Amish Green Tomato Bread

Several years ago my dear friend in Wisconsin shared a recipe with me that at the time, I thought was really not one that I wanted to try. After one taste I was so glad she shared it with me. So now I'm passing it on to you...I'm sure you'll enjoy it as much as we do.

Amish Green Tomato Bread
3 eggs
1-1/2 c. sugar
1 c. oil
1 tsp. salt
1 Tblsp. vanilla extract
2 c. grated or diced green tomatoes; juices drained (I used 3 c. since that is what I had on hand)
3 c. flour
1-1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 c. raisins
1 c. chopped nuts


In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs.


Stir in sugar, oil, salt, vanilla & tomatoes.


In a smaller mixing bowl sift together flour, baking soda & baking powder.


Gradually add to the wet mixture, stirring to mix well.


Stir in raisins and nuts. (Since I had neither on hand, I used dried cranberries, that I soaked in water for a minute or two to rehydrate, instead.)


Divide batter evenly between 2 well greased bread loaf pans.


Bake at 350* for 45 minutes to an hour, or until knife inserted in center comes out clean.

Click HERE for printable recipe

Recipe source: "From The Amish & Mennonite Kitchens" cookbook by Phyllis Pellman & Rachel Thomas Pellman

Deuteronomy 8:3 "And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live."

Amish Alymer Bread

(Photo source Allposters)

I'm back in the kitchen with my Amish cookbook. This time I am making Amish Aylmer Bread. Let me tell you, if you love to work with doughs, this is the bread recipe for you. The texture of the dough when kneading is so silky smooth. I wish you could experience how luxurious it feels.

I'm beginning to wonder about myself. As long as I have had this treasured book in my possession, I have perused the pages but never cooked from it. What was wrong with me!?! I think this might just become my new favorite cookbook. I can't wait to take it to the next level and start cooking some dinner menus from it.

Amish Aylmer Bread
For each loaf of bread you make use:
1 c. luke warm water
1 tsp. melted lard or cooking oil (milk can be used as part of liquid if desired)
1 tsp. salt (scant)
1 Tblsp. sugar
1 tsp. yeast
3 c. all purpose flour


In a large mixing bowl combine first 5 ingredients in order listed. Let stand until yeast is dissolved.


Stir in 1/2 of the flour mixture until smooth, then add in remaining flour.


Work dough on a greased board or in a bowl, kneading it vigorously for 5-10 minutes or until dough "squeaks."


Cover dough and let sit in a warm, draft free place until it doubles in size.


Knead dough lightly and let rise again until doubled in size. (Note: Do NOT punch dough down, just simply and gently knead it for about a minute or so.) Knead once again and let rise once more. (Note: Do NOT punch dough down, just simply and gently knead it for about a minute or so.)



After the third rise, punch dough down; divide and shape into loaves. (This dough is so silky feeling. It's like touching little clouds of Heaven.) Place dough into a greased bread pan.



Brush lightly with oil and prick the loaf deeply with a fork to release any air bubbles that may be trapped in the dough. Cover and allow to rise.


Bake for 15 minutes at 400* and then 15 minutes at 350* for a total cooking time of 30 minutes.


Grease top of bread once removed from oven. Remove from pan and allow to cool on a wire rack.

**For 8 loaves, use 2 rounded Tblsp. of yeast.

Click HERE for printable recipe.

Recipe Source: Amish Cooking, Deluxe Edition

Amish Brown Bread

Several years ago, my Uncle passed down a family cookbook to me that I treasure but honestly never cooked from. So today I thought it would be a great time to pull it out and try a few recipes from it. Join me as I travel down the culinary road of the Amish. Today I have chosen a recipe for Brown Bread. What really intrigues me is the fact that this recipe does not say to let the dough rise before baking, as most traditional recipes call for. So I am really curious to see how this turns out.

Amish Brown Bread
3 c. lukewarm water
2 Tblsp. sugar
6 Tblsp. yeast
1-1/3 c. milk
1-1/4 c. honey or brown sugar
2 Tbslp. salt
2/3 c. melted butter or corn oil
5 to 6 c. whole wheat flour
All purpose flour


Pour water into very large bowl. Add yeast and sugar. Allow to dissolve and stand for 10 minutes. Do not stir!




In a saucepan, scald milk. Add honey, salt and melted butter. Stir to mix well. Allow mixture to cool. It will not need to be cold, just warm to the touch. Once cooled enough, pour milk mixture into yeast and mix well.


Stir in 5-6 cups wheat flour. Then add enough all purpose flour to the batter until a soft dough forms. Knead for 15 minutes or until dough becomes smooth and elastic.



Divide dough into 6 equal pieces, then shape into loaves. Place into greased bread pans.

Bake at 350* for 45 minutes or until golden. Remove from pans and place on wire rack to cool.


Now let's see how it taste...YUM! It's sweet but with an earthy hint to it. I really like it!

**Baker's note: the recipe says to divide dough into 6 pieces. Although the bread is delicious, I think for a higher rising, fatter loaf, I will divide my dough into 4 pieces next time and see if this helps.

Click HERE for printable recipe

Recipe Source: Amish Cooking, Deluxe Edition

Bannana Bread

While perusing the local Farmer's Market yesterday, I happened upon the discount counter that had buckets of bananas marked for $1.00 a basket. I immediately knew I wanted them. So for $2.00 here is what I got...

What better to do with these yellow skinned beauties than to make some banana bread. The recipe below is for a normal one loaf batch. However, since I had so many bananas I increased my measurements to make 5 batches in one.

Banana Bread
2 c. flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 c. butter
1 c. sugar
2 eggs, beaten
3 bananas, mashed
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350* Grease a 9"x5" bread loaf pan. Set aside.


Remove skins from bananas.


In a large mixing bowl place, combine all ingredients until well blended. Pour mixture into prepared loaf pan. (Since I was making such a large batch, I could not use a regular mixing bowl to hold all the batter. Instead I lined a clean medium size metal tub with a clean trash bag. This worked perfectly. Never think you are limited by the size of your bowl or pans. There is always a way around things if you look hard enough.) Tap bottom of pan lightly on counter to release any air bubbles trapped inside batter.

Place in preheated oven and bake for 45 minutes to an hour, or until knife inserted in center comes out clean and top is golden.


Let cool in pans for about 5 minutes then remove to a wire cooling rack to completely cool.


**You can also add chocolate chips or chopped nuts to the batter before pouring into bread pan if desired.

For an alternate recipe, try a batch of Cream Cheese Banana Bread. It's out of this world. I didn't have cream cheese on hand otherwise I would have made a few loaves of that version as well.

Click HERE for printable recipe