flour (2 whole wheat and 4 unbleached white flour). Next time I might use 3 whole wheat and 3 unbleached.

(I've scarfed two slices down already ---- fresh bread from the oven is irresistible!)

  I like your recipe foe Amish wheat bread. I recently found a recipe for Amish white bread. I have two loaves proofing in the oven as I type.

2 cups warm water 110 degrees F

2/3 cup white sugar

1.5 TBS active dry yeast

1/4 cup oil or unsalted melted butter (butter for mine )

1.5 tsp fine ground sea salt

6 cups cups all purpose flour, reserve 1/2 cup for bench

  In a large glass bowl combine water. sugar, and yeast. Mix well and let proof for about 20 minutes til it looks foamy on top. Add butter and salt. Mix til salt is dissolved. Add flour, 1 cup at a time until you have added 5 1/2 cups. Turn out on to a clean dry surface that has been dusted with the rest of the flour. Knead the dough for at least 10 minutes until stretchy and smooth. Put into a oiled bowl and cover with plastic or towel. Fill a pan with very hot water and place it in your oven along with the dough. Let rise for at least 1 hour. Form into loaves or rolls and proof again for 1/2 hour or til doubled in size. Cook in a preheated 350 F oven for 1/2 hour for bread and a little less for the rolls. Turn out onto a cooling rack and let cool for a couple hours.

I will post again and let you all know how they turned out.

David O.

Greetings!

In german language, this bread is a "Stuten", baked with raisins, it is named "Rosinenstuten", and I would die for this sweet bread...



A slice of Stuten, salted butter, a good cup of tea, this is heaven!

Kind regards

Michael

P.S. I like to toast a slice of Rosinenstuten, and to top it with salted butter, Peanut Butter, Cream Cheese, and a little Tabasco, but very best it is with a spread of salty butter, and sugar beet molasses...

  Well, I pulled the bread from the oven and it came out perfectly!! I also made 12 dinner rolls (also perfect. )  This bread is more sweet than a traditional white loaf but very good. I will use this bread to make French toast tomorrow morning. The house smells very nice!!

David O.

The Mennonite wheat bread I get regularly does not have a sweet taste - our baker must go real light on the sugar.

  The French toast came out great. I used 4 eggs, 1/2 cup milk, 1 Tbs, vanilla extract, 1 t each nutmeg, cinnamon, sugar.

 The bread was dense enough to soak up the batter without falling apart.
 Very good indeed!!

David O.

The density and texture and taste of this bread is what draws me to it, and what has me hooked.

I tried making this bread once and my granddaughter  made it a few days later.  AWe did not have great sucess with it.  It did not rise enough and was very dense and sweet.  Maybe there is too much sugar and fat in the recipe?  I would really like to know where I went wrong.  I bake wonderful bread and rolls on nearly a daily basis but this recipe has me stumped.

I know my baker told me she uses less vegetable oil than the standard recipe calls for.  I would suggest also cutting back on the sugar.