The weekends mean "trending recipes" on Amish365.com And as we creep towards March we are now seeing some maple-themed recipes try to creep in....late February and March are when tapped trees start giving up their sap which is then boiled down into maple syrup. A lot of Amish tap trees. Maple syrup is used as a sugar substitute on many Amish farms. You'll see a lot more maple syrup recipes trending over the weeks ahead.
So, without further delay, here are this week's trending recipes!
Suppers
Mattie Lapp's Homemade Chicken Loaf: "Loaf meals" are very popular among the Amish and for good reason. Amish cooks have a lot of leftover meat, often the "scraps"kind. Leftover chicken or beef stew or hamburger and mixing in some eggs, often some oats, some veggies and then baking the heck out of it. Click here for this superb chicken loaf recipe.
Amish "Thank You Casserole":
This is a casserole that comes to us from an Amish woman in Atlantic, Pennsylvania. She doesn't say why it is called "thank you" casserole, so we'll just have to assume that the casserole is so tasty that you'll say "thank you" a million times after you're served it. So, thank me for posting it:), and enjoy!
I will say that this recipe is common within the post-WWII tradition of Amish cooking, where processed, canned foods became popular among the Amish. Click here for Amish "Thank You Casserole."
Amish Tater Tot Casserole: Tater-tot casseroles are popular among Amish cooks. This is a tater tot casserole recipe from an Erma Bontrager in Shipshewana, Indiana. Click here for the recipe.
Maple
Maple Cream Pie: This pie is especially popular in Amish communities where tree tapping is common. The communities that come to mind especially are Geauga County, Ohio and Conewango Valley of New York. In these locales, maple syrup making is super popular and maple finds its way into everything. Click here for maple cream pie.
Maple Bread: This recipe, by the way, comes to us from an Amish woman in Maine where, not surprisingly, maple syrup is used a lot in place to sugar there in almost all recipes. Nothing like a natural sugar straight from the trees! This recipe is so simple. We had it mixed and kneaded in what had to have been 15 minutes, allow it to rise for an hour, and then bake it. It really is a delightful, simple bread with a great taste. Just don't expect "maple bread." The recipe calls for organic Maine maple syrup and in a perfect world, that is what you'd use, but use any syrup you have on hand. Heck, I'd think even pancake syrup would work. Enjoy! Click here for the bread recipe.
Desserts
Amish Raisin Pudding: Raisin pudding is one of these "Great Depression" recipes. This is a dish that some Amish old-timers still make. This recipe comes from an old Amish collection of recipes from Buchanan County, Iowa. Click here for the recipe.
Quaker Cookies: This recipe is called Quaker Cookies and I'm not sure why. My guess might logically gravitate towards the oatmeal in them and not the religion, but I can't be sure. Quaker cooking and Amish cooking do have similar culinary lineages and styles. I did Google "Quaker Cookies" and didn't really come up with anything meaningful, so the origins of this recipe may be lost to time. Click here for the recipe.
Homemade Twix Bars: This is a "copycat" recipe. The reasons for being a copycat are both practical and fun. First, historically, most Amish have lived far from conventional grocery stores. So if one wanted to indulge in something like a Twix bar, doing so is not the easiest thing in the world. And even so buying something like a Twix bar would seem to be a frivolous indulgence for the historically thrifty Amish. Click here
Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie: This is amazing, like Reese's Cup in a crust. Click here.
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