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 many sweet breads, dinner rolls, muffins and other baked goods. Hints for storing and using up the sourdough starter.
Download the Amish Friendship Bread Starter instructions here.
Click here to see how to bake the friendship bread.
Have I got a treat for you today! Classic Amish Friendship Bread Starter Recipe. Have you ever tried this sweet sourdough?
It’s one of those recipes that people seem to either love or hate. On one hand, you make a sweet sourdough that you have to keep dividing and using up, or passing out to your friends….or throw away. If you keep the starter going, it just…well…keeps going.
On the other hand, you make a sweet sourdough that is versatile and makes an amazing cinnamon quick bread. Quick bread that is so addicting that you can eat 6 loaves in a matter of 3 days.
Yeah….just please don’t ask. 🙂
Whether you make it this bread weekly, haven’t seen it in years, or are completely new to Amish Friendship Bread, my goal is to convince you to at least give easy sourdough recipe a try. I’m going to make it easy for you with hints! The recipe for the bread itself is coming soon, but first you need the starter.
How to Make Amish Friendship Bread Starter:
- 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 dissolve some metals. It’s best to use anything but metal bowls and utensils.
- Write the directions right on the Ziploc bags using a permanent marker so you never have to go hunting for the directions.
- Make the starter recipe, then pour it into a Ziploc bag (with the directions written on it). You can also store this in a loosely covered glass bowl if you’d like. I just find it easier to use a Ziploc bag.
- While you are working your way through the 10-day process, store the starter at room temperature. If the Ziploc bag gets air in it, simply let it out.
- How much sourdough you end up with at the end of the 10 day process depends on how active your sourdough is. You’ll end up with about 5-6 cups.
- On Day 10 after you add last bit of flour, sugar and milk, separate out 1-cup portions into Ziploc bags (don’t forget those directions on the front!).
- At this point, you can give away some of those starter bags to friends along with the recipe and instructions so they can indulge in their own friendship bread.
- Keep a starter for yourself to continue the sourdough process (Day 10 is equal to Day 1), and make the Amish Friendship Bread with one of the other cups of starter.
- 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!
You don’t have to feel like this is a never-ending recipe. Although it may seem that way, you can easily freeze the 1-cup sourdough portions at the end of the 10 days to make multiple recipes (that we’ll be sharing on our site soon!).
But this Amish cinnamon friendship bread? You’ll be wanting to make it. It’s the best in served warm with a slather of butter.
Although this sweet sourdough starter is very easy, you may have questions! Please comment below with your questions and I’ll update this article to answer your questions as you have them.
Other Recipes to Use our Starter in:
Download the Amish Friendship Bread Starter instructions here.
Amish Friendship Bread Starter Recipe
Use this Amish Friendship Bread Starter Recipe as a base for many sweet breads, dinner rolls, muffins and other baked goods. Hints for storing and using up the sourdough starter.
Servings 4 cups
Prep Time 10 minutes
Total Time 10 minutes
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 milk (2% or higher fat)
Instructions
- 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.
- 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.
- Stir in the milk and then the yeast mixture.
- Cover loosely with plastic wrap and allow it to stand until bubbly.
- Once the mixture is bubbly, 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.
- Day 2: Mash the bag.
- Day 3: Mash the bag.
- Day 4: Mash the bag.
- Day 5: Mash the bag.
- Day 6: Add 1 cup each of flour, sugar and milk. Mash the bag until it is mixed well.
- Day 7: Mash the bag.
- Day 8: Mash the bag.
- Day 9: Mash the bag.
- 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.
Video
Notes
*Instant yeast will work as well.
**Calorie count shown above is for the friendship bread starter only and measures the calories in an entire cup. You use 1 cup of starter per two loaves of bread.
Nutrition
Calories: 337kcal
Making starter today. Can I use 1 cup to bake bread today and store the rest?
I’ve had a starter in my freezer for several years, can I still use it?
Thanks
Can I use the ingredients on day 7 instead of day 6 if I forgot to do it?
Just want to make sure I understand but may sound like a dumb question. Haha! On day 10 after adding ingredients to feed and separating into 4-5 bags of new starter- can I use this to bake with at this point or does the starter have to go through another round of ten days before it’s ready to use?
Can I use Lactaid milk???
Can butter milk be used?
I went with the standard 1 cup each on the 10th day which is the way we made it when my kids were little. The bread came out moist and delicious. Going to make a cherry almond bread next, Pistachio bread and butterscotch bread in the weeks to come. Would like more recipes besides breads that can be made using this sweet starter…
I see your recipe says 1/2 cup of flour, sugar and milk. All other recipes call for 1 and 1/2 cups on day 10. Why the difference?
Is it ok if I refrigerated the starter after adding milk?
How long & at what temperature do I bake this at?
So when you go back to day 1 do you also add more yeast or only the first time
Ok so I have several questions. I am on my 2nd go round of trying this FB thing…& am pretty sure that I missed only 1 day of mashing 5bags…& then had to feed or bake the next day if I remember right…well I fed the 5 bags & separated into 20 some bags (I do Farmers Markets so was hoping to use them up fairly quickly (or freeze any I couldnt) but they are flat with little to no bubbles now. Is there a way to revive them all so I dont lose all of my work & ingrediants?… Read more »
Can I use the starter on day 9 instead of 10?
Do you add cinnamon to bake? I remember this from years ago – smelling cinnamon. But your recipe doesn’t call for it. Am I missing it. Thank you 🙏
once the bread is baked, do you store the baked bread in refrigerator?