Julie Clark
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Amish Friendship Bread Starter Recipe
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Use this Amish friendship bread starter recipe as a base for the original cinnamon bread plus other quick breads, dinner rolls, muffins and other baked goods.
This quick bread batter mixes up in one bowl, requires no rise time and makes two loaves. Perfect for gift-giving and making a new friend.
Give the gift of Amish Friendship Bread.
This Amish friendship bread starter one of those recipes from my childhood. I remember my mom making this bread on a 10-day cycle and yes, I so looked forward to eating it straight from the oven. It’s like an edible chain letter, the gift that keeps on giving!
What is the difference between amish friendship starter and sourdough starter? Amish friendship starter uses milk, sugar and flour, plus yeast to ferment. Traditional sourdough uses water and flour and that’s it.
This sweet sourdough is good for more than just cinnamon bread. I’ve baked it in muffin tins for muffins and in a 9×13″ cake pan for a coffee cake. You can also switch up the pudding flavor to get different flavor variations.
But I’ve also used the friendship starter to make:
It really is the gift that keeps on giving.
Enjoy! -Julie
PS...Want a printed version of this recipe? It’s in our family cookbook! Plus 125+ other recipes for you to love.
Amish Friendship Bread Starter Ingredients
Have Ziploc plastic bags (for easily storing the starter), glass bowls and wooden spoons on hand. For sourdough, you don’t want to use metal bowls or utensils. Sourdough is acidic and can react with some metals.
- Instant yeast or active dry yeast will both work.
- Use at least 2% milk, or use whole milk if you have it.
- Don’t want to use a plastic bag? Store it in a glass container that is covered with plastic wrap.
Ingredients for the Bread
After you have the starter made, the bread takes pantry staple ingredients:
Notice it takes two boxes of instant pudding. This adds flavor, sweetness and moisture to the bread. I highly recommend using it at least the first time you make the bread, but the bread will work without it. If you’d like, add an extra teaspoon of vanilla extract.
Amish Friendship Bread Starter Recipe
Use this Amish Friendship Bread Starter Recipe as a base for many the original friendship bread, dinner rolls, muffins and other baked goods.
Servings 20 slices
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Fermentation time 10 days
Total Time 10 days 1 hour 10 minutes
Ingredients
Starter ingredients:
- 1/4 cup warm water about 110 degrees
- 1 package active dry yeast* (2 ¼ teaspoons)
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup 2% milk
Bread ingredients:
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 3 large eggs
- 1/2 cup 2% milk
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 2 small boxes instant vanilla pudding 3.4 ounces each
- 1 cup chopped nuts optional
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar for dusting the pan and topping
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon for dusting the pan and topping
Instructions
Make the starter:
- Pour the warm water into a small glass bowl. Sprinkle the yeast over the water. Let this stand for 5-8 minutes to allow it to dissolve. ¼ cup warm water, 1 package active dry yeast*
- In a larger glass bowl (or plastic bowl. Don't use metal bowls or utensils for sourdough), mix together the flour and sugar with a wooden spoon. 1 cup all-purpose flour, 1 cup granulated sugar
- Stir in the milk and then the yeast mixture. Pour it into a gallon-size zippered plastic bag and seal. Do not refrigerate. Allow the sourdough mixture to sit out at room temperature. This counts as Day 1. 1 cup 2% milk
- Day 2, 3, 4, 5: Mash the bag. Release any air each day.
- Day 6: Add 1 cup each of flour, sugar and milk. Mash the bag until it is mixed well.
- Day 7, 8, 9: Mash the bag. Release any air each day.
- Day 10: Pour the sourdough into a glass (or other nonmetal) bowl. Add ½ cup each of all-purpose flour, granulated sugar and milk. Mix well with a wooden spoon.
- Divide out 1 cup portions of the starter, placing each one-cup portion in separate zippered plastic bags. You'll get about 4-5 bags. Seal the bags, and give the starter away to friends along with the instructions, keeping one for yourself if desired. The starter then goes back to Day 1.
- Keep one starter for yourself, and bake the bread.
On Day 10, make the bread:
- Preheat the oven to 325ºF.
- In a large bowl, combine all of the ingredients. Mix well just until combined. 1 cup vegetable oil, 3 large eggs, ½ cup 2% milk, ½ teaspoon vanilla extract, 1 cup granulated sugar, 2 cups all-purpose flour, ½ teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon baking soda, 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder, 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, 2 small boxes instant vanilla pudding, 1 cup chopped nuts
- Spray two 8 1/2" x 4 1/2" loaf pans with cooking spray. Mix ½ cup sugar and 1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon into a small bowl. Dust the greased pans with half of this cinnamon/sugar mixture. Pour the batter evenly into the pans and sprinkle the remaining sugar mixture over the batter. ½ cup granulated sugar, 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- Bake for 60-65 minutes or until the a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out with a few moist crumbs.Cool until the bread loosens from the pan evenly and turn onto a serving dish.
Video
Notes
- Instant yeast will work as well.
- For muffins, preheat the oven to 425ºF and bake the muffins for 5 minutes, then reduce the baking temperature to 375ºF and bake for an additional 13 minutes.
- If you can’t find anyone who wants the sourdough starter, simply throw those 1-cup bags into the freezer until another time when you’d like to start the sourdough process our bake the bread. When you pull the sourdough out of the freezer, treat it as Day 1. Or just go ahead and use that cup to bake loaves of friendship bread!
Nutrition
Calories: 253kcal | Carbohydrates: 26g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 16g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 9g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 28mg | Sodium: 100mg | Potassium: 90mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 16g | Vitamin A: 49IU | Vitamin C: 0.1mg | Calcium: 36mg | Iron: 1mg
How to Make Amish Friendship Bread: Step by Step
There’s not really a lot of steps to this friendship bread recipe. It’s a mix and bake situation.
Step 1: Mix all of the bread ingredients together in a large bowl. Use a whisk until mostly combined, then a rubber spatula to finish it. Don’t overmix.
Step 2: Prepare the loaf pans. Spray the loaf pans with cooking spray (or line with parchment paper then spray with cooking spray). Sprinkle them with a cinnamon sugar mixture. And then bake. My pans were 8 ½ x 4 1×2″ loaf pans. They took about 61 minutes to bake.
When can I start using my starter?
Can I use disposable metal tins for baking this? Not storing starter but only having contact while baking?
Can I use honey in the starter instead of sugar?
What should the starter smell like?? I missed day 10 and have had it out on the counter for two extra days before adding the other ingredients. Should I throw it out??
Can you make plain sourdough bread with this starter?
What if I skipped a couple mashing days? I’m at day 10 or 11. Can I continue with it or do I need to start all over?
How do you bake it. I’m on day 9 and I’m trying to get prepared. Long story short I don’t know how to bake this
Can I make the whole batch on Day 10 and not keep any starters in order to have 4 loaves instead of 2? Do I just need to double the Day 10 ingredients?
Hi there, thank you for the recipe. Would this work with oat milk? TIA
If i make bread once a week, do i keep a starter in the refrigerator, bring it out, feed it, let it sit on the counter over night then take 1 cup to make bread and refrigerate the rest until the next week and then start it over again the same way? This would be after the initial 10 days
So I don’t plan on sharing my starters… Do I put them in the freezer? And when I’m ready to use them what do I need to do?
How do you make rolls out of my starter?
Dumb question…what are your solutions to leave the bag out on the counter? I don’t have a lot of counter space so having a perpetual bag on the counter is not going to work. Ideas?
Do you have to add more yeast to the starter after the ten days if not how does future breads rise without yeast.
How long can you store starter in the freezer? I have had some for yeats.