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.
Amish Friendship Bread Starter
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.
Hi. Can i keep starter in the fridge and use as is to make a another batch of bread?
Thanks, Denise
You can but it will slow down the fermenting process so I generally do not. Once you have a good healthy starter that has been through at least one 10 day cycle, it is best to just maintain it at room temperature and just feed it regularly with one cup of sugar, one cup of flour and one cup of milk. You can bake with it at any time after it has gone through the intital 10 day cycle, you just need to feed it at least once a week.
Hello again. Can i use the started on the 10th day without the second feed?
Thanks. Denise
If this is the first round, you do need to feed it before baking. This will ensure it has developed properly. Once it goes through one complete 10 day cycle, you can make adjustments to your feeding schedule. Basically you want to make sure that you are baking with an active starter. One way to tell is that your starter is bubbly and has a nice sweet and tangy aroma. After you have gone through a complete 10 day cycle you can bake as long as your starter is bubbly and active.
I would like to know if it matters if I use regular milk or not. I only use Lactose Free milk 2%. Is that ok to use for this starter or do I need to purchase regular whole milk and also I have a glass jar size of probably a qt., will that be ok to start the “starter” in? Thanks so very much!!
DO you have a favorite recipe using the starter? Thanks
Hi Debbie. I don’t have an absolute favorite. This starter is SO versatile. You can really experiment and play around with what you put in it. I think we currently have about 20 different flavor variations that start with a cup of AFB starter. The Cinnamon Friendship Bread Recipe is on my blog and that’s a good place to start. I just play around with the spices, pudding flavors and mix-ins. It’s not limited to just breads either. You can do pancakes, cookies, cakes, etc. I will be adding more recipes to my blog soon.
Please inform me of where I can find some recipes that can be made from this Friendship Bread Starter mixture. Preferably, one for making cinnamon buns.
Pinterest is an awesome place to find recipes. Just search for Amish Starter recipes. I will also be adding additional recipes in the future as well. I’ve pinned a couple of recipes on my board here:https://www.pinterest.com/justamymarie/amish-friendship-bread-recipes/
Hello, can I cut the starter recipe and feedings in half so I have less after 10 days?
You sure can!
How do I “feed” or not for that matter to have a cup to bake and a cup to keep it going? I don’t always have 3 other friends to give it to!
The easiest way to keep a starter on hand so that you always have one to bake with is to make an initial batch following the 10 day schedule and then freeze it all into individual one cup portions in ziploc bags. When you want to bake with it, just pull out a bag and thaw it, then bake. No need to feed it since you did that right before you froze it. Once you get down to just one or two bags, start a new feeding schedule with on of the bags. (Let it thaw and feed (the feed day would be day 6), Feed again in four days and freeze. Hope this helps!
Can I use whole wheat flour instead of AP? I live at high altitude and I don’t have much luck baking when I use AP.
I have not tried it with whole wheat flour myself so I don’t really have any advice on that one. I may give that a try soon and let you know the results. And certainly you can always experiment with it. If you do, please let me know how it turns out.
On Day 10, after dividing the starter into zip lock bags for sharing (or freezing), do I add the 1 cup of flour, sugar, and milk to my reserved zip lock bag I have saved for starting the process again? Or…do I just mash it until day 6 when I feed it again? I may have fed my whole batch of starter on Day 10, then fed my reserved 1 cup of starter on Day 1 and then again on Day 6. Now do I feed it again on Day 10? I am so confused! Have I ruined it? It still looks and smells fine.
So on Day 10, you take the bag and add 1 cup of each and then divide. Then you just mash your reserve bag until day 6 when you feed again. If you mistakenly fed your reserve bag that same day, trust me it’s fine. You can feed again on day 6 and again on day 10. You could even feed on day 6 and bake with one cup of it and then continue on to day 10. Starter is very versatile and as long as it has gone through at least one complete 10 day cycle, and then you continue to maintain it regularly it should be fine. Feel free to email me directly through my contact form if you have any other questions, and I am so sorry it took me so long to respond.
