Tue 20 Nov 2007
Amish Friendship Bread Recipe
Posted by admin under Baking , Bread , Bread Recipes , Cooking , Famous Recipes , Food , Recipe , Recipes
Amish Friendship Bread Recipes
Amish Friendship Bread Starter:
1 tablespoon Active Dry Yeast
2 cups Warm Water — (110 degrees)
1 cup Flour
1 cup Sugar
1 cup Milk
Bread:
1 cup Vegetable Oil
1 cup Sugar
2 cups Flour
3 Eggs
1 small Vanilla Pudding Mix — Instant
1 teaspoon Cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/4 teaspoon Baking Powder
1/2 cup Milk
Cinnamon Sugar:
1 cup Sugar
2 tablespoons Cinnamon
For Amish Friendship Bread Starter:
Dissolve yeast in 1/2 cup of the warm water in a deep glass container. Stir
in remaining warm water, flour and sugar. Beat until smooth. Cover. A large
glass jar or bowl with a tight fitting lid works best for this. Because your
first batch of starter contains fresh yeast, you can skip the next set of
directions and go directly to the instructions for splitting your start.
Do not refrigerate! Do not stir with a metal spoon! The starter requires 10
days for fermentation.
Day 1- Begin or receive starter
Day 2- Stir with wooden spoon
Day 3- Stir with wooden spoon
Day 4- Stir with wooden spoon
Day 5- Add 1 cup sugar, 1 cup flour, 1 cup milk
Day 6- Stir with wooden spoon
Day 7- Stir with wooden spoon
Day 8- Do Nothing
Day 9- Do Nothing
Day 10- Add 1 cup sugar, 1 cup flour, 1 cup milk
Put 1 cup of starter in each of three containers. Give 2 away to friends and
keep one. This will begin their Day 1.
For Amish Friendship Bread
You will have about 1 cup of batter left besides the 1 cup you have saved for
yourself. To the remaining batter add vegetable oil, sugar, flour, baking
powder, baking soda, eggs, milk, vanilla pudding mix, cinnamon, and salt. Beat
until well blended. Add one cup raisins, chocolate chips or nuts, if desired.
Grease 2 loaf pans well, and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar, coating bottom well.
Turn batter into pans, and sprinkle remaining cinnamon sugar onto tops of
loaves. Bake at 325 F degrees for one hour.
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January 14th, 2008 at 9:38 am
I am slightly confused about this Amish Friendship Bread thing. I received one before Christmas and have baked twice now following the directions given. Now however I am wondering, is Day 1 the day that you bake and parcel out the ’starters’, or is that just day 10 that you bake on and Day 1 is the next day?? Also, I have been reading online and find that most have 3 ’starters’ and 3 baked loaves when done on day 10. I however have 4 ’starters’ (1 for me and 3 to hand out) with 2cups left to bake with and that makes 2 loaves. Is my mix just different or am I doing something wrong. My bread turns out fine and I get rave reviews so I don’t think I am to far off base. Things that make you go hmmm?
Pleas shed light if you can.
January 15th, 2008 at 8:55 am
Unfortunately I can’t shed any light except that I had the exact same issue..more than 1 cup left to bake. And I was confused about the Day 1/Day 10 thing too. I put the date I put them in the bag on the bag (the same day I baked…so I guess it’s Day 10 for me and Day 1 for the new person). But like you, I got a delicious final product, so that’s what matters I guess!
January 16th, 2008 at 10:02 pm
Jennifer, Yeah you get it right. You are to have 4 starters when you get done. 3 to give away and one to keep. As for the days and timing. It’s no big deal, just make sure you go the full 10 days and that’s pretty much it.
January 17th, 2008 at 6:37 am
Hi Jenn,
The starter I was given is the same as yours, so I just think there have been some alterations to the recipe over time. Mine came out wonderful and I wouldnt change a thing, it sounds like yours did too. Day 10 and day one are all in the same day, so if you give your starter to a friend on your day ten, that is thier day one and you have already mixed that day for them. Hope this helps Missy
January 18th, 2008 at 7:58 pm
Thanks so much for the light you all have shed. Have any of you tried baking with the splenda baking substitue, and egg whites instead of adding the yoke? I am striving to lose weight and I wanted to decrease the calorie count. I have laready been using sugarfree pudding mixes. I wish there was some way to know nutritional facts for this wonderful bread. This week I am trying pumpkin and sugarfree cheesecake pudding mix.
January 20th, 2008 at 7:02 pm
Does it matter if you go over the ten days before baking?
January 21st, 2008 at 7:05 am
Hi Bonnie, Not that I have seen. I went 2 days over on the last batch and there was not a problem.
January 25th, 2008 at 3:10 pm
Does it matter that i missed about 3/4 of a day to add in the 1 cup sugar, flower, & milk? i forgot to on the day required but put it in half way through the next. will it still turn out?
January 25th, 2008 at 7:13 pm
No Chad it wont matter one bit also if you get to the last day and you dont want to share your mix, you can take 2 cups and make it into bread right then it will make you 4 loaves instead of 2 and youll still have a starter if you wish to continue and make more bread in 10 days!
January 26th, 2008 at 7:34 pm
I just got my first starter and I am wodering about the size loaf pan and does it matter it it is not glass?
January 28th, 2008 at 12:27 pm
Jennifer,
The last time I made the bread (after I put the 1 cup servings into 3 bags to give away), I used 1/2 cup oil and 1/2 cup sugar free applesauce, Splenda for the sugar, whole wheat flour and sugar-free pudding mix as well as chopped walnuts and dried sugar free cranberries and it turned out great.
February 5th, 2008 at 4:47 pm
If I were to “bump up” the Day 10 dividing/baking day to Day 9, would