Came home from work and fixed dinner. Looked at my sad-looking plastic bag of Amish Friendship Bread Starter that has been laying around a few days. Read the bag and discovered that today is Wednesday. Day 10. Oh crap.
This is the big day. I'm supposed to add to the starter, and make 2 loaves of bread. I have all the ingredients. I even have the instant vanilla pudding. I guess that means I should go ahead and do it.
Helpful Hint: Since you have to keep the starter outside of the fridge, I kept it in an urn-type holder to keep it protected from getting thrown around on the counter.
After mixing the batter and pouring in the pans, there are instructions that you can sprinkle a cinnamon sugar mixture on the top, or not. So I decided to sprinkle it lightly on one and not on the other. I can't stand overly sweet quick breads.
You can taste the cinnamon-sugar with both versions because of the sugar-dusted pan...
but the big difference is what it does to the looks of the bread. Crackled and rustic vs. smooth and pound-cake-like. Again, both are awesome.
These are the 4 additional (1 cup) starters it makes in addition to the bread.
Amish Friendship Bread
MAKES TWO 9” LOAVES and 4 cups of starter for friends
To be left on counter, not meant to be refrigerated. Burp bag as needed.
Day 1 - receive the starter and do nothing
Day 2 - Mush the bag.
Day 3 - Mush the bag.
Day 4 - Mush the bag.
Day 5 - Mush the bag.
Day 6 - Add to the bag 1 cup each flour (I recommend unbleached, all-purpose flour), sugar (plain white) and milk (I used skim milk, but usually doesn’t matter). Mush the bag.
Day 7 - Mush the bag.
Day 8 - Mush the bag.
Day 9 - Mush the bag.
Day 10 - Follow these instructions:
1. Pour the entire contents of the bag into a non-metal bowl.
2. Add 1 1/2 cups flour, 1 1/2 cups sugar and 1 1/2 cups milk. Stir.
3. Measure one cup batter into four 1-gallon Ziploc bags and give to friends along with a copy of the recipe. (Keep one for yourself if you want to make bread again in 10 days.)
4. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. (baked mine at 300 degrees on convection setting)
5. Add to the remaining batter:
3 eggs (bringing eggs to room temperature is a generally accepted practice in baking)
1 cup oil (I used canola oil)
1/2 cup milk
1/2 tsp. vanilla
2 tsp. cinnamon (I used Vietnamese cinnamon)
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
2 cups flour
1 large (5.1 ounce) box instant vanilla pudding (I used French vanilla flavor)
1/2 tsp. salt (I used fine grain sea salt)
6. Grease 2 large loaf pans (my instructions say glass, but I used metal and turned out great)
7. In a small bowl, mix together 1/2 cup sugar and 1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon. Dust the greased pans with 1/2 of this mixture.
8. Pour the batter evenly into the 2 pans. Optional: sprinkle the remaining sugar mixture over the tops of the breads. (I lightly sprinkled one loaf, none on the other. The big difference is that the sugared version cracks and looks beautifully rustic. The unsugared loaf remains smooth and looks like a pound cake. Both taste great.)
9. Bake 1 hour (until golden brown and firm on top. I added an extra 5 minutes.) Cool the bread a few minutes. Run a knife along the edge of bread and gently turn out of pan onto a cooling rack.
If you keep a starter for yourself, you will be baking every 10 days. The bread is very good and makes a great gift. Only the Amish know how to create the starter, so if you give them all away, you will have to wait until someone gives you one back. ENJOY!!
Here is a recipe for the starter that I HAVE NOT tried. Got it from
Amish Friendship Bread Starter
This is the Amish Friendship Bread Starter Recipe that you’ll need to make the Amish Friendship Bread.
1 pkg. active dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water (110°F)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup white sugar
1 cup warm milk (110°F)
1. In a small bowl, dissolve the yeast in warm water for about 10 minutes. Stir well.
2. In a 2 quart glass or plastic container, combine 1 cup sifted flour and 1 cup sugar. Mix thoroughly or the flour will get lumpy when you add the milk.
3. Slowly stir in warm milk and dissolved yeast mixture. Loosely cover the mixture with a lid or plastic wrap. The mixture will get bubbly.
Follow the 10-day instructions above for Amish Friendship Bread. The day you make the starter is Day 1.