I read your story with fond memories of how i got my first starter. I have had one going for many years and then it got killed by temps. I used to keep them in the freezer now that worked well. My son accidentally threw it out thinking it was bad 🙁 so I’m starting a new one and was so curious I’ve been comparing Sourdough recipe for Amish Friendship Bread ( Herman Babies) and you use yeast 1 package. I’ve never used yeast to get it to start again. 1 cup flour, ` 1 cup sugar, 1 cup of milk and went the 10 days routine and it was fine. However, this time I will put the yeast in one starter and one without to compare them. Just curious as to how I got it started without yeast. Have you ever made it without the yeast? I’ve done this for over 25 years.
I have made it without the yeast. Before commercial yeast was readily available, that was the standard. When I make regular sourdough starter I do not use yeast but it takes a bit more work and time to get that starter going. Commercial yeast just helps speed up the process for the initial starter in this one and is only used the one time at the beginning. Did you see the same results after ten days with both of your starters? I’d love to hear the results.
Can I keep this in a canning jar, or will the metal top ruin it?
you can use a canning jar, just cover it with a some saran wrap and don’t put the top on tight. I personally like the ziploc bag because it makes it easier to do your daily “mash” to keep it mixed up.I have used a 1/2 gallon size canning jar, but when my starter gets super active and bubbly it tends to flow over the top of the jar and then I have quite a mess on my counter.
Am I missing something? I don’t see any baking instructions?
This recipe is just for the starter. If you look on my other posts, I do have the basic friendship bread recipe posted here.
I missed the 10 day mark by 3 days due to my work schedule.
Can I still carry out the 10 day baking on the 14th day or is my batter ruined?
You can still do it. Just feed your starter before you bake.
Do you only use whole milk or ks 2% OK?
I use whole milk because that is what we buy. You can use 2% or almond or soy milk if you prefer. I have even seen where water is an acceptable sub for the milk but I haven’t tried that.
what is the baking instructions
You can find a basic recipe here:https://www.amymariecole.com/2020/04/26/amish-friendship-bread-recipe-with-printable-recipe-card/
There are also tons of recipes on Pinterest using the starter as your base.
I’ve herd that you can dehydrate your starter,and rehydrate when you want to use it. I think this would be a great way to save some of your starter for the future.
I have heard that as well but have never tried it. If you do, let me know how it turns out. I bake so often that I have never really had a need. You can also freeze this starter if you want to take a baking break. 🙂
Hi Amy, Just used my starter from your recipe. Love it. I actually resorted to Amish Friendship Starter because I have failed at a vegan/yeast and sugar less version 3 times this winter (I’ll try again when winter subsides.) That being said, I have guests who have dietary restrictions and I would like to reduce the sugar in the starter. I assume because this is a yeast starter it still needs sugar to survive. I know I can reduce the feeding by equal parts to reduce the volume, but do you have any experience with decreasing the sugar but keeping the flour and milk equal parts?
I personally do not have any experience in doing that. I might have to research that a bit and see what I can find out.
Where do I find the bread recipe after I make the starter
You can find a basic friendship bread recipe here:https://www.amymariecole.com/2020/04/26/amish-friendship-bread-recipe-with-printable-recipe-card/
Also, you can check pinterest and find tons of variations using the basic starter. 🙂
Hi, I am going to give this a try but I am just wondering if I am supposed to wait for it to bubble before I start the feeding process? Or do I start the feeding process as I’m waiting for it to bubble?
Once you have gotten your first batch going just follow the 10 days schedule. Feed on day 6. It should be showing signs of bubbling earlier in the schedule but even if it doesn’t you want to feed it on day 6.
This may seem like a really stupid question, but can you use more than just the one cup for baking on day 10? If I wanted to make several recipes on day 10, can I only reserve what I want to freeze or give away and bake right away with the rest?
Not a stupid question at all! I make alot of bread myself and some days I want to do more than one batch. You just want to make sure that you reserve at least a cup so you can continue the 10 day schedule of mashing and feeding. My personal starter actually is a double batch just for that purpose. I feed it two cups of sugar, two cups of flour and two cups of milk on my feed days so I can do several batches on bake day. You can build up during the Holidays like that and then just scale divide and freeze if you are slowing down on your baking. Once you have really developed your starter over time it’s pretty flexible like that. (Hope that makes sense) Happy Baking!
Day 1. I’ll let you know how it turns out.
What is AP flour?
Nevermind to the previous comment i had a slow moment?
I have those all the time! 😂 if anyone else is wondering the same AP Flour is just short for all-purpose flour