Amish Friendship Bread Starter Recipe & Printable (2024)

FAQs

What is the difference between a sourdough starter and a friendship bread starter? ›

One of the main differences between a regular sourdough starter and an Amish Friendship Bread starter is that the latter is sweet, so I made sure to stock up on sugar before making the bread. (I already had a giant Costco-sized tub of cinnamon on-hand, because cinnamon is life.)

In a large bowl, combine the Amish bread starter with oil, eggs, 2 cups flour, 1 cup sugar, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, 1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder, and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Mix well. Pour into prepared loaf pans. Bake in preheated oven for 50 to 60 minutes.

If it's properly cared for, Amish friendship starter can be maintained indefinitely. "It is heartier than most sourdough starters because the sugars in the added milk and sugar give the yeasts extra food to survive, but other things like ambient temperature and contamination could alter your starter," Gee says.

Yes, AFB starter is hardy, but it needs to be fed. If your starter turns pink or has pink splotches, throw it out. After feeding it, nothing happens. Again, every starter (and kitchen) is different so you don't want to be impatient.

There is no single best ratio, but I've found a ratio of 1:5:5 fed twice daily at 12-hour intervals to produce a sourdough starter that's strong and healthy. This ratio corresponds to 20% ripe starter carryover, 100% water, and 100% flour (a mix of whole grain rye and white flour) at each feeding.

It's usually pretty obvious when your starter has gone bad. You will either see mold or discoloration (generally pink or orange). If you see either of these things, you will need to toss your starter. The smell is usually a big give away.

If too much moisture escapes, the bread could dry out. Check expiration dates and use fresh ingredients. For Amish Friendship Bread in particular, you'll want to make sure your yeast (if starting a starter from scratch), baking soda, and baking powder are fresh.

Baking temperature

All ovens have their own foibles, and you need to get to know yours. Some ovens run hotter than its settings, some cooler. If the oven is too hot the loaf will be brown and crispy on the outside but doughy in the middle and may collapse as it cools.

Does Amish friendship bread need to be refrigerated? No. After the bread has cooled completely, you can store it like any other baked good in an airtight container at room temperature for several days, or wrap it tightly and freeze it for later.

If you didn't discard a portion of your starter each time you feed it, two things would happen: Your starter would grow to an enormous, unmanageable size. Your starter would likely become more and more inhospitable to the bacteria and yeast we want as the mixture would become ever more acidic.

Should my Amish Friendship Bread starter smell like alcohol? ›

As fermentation gasses build up in the container , let it out or the bag will go BOOM! It is normal for the batter to rise, bubble, ferment and smell like good beer or alcohol. Smelling like nasty feet is bad and means that your starter died and you need to toss it an start again.

The original instructions for Amish Friendship Bread states that you should not use metal bowls or utensils. The original reason was because there's a chemical reaction that occurs between the fermenting starter and metal.

If you have too much starter compared to the additional flour and water you're adding, your hungry starter consumes all the nutrients and then it's not as bubbly.

If you bake couple of times a week or once a week, best to move the starter in the fridge. You would then remove it from the fridge for feeding ahead of preparing the dough. Can I leave my starter out overnight after feeding it? Yes, if you have just fed it.

In general, the less sourdough starter you use, the less chance you have of over fermenting your dough during the bulk ferment. This reduces the risk of sticky, unshapeable dough. As with any sourdough recipe, before you start baking bread, you want to make sure that your sourdough starter is as strong as possible.

According to Elizabeth Coblentz, a member of the Old Order Amish and the author of the syndicated column "The Amish Cook", true Amish friendship bread is "just sourdough bread that is passed around to the sick and needy".

You just take out 20g and place into a clean jar with 20g of flour and 20g of water. What is this? You don't need to share a huge amount of starter, this will give them 60g of starter to work with, which is plenty! Remember, sourdough starter can be increased very easily by feeding an increased ratio.

While our business has expanded well beyond St. Louis since then, that same sourdough starter is still used in our iconic sourdough bread and the craft of baking bread fresh each day remains at the heart of Panera Bread.

Your friend can simply put the dried starter in a bowl or jar, add flour and water, and have an active starter with just a few feedings. People trade sourdough cultures using this method all the time, sealing them in foil and mailing them to each other.