Sort ingredients
gaius619
QR Code
Listen
PdfAmish Friendship Bread is a sweet bread made from a sourdough starter. The problem with most recipes is that they are designed to multiply the amount of starter you use, so you can give it to friends. This is a problem because eventually we all run out of friends (possibly faster if you keep chasing them down and forcing bags of starter into their hands), and as good as it is, it can get overwhelming to make 2 loaves every 10 days. Because of this, most people discard their starter after the first few times making the bread, as it can get overwhelming, especially if you’re faithfully following the instructions and “mushing the bag” regularly. The good news is, sourdough starters (Amish Friendship Bread included) are not incredibly delicate. They’re fairly hearty, and they can be slowed down by refrigerating them, or stopped by freezing or dehydrating them. Most of the information listed here is from Take Control of Your Amish Friendship Bread Starter.
All sourdough starters need to be fed periodically, unless you have made them dormant by freezing them. Whenever you feed a starter, it grows, because you are adding ingredients to the mix. If you’re maintaining your starter, periodically you will need to either bake with it or discard some of it. Before baking with it, you need to increase the volume, because you are going to be pulling some of your starter out to bake with, and you want to have some left over to continue with. You will notice that the flavor improves after the starter has been able to mature. The first batch from a new starter will be good, but after you’ve had it going for a while, it will develop a richer flavor, which is why it’s better to maintain your starter rather than always starting fresh.
These instructions will include everything from how to make a fresh starter to how to maintain your starter.
One word about working with sourdough starters. You often see people talking about only using wood, glass or plastic, and absolutely no metal. That’s not quite accurate. It’s absolutely no reactive metal (like copper or aluminum). Stainless steel is fine, as long as it’s high quality. The problem is, often times stainless steel can be plated over a lower grade metal, so if you have a scratch in the stainless, it can cause a problem. It’s probably best to just avoid metal.
Amish Friendship Bread Starter
This is the Amish Friendship Bread Starter Recipe that you’ll need to make the Amish Friendship Bread. (Note, you only need to use this if don’t already have a starter that you’re feeding.)
In a small bowl, dissolve the yeast in warm water for about 10 minutes. Stir well.
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.
Slowly stir in warm milk and dissolved yeast mixture. Loosely cover the mixture with a lid or plastic wrap. The mixture will get bubbly. Consider this Day 1 of the cycle, or the day you receive the starter.
For the next 10 days handle starter according to the instructions below.
Multiplication Instructions.
Use these instructions if you want to have some starter to share.
Do not refrigerate.
Batter will rise, bubble, and ferment ... burp 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, sugar and milk. Mush the bag.
Day 7 - Mush the bag.
Day 8 - Mush the bag.
Day 9 - Mush the bag.
Day 10 - Follow these instructions:
Pour the entire contents of the bag into a non-metal bowl.
Add 1 ½ cups flour, 1 ½ cups sugar and 1 ½ cups milk. Stir.
Measure one cup batter into four 1-gallon Ziploc bags and give to friends along with a copy of the recipe.
Proceed to the baking instructions
Maintenance Instructions
Day 1: 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: ½ cup of flour, ½ cup of sugar, ½ cup of milk. Mush the bag.
Day 7: Mush the bag.
Day 8: Mush the bag.
Day 9: Mush the bag.
Day 10:
Add ¾ cup of milk, flour and sugar. Mix well. Remove 1 cup of the batter into a new bag.
Proceed to the baking instructions
If you want to take a break from the bread for awhile, freeze your starter. If you want extra starter to give away or make a lot of bread, just go back to the multiplication instructions.
Instead of keeping your starter in gallon bags, you can use recycled sour cream or other types of containers. Technically, you rarely have to "mush" the starter. If you think about it give the container a little shake. It’s not imperative to worry about the days either. Feed the starter when you think about it, and do the day ten steps when you have the time. You may notice a liquid forming on the top of your starter. That’s called hooch, and is a sign that the starter is stressed and in need of a feeding. If it gets too stressed, you may want to discard ½ of your starter and replace it with equal parts of flour milk and sugar, and then after a few days proceed with the “Day 6” instructions.
Baking Instructions
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
To the remaining batter add:
Using a wooden spoon beat by hand until well blended. You can add 1 cup raisins and 1 cup nuts (optional).
Grease two loaf pans with butter, sprinkle with sugar instead of flour.
Bake at 325 degrees F for 45 minutes to 1 hour (individual oven temperatures vary). Cool 10 minutes, remove from pans. Makes two loaves of Amish Friendship Bread.