A couple of weeks ago I had a lovely friend share some Amish Friendship Bread starter with me. At first, I was really intimidated as I received the starter in a zip lock bag with the paperwork to go with it. I soon realized it was not a scary adventure after all but instead a really exciting one. It is a perfect fun kitchen project to do with your kids and a great way to show the process of getting the end product, delicious bread!
If you aren’t familiar, Amish Friendship Bread is a sweet bread that you make off a sourdough starter. The starter is “fed” and kept for ten days, then divided into four portions, three of which you can gift to friends and one you use to bake the perfect breakfast or dessert cinnamon sugared bread! Then your friends can pass along the Amish Friendship Bread recipe to their friends and so on indefinitely.
Starter Ingredients
1 packet active dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1 cup milk
Starter Instructions
In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in water and allow to sit ten minutes (mixture will turn frothy.)
In another nonmetal bowl combine flour and sugar and mix well. Slowly stir in milk, then yeast mixture.
Allow to sit until bubbly then add to a gallon plastic bag and follow the instructions for the Bread Recipe.
Starter can be frozen to save for later, once thawed that is the new day 1.
*When passing on starters to friends just copy and paste the Bread Recipe and Suggested variations sections and print out to go along with the bag of starter.
Bread Recipe
- Always use nonmetal bowls and utensils for the sourdough starter, it is acidic and can breakdown the metal
- Do not refrigerate
- If air gets in the bag — let it out!
- It is normal for batter to thicken and ferment
Day 1 — This is the day you receive the batter– do nothing
Day 2 — Squeeze the bag
Day 3 — Squeeze the bag
Day 4 — Squeeze the bag
Day 5 — Squeeze the bag
Day 6 — Add 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar and 1 cup of milk
Day 7 — Squeeze the bag
Day 8 — Squeeze the bag
Day 9 — Squeeze the bag
Day 10 — Combine batter in a large nonmetal bowl, add 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar, and 1 cup milk, mix with a wooden spoon or spatula. Pour 4 — 1 cup starters into gallon zip lock bags. Keep one and give three to friends.
To the remaining batter left in the bowl add the following and mix well with a wooden spoon:
1 cup oil
1 cup sugar + ( 1/2 cup sugar for dusting)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 large eggs
1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups flour
1/2 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 large box instant vanilla pudding mix ( or 2 small boxes)
2 teaspoons cinnamon + ( 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon for dusting)
Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit
Grease two large bread pans.
Mix 1/2 cup sugar and 1 1/2 teaspoons of cinnamon and dust greased pans with the mixture, tapping out excess into a bowl for later.
Pour evenly in the two pans and top with remaining cinnamon sugar.
Bake 50-60 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Cool for 10 minutes before removing from the pan.
- Suggested Variations to try:
Vanilla Pudding + chocolate chips + 1 cup mashed banana
Vanilla Pudding + can of diced peaches
Vanilla Pudding + 1 box orange jello + mandarian oranges
Vanilla Pudding + 1 box lime jello + can diced pears
Vanilla Pudding + 1 box strawberry jello + frozen or fresh strawberries
Vanilla Pudding + 1 box raspberry jello + frozen or fresh raspberries
Vanilla Pudding + 1 can chunked pineapple
Chocolate Pudding + 1 cup mashed banana
Chocolate Pudding + chocolate chips
Coconut Cream Pudding + chocolate chips+ shredded coconut
Vanilla Pudding + fresh or frozen blueberries
Amish Friendship Bread is the perfect recipe to share with friends. I hope you will give it a try and make your own with this starter recipe along with the printed out instructions for gifting starter to others! We’d love to hear if you have made this in the past and have different variations you love or if you choose to modify the recipe in a different way!
Mom, you are capable!
