Amish Friendship Bread and Starter Recipe

Square side shot of a loaf of easy amish friendship bread on a cutting board.

5 from 10 votes

Amish Friendship Bread and Starter Recipe

Make a batch of starter to share with friends, and then bake yourself a loaf of this cinnamon sugar Amish friendship bread, too!

Course Breakfast

Cuisine American, Amish

Keyword Amish bread, amish friendship bread, amish friendship bread starter recipe

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 1

Total Time 10 1 15

Servings loaves

Calories 223kcal

Author Blair Lonergan

Ingredients

TO MAKE THE STARTER ON DAY 1:

¼ cup warm water (about 110-115°F)
1 package active dry yeast (2 ¼ teaspoons)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup milk (use at least 2% milk or higher fat)

TO ADD TO THE STARTER ON DAY 6:

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup milk (use at least 2% milk or higher fat)

TO DIVIDE THE STARTER ON DAY 10:

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 ½ cups granulated sugar
1 ½ cups milk (use at least 2% milk or higher fat)

TO BAKE THE BREAD:

1 cup of Amish Friendship Bread Starter (what’s left in your large bowl after dividing on Day 10)
3 large eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 large (5 ounce) box vanilla instant pudding mix (just the dry mix)
1 cup canola oil
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup milk (use at least 2% milk or higher fat)
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon salt
For the Topping: ¼ cup of granulated sugar + 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Instructions

MAKE THE STARTER:

In a small bowl, combine the warm water with the dry active yeast. Set aside until bubbly, 5-10 minutes.
In a large non-metal bowl mix together the all-purpose flour and the granulated sugar. Stir in the milk and the yeast mixture.
Cover loosely and leave on the countertop at room temperature until bubbly.
Place starter in a large (gallon size) Ziploc bag. Seal bag and squish, squash, and mush until well combined. Let stand at room temperature overnight. The day that you prepare the starter is DAY 1.
Day 2: Squish and mush the bag.
Day 3: Squish and mush the bag.
Day 4: Squish and mush the bag.
Day 5: Squish and mush the bag.
Day 6: Add to the bag – 1 cup of flour, 1 cup of sugar, and 1 cup of milk. Squish and mush the bag.
Day 7: Squish and mush the bag.
Day 8: Squish and mush the bag.
Day 9: Squish and mush the bag.
Day 10: BAKING AND DIVIDING DAY. Pour the entire contents of the starter bag into a non-metal bowl and add 1 ½ cups of flour, 1 ½ cups of sugar, and 1 ½ cups of milk. Measure out 4 separate batches of the starter batter (1 cup each) and place into large gallon-size Ziploc bags. Keep one bag of starter for yourself to continue the process (Day 10 is equal to Day 1) and give the other 3 to friends along with a copy of these instructions. After dividing the starter into separate bags, you should have about 1 cup of the starter batter still left in your large bowl. The starter that remains in the large bowl will be used for baking your Amish Friendship Bread.

BAKE THE FRIENDSHIP BREAD:

Preheat oven to 325°F/160°C. Spray two loaf pans with nonstick cooking spray; set aside.
To the bowl with the remaining 1 cup of starter, add the eggs, flour, instant pudding mix, canola oil, sugar, milk, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, vanilla, and salt. Stir just until combined.
Divide the batter evenly between the two greased pans.
In a small bowl, combine ¼ cup sugar and 1 teaspoon of cinnamon. Sprinkle the top of each loaf with the cinnamon-sugar mixture.
Bake for 1 hour, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack and then remove bread from pans.

REPEAT THE 10-DAY PROCESS OR FREEZE THE STARTER:

If you keep a starter bag for yourself, then DAY 10 is equal to DAY 1 again, and you can repeat the baking process every 10 days. If you do not want to continue the cycle right away, place the 1-cup bags of starter in the freezer for up to 3 months. When you take the starter out of the freezer, you can treat this as DAY 1, or you can use that starter right away to bake the loaves of Friendship Bread.

Notes

Do not use any metal spoons or bowls when mixing. This instruction was originally included in the Amish Friendship Bread recipe because there was a chemical reaction that occurred between the fermenting starter and the metal equipment. That said, if your metal bowls and spoons are stainless steel or coated, this likely will not be an issue. We prefer wooden spoons just to be safe!

It’s normal for the starter to rise, bubble and ferment. If air gets into the bag, let it out.

If you have a very active starter, you may end up with more than four one-cup portions on Day 10. That's fine! Just pack them up and either share them or freeze them.

Do not refrigerate the starter. If you have extra bags of starter that you would like to keep fresh, pop them in the freezer. I've included the freezing and thawing directions in the Preparation and Storage section above.

How to Know if Your Starter is Good: If your starter appears discolored with a pink or green tinge, has mold, or has a sharp acetone smell, discard the starter. It's better to be safe than sorry when it comes to food poisoning!

Do not prepare the vanilla pudding. Just add the dry pudding mix directly to the batter.

Remember that you can also download a printable PDF of the Amish Friendship Bread Starter Recipe.

Nutrition