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Holiday Friendship Bread

By Michelle Myers 15 Comments

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Holiday Friendship Bread is a great gift for friends, neighbors, and co workers. Baking this treat will become a fun Christmas tradition.

Someone asked me how I knew it was Christmas each year, what song or food or special decoration sealed the deal for me and I knew right away, Holiday Friendship Bread. I don’t think I’ve ever celebrated a Christmas without this bread and being reminded of the story behind it. In the early 70’s my mom was a young stay at home mom and wanted to give all of her neighbors and friends a small gift but had a small, almost nonexistent budget. She came up with the idea of baking small loaves of bread, using empty soup cans as pans, for everyone on her list. She removed the bread from the cans, wrapped the little cylinders in shiny silver foil and added simple ribbon. Fast forward 40 years and you’ll find hundreds of people who have been beneficiaries of my mother’s kindness, that wait each year for my mom to drop off her famous bread. She still bakes dozens and dozens of loaves every year, even though she’s ditched the soup cans for small or large disposable loaf pans.

Holiday Bread

 

Holiday Friendship Bread
 
Print
Author: Kira and Michelle at sunshineandhurricanes.com
Ingredients
  • ½c butter
  • 1c sugar
  • 2 lg. bananas, mashed
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp. vanilla
  • 2c flour
  • 1 tsp. baking soda
  • 1c semi sweet chocolate chips
  • ½c maraschino cherries, quartered
  • ½c walnuts, chopped
Instructions
  1. Cream butter & sugar, then blend in bananas, eggs, & vanilla
  2. Sift together flour & baking soda, blend into wet mixture
  3. Fold in chips, cherries, & nuts
  4. Add to 1 large loaf pan or 5 small loaf pans, grease all pans well
  5. Bake at 350 for about 45 minutes(large loaf) or about 20 minutes(small pans)
  6. Toothpick will come out clean when bread is ready
3.2.2802

 

holiday bread

I usually bake several loaves at once, cool them, wrap in foil, and stick them in the freezer. Then, when I’m ready to give a loaf, I add a ribbon.

Holiday Bread

For some reason, people assume it’s fruitcake when you hand it to them the 1st time…it’s not. My mom just always called it Holiday Bread but I added the Friendship, in honor of her & her generous spirit.

Filed Under: Holiday Recipes Tagged With: baking, bread, Christmas, gifts

About Michelle Myers

Michelle Myers is mom to four kiddos ranging from elementary thru high school, each with strong opinions and a flair for the dramatic. In other words, they're a lot like her. Former educator and lover of learning, she divides her time between carpool and Starbucks by reading voraciously and giving TED talks to herself at red lights. A Floridian for almost 40 years, Michelle loves the beach, making people laugh, and date nights with her hubby of 25 years...and yeas, they clearly married at age 7.
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« White Chicken Chili
The Snowman – A Family Holiday Tradition »

Comments

  1. Carol Derbis says

    December 21, 2014 at 4:08 pm

    Just found you last night…and this is perfect! I usually give little packages of cookies to neighbors…think I might try this one for this year!
    Thank you!
    This sounds YUMMY! (and making it for them gives me an excuse to try it for us, too!).Will have to try to make this with gluten-free flour for hubby….
    Thanks again…
    and wishing you and your family a Beautiful and Blessed Christmas!

    Reply
  2. Carol Kintigh says

    December 16, 2014 at 11:52 pm

    I, too, have been making this bread since 1977, also in cans. It’s from Better Homes and Garden Entertainment cookbook. Our family calls it holiday fruit bread. We traditionally make it then eat it while we decorate the Christmas tree, We have shared this bread and recipe with so many people.

    Reply
    • Michelle Myers says

      December 17, 2014 at 11:05 am

      Oh wow! My mom said she started in ’73, such fun memories! 🙂

      Reply
  3. Debbie Dion Hayes says

    December 16, 2014 at 2:15 pm

    Now I wish our oven worked!

    Reply
  4. Tove Maren - Mama in the Now says

    December 16, 2014 at 1:11 pm

    what an awesome gesture – and SO timely. I was just thinking of baking something for my neighbors – I will definitely give this a shot!!!! What a sweet idea!!!

    Reply
  5. Jessica says

    December 15, 2014 at 10:13 pm

    What a great idea! Such a beautiful story behind it too! Great way to celebrate the holiday season!

    Reply
  6. Jane says

    December 15, 2014 at 8:52 pm

    What a wonderful tradition! Thank you for sharing :). The bread sounds delicious too!
    Pinning to make some over the holidays.

    Reply
  7. Danielle K says

    December 15, 2014 at 8:42 pm

    Looks delicious! I need to do this for my friends 🙂

    Reply
  8. Jenn Corter says

    December 15, 2014 at 5:04 pm

    That looks like a really yummy bread! What a wonderful way to spread holiday cheer!

    Reply
  9. Kim says

    December 15, 2014 at 4:54 pm

    Such a great way to honor your mom during the Holiday season. In Trinidad, where I grew up, we called this sweet bread.

    Reply
  10. Ilona @ Ilona's Passion says

    December 15, 2014 at 4:24 pm

    Yummy breads! I love the addition of cherries!

    Reply
  11. Sarah @ GlamGranolaGeek says

    December 15, 2014 at 4:00 pm

    What a sweet story! And the bread looks amazing, I’m a huge fan of quickbreads.

    Reply
  12. Valerie@Occasionally Crafty says

    December 15, 2014 at 12:03 pm

    Will you be my friend and make me some? Lol. Seriously it looks and sounds delicious!

    Reply
  13. Stacy says

    December 15, 2014 at 10:55 am

    It looks delicious! Thanks for the family recipe and lovely story.

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. 50+ Family Christmas Traditions To Build Lifelong Memories says:
    November 15, 2017 at 3:13 pm

    […] the lights hung from the rooftop, the wreath on the door, but it was the smell of my Mom’s Holiday Friendship Bread that signaled the Christmas Season was in full […]

    Reply

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