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When Anissa was in high school, she came home one day with this loaf of bread that she had gotten from one of her favorite teachers. “MOM…you have got to try this!” When she told me it was homemade bread I got all excited and asked her what kind it was. Upon hearing “Pumpkin Spice”, I remember turning my nose up and saying “I’ll pass”. I was never a big fan of pumpkin – or pumpkin spice, or so I thought.
She insisted I was missing out on all the good and delicious things that life had to offer if I did not TRY this bread. So, I did. And then I proceeded to eat the ENTIRE loaf in one night.
And that started my deep appreciation and love of Amish Friendship Bread. Lucky for me, she also had in her little bag of treats, our very own ziplock bag of Amish Friendship Bread starter complete with instructions on how we could bake our very own loaf of bread – or two. (or 20)
Six or seven years passed and we had long let that little bag of starter finally die off. I found myself in the mood to bake one day and I remembered that yummy bread. I went on a search to find out how I could get another bag of Amish Friendship Bread starter. Instead I found a recipe and started my very own. It’s really quite simple to make and just calls for a few ingredients – most of which you probably already have in your pantry.
I have included the entire recipe in an easy printable format below. This is the base of all of the delicious sweet breads that we bake at the Cottage Cafe. While the traditional Amish Friendship Bread recipe is a Cinnamon bread, (you can find that recipe here) there are tons of recipe variations at your fingertips with a simple Pinterest search.
If you have any questions, please feel free to comment below or contact me.
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5 from 3 votes
Amish Friendship Bread Starter
You can make a variety of breads and baked gooods using an Amish Friendship Bread starter as the base.
Prep Time10 minutes mins
Ready in10 days d
Total Time10 days d 10 minutes mins
Course: Friendship Bread Starter
Cuisine: American
Keyword: amish friendship bread,, Baking, Starter
Servings: 4 cups
Author: Amy
Equipment
Glass or Plastic Bowl
1 cup measuring cup
Ingredients
- .25 ounces Active Dry Yeast 1 packet
- 1/4 cup warm water 110 degrees
- 1 cup AP Flour
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup milk
Additional Needed for Feedings
- 2 cups AP Flour
- 2 cups Milk
- 2 cups sugar
Instructions
Preparing the Initial Starter Mixture
In a small bowl, sprinke the yeast over the warm water to dissolve. Let stand for 10 minutes.
In a 2 quart glass, plastic or ceramic container, combine the flour and sugar. (Do not use metal).
Stir 1 cup of milk and the dissolved yeast mixture into your combined flour and sugar.
Cover loosely and let stand at room temperature until mixture is bubbly. This will be DAY 1 of your 10 day process.
Feeding Schedule
Day 2: Give it a stir, or if you store in a gallon ziplock bag, give it a mush
Day 3: Give it another stir, (or mush your bag)
Day 4: Give it another stir, (or mush your bag)
Day 5: Give it another stir, (or mush your bag)
Day 6: Feeding Day: Add 1 cup of flour, 1 cup of sugar, and one cup of milk. Give it a stir or seal and mash your bag.
Day 7: Give it another stir, (or mush your bag)
Day 8: Give it another stir, (or mush your bag)
Day 9: Give it another stir, (or mush your bag)
Final Feed and Bake/Divide
Day 10: Add 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar and one cup milk and mix well. If baking, remove 1 cup to bake with and divide the remaing starter into ziploc bags with 1 cup in each.
You can then save a bag for yourself to start over with and share the rest with friends or toss into the freezer until you are ready to bake again. (See notes on how to handle your frozen starter)
Notes
- Starter should be loosely covered and left standing at room temperature.
- Do not use metal bowls or utensils.
- You may also store your Starter in a plastic ziploc bag. If the bag starts to get puffy, let the air out and reseal.
- To start baking again if you have a bag in the freezer, just remove the bag from the freezer and treat it as day one.
