Begin with Basic Starter Dough
Important Preparations
- Don’t use a metal spoon or metal bowl for mixing.
- Don’t refrigerate.
- If air gets in bag-let it out.
- It is normal for the batter to thicken, bubble and ferment.
Day 1: You receive fermented batter in gallon zip-lock bag. Do nothing; just place the bag on the kitchen counter.
Day 2: Squeeze the bag several times.
Day 3: Squeeze the bag several times.
Day 4: Squeeze the bag several times.
Day 5: Squeeze the bag several times.
Day 6: Add 1-cup flour, 1-cup sugar and 1-cup milk, squeeze bag several times.
Day 7: Squeeze the bag several times.
Day 8: Squeeze the bag several times.
Day 9: Squeeze the bag several times.
Day 10: Baking day: Gather the following ingredients in preparation to bake:
flour, sugar, oil, vanilla, eggs, salt, milk, baking soda, large box instant vanilla pudding,
and cinnamon.
In large non-metallic bowl, combine batter with 1-cup flour, 1-cup sugar, and 1-cup milk. Mix with wooden or plastic spoon. Pour four (4) 1-cup starters into 1-gallon zip-lock bags and give them away to family or friends with a copy of the recipe.
To remaining batter in bowl add 1-cup oil, 1-cup sugar, 1-tsp vanilla, 3 eggs, 1/2-cup milk, 1-tsp salt, 2-cups flour, ½ -tsp. Baking soda, 1-large box instant vanilla pudding and 2-tsp. Cinnamon.
In separate bowl, mix 1-tsp. Cinnamon and 3-tsp. Sugar, sprinkle into 2 or 3 well-greased loaf pans (I use cooking spray). Pour batter into pans. Bake at 325 degrees for 45 Min. or until toothpick comes out almost clean. Don’t over-bake. When varying the recipes only use this sprinkle for the date nut and banana nut breads.
You can be really be creative with this recipe. I have experimented and come up with quite a nice variety of breads.
Optional additions to batter- for Date Nut Bread are in 1/3-cup or more amounts: raisins, dates, nuts.- for Banana Nut Bread: mash one large or two small bananas add them and 1/2 cup nuts. – for Chocolate Bread: chocolate chips, chocolate pudding instead of vanilla pudding, vanilla instead of cinnamon and no cinnamon and sugar sprinkled in pan. – for Christmas Bread: diced candied Christmas cherries, raisins and nuts.- for Maraschino Cherry Bread I substitute cherry juice from the jar of maraschino cherries instead of the vanilla and cinnamon and dice the cherries.- for Pumpkin Bread I use the basic ingredients from my pumpkin pie recipe.- likewise for Carrot Bread I use the basic ingredients from my carrot cake recipe. Having Philadelphia Cream Cheese frosting to spread on the carrot bread makes it a real hit.
You can also freeze a starter or two so that you have one to bake with the next year. When it comes out of the freezer, treat that as day 1.
Enjoy!