Amish Friendship Bread and Starter

Amish Friendship Bread is the recipe you both love and hate because it tastes amazing but in the end you are left with starter that you have to give away. Sometimes this is easy and people are chopping at the bit to have a starter and other times you'll find yourself begging people to take it off your hands. In its original form, you grow the starter for 10 days then divide it. Some you will bake into bread and some you will divide into more starter that you either keep or give to friends. This recipe will work if you are given a starter or if you want to begin your own starter.

Starter right after initial mixing

Starter 3 hours after initial mixing

Fresh out of the oven - Baking in stoneware is my favorite!

Moist & Delicious

Makes: 1 starter/2 loaves

 If you do not have a starter and want to begin your own:

Amish Friendship Bread Starter Recipe
1 pkg. active dry yeast
1/4 c. warm water (110℉)
1 c. flour
1 c. sugar
1 c. warm milk (110℉)

* As you mix the starter, be sure not to use any type of metal utensils or bowls.

In a small bowl, dissolve the yeast in warm water for about 10 minutes. The yeast should produce some small bubbles. Stir well. While the yeast dissolves, combine the flour and sugar in a 2 quart glass or plastic bowl. Mix together. Slowly stir in the warm milk and dissolved yeast mixture. Mix until combined and most of the lumps are dissolved.

Loosely cover the mixture with a lid or plastic wrap and keep on the counter. The mixture will get bubbly and grow as the days go on. Consider this Day 1 of the cycle. For the next 10 days, handle the starter according to the directions listed below. You can also transfer the starter to a gallon-size zip-top bag and squish the bag each day instead of stirring it.

Amish Friendship Bread

If you receive a starter from a friend or make your own starter using the recipe above, here is what you do with it.

Day 1 - Make or receive the starter
Day 2 - Stir
Day 3 - Stir
Day 4 - Stir
Day 5 - Add 1 cup each flour, sugar and milk
Day 6 - Stir
Day 7 - Stir
Day 8 - Stir
Day 9 - Stir
Day 10 - Add 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar and 1 cup milk. Mix well and place 1 cup each into 3 containers or gallon bags. Give 3 of the starters to friends with the instructions for Day 1 through Day 10.

After removing the 3 cups, follow the recipe below to make 2 loaves of Amish Friendship Bread.

1 c. Amish Friendship Bread starter
2/3 c. oil
3 eggs
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla
1 to 1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon (depending on personal preference)
1 c. sugar
2 c. flour
1 1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda

Preheat oven to 325℉. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Using a fork or whisk beat by hand until well blended. Grease 2 9"x5" loaf pans with butter, sprinkle with sugar (not flour). Bake for 45-60 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out dry. Cool 10 minutes, remove from pans.

Notes: I love Amish Friendship Bread and have fond memories of my mom receiving a starter from a friend. We would watch each day as the starter bubbled and grew knowing the amazing treat that was coming when it was time to bake. But she worked at a school and those bags of starter would get offered and passed around the staff and teachers until everyone had one and you couldn't find anyone to give it away too.

It's my goal to figure out how to keep my starter going without having to divide it each time and give it away. I'm happy to share if friends want some but that's not always the case. There are also many additions you can put into the finished batter before baking. You can Google to find those ideas and I will update my post when I successful make any of the additions.

This recipe has been around for a long time and obviously was not created by me. That being said, I'm unsure where I got my recipe from originally. I found it as a print-out in my recipe book.