Amish Friendship Bread with Starter: the easy way to make a sourdough starter

Amish friendship bread is a delicious, sweet sourdough bread with a wonderful, unique taste. It gets its name from the fact that people will make the Amish friendship bread starter then share it with their family and friends to use for their baking recipes.

Classic Amish friendship bread is soft and moist with loads of cinnamon sugar flavor and a subtle tangy taste. Making this sourdough starter is easy, but it does take 10 days, so you'll need a little patience! That said, it's totally worth the effort!

What is Amish Friendship Bread?

Like its name suggest, Amish friendship bread is a traditional Amish recipe. To make it, first, you'll prepare a sourdough starter then give the extra starter to your friends and family each time you make a loaf of bread. The bread itself is a rich, moist cinnamon sugar bread with a slightly tangy taste thanks to the sourdough starter used to leaven the bread.

How to Make Amish Friendship Bread Starter

Making the starter for your Amish friendship bread is incredibly easy and only requires 5 ingredients and a little patience. First, whisk the warm water and yeast in a bowl and leave it for 5 to 10 minutes or until the mixture becomes foamy. While you're waiting for the yeast to activate, whisk the flour and sugar together. Pour the milk into the yeast mixture, then stir in the flour and sugar. Pour everything into a large gallon-sized sealable bag and leave it at room temperature.

Now comes the part where you'll need a bit of patience. Over the next 5 days, you need to mash the bag once a day. On day 6, feed your starter with 1 cup of flour, 1 cup of sugar, and 1 cup of milk. Squeeze the bag to mix the additions into the starter. Mash the bag once a day for 3 more days. On the 4th day, pour the starter into a glass container and stir in ½ cup each of flour, sugar, and milk. Finally, your starter is ready to be divvied up and given to your friends and family. Just don't forget to keep a bag for yourself!

How to Use Amish Friendship Bread Starter

This starter can be used to bake bread, make muffins, dinner rolls, or cakes. To maintain the starter, feed it once a week when you're not using it.

Tips for the Best Amish Friendship Bread Starter

– Make sure the water is warm but not too hot. It should be about 110 to 115F.

– Use whole milk rather than low or non-fat options.

– 1 cup of starter makes two loaves of bread.

– You can make Amish friendship bread without the starter. To replicate the tanginess of a sourdough starter, use a little buttermilk.

– You can use a glass bowl instead of sealable bags to make the starter.

How to Store Amish Friendship Bread Starter

Keep your starter in a sealable glass container in the fridge and feed it ½ cup each of sugar, milk, and flour once a week.

Instructions

Write day-by-day instructions on a gallon-sized sealable bag.

Whisk the water and yeast in a bowl. Let stand for 5 to 10 minutes or until the mixture becomes foamy.

In a second bowl, whisk flour and sugar together. Whisk in the yeast mixture.

Pour in the milk.

Whisk.

Transfer to a gallon-sized sealable bag and leave at room temperature.

Every day for 5 days straight, mash the bag. On the 6th day, add 1 cup of flour, 1 cup of sugar, and 1 cup of milk to the bag. Mash the bag to combine.

Mash the bag for 3 more days. On the 4th day, transfer the starter to a glass container. Stir in ½ cup each of flour, sugar, and milk, then mix to combine.

Pour 1 cup of starter into sealable bags until all the starter has been divided. Give the bags of starter to friends and family, keeping one for yourself so you can make your bread.

To make the bread, add 1 cup of starter, then add in eggs, vegetable oil, milk, sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, baking powder, flour, baking soda, salt and vanilla pudding in a bowl. Mix.

In a small bowl, whisk sugar and cinnamon.

Preheat oven to 325°F. Grease a loaf pan and sprinkle the cinnamon-sugar mixture on the bottom.

Pour the batter into the loaf pan and sprinkle the top with the remaining cinnamon-sugar mixture.

Bake for about one hour. Let it cool for 10 minutes before serving. Enjoy!

Notes

For long-term storage, keep your starter in a sealable glass container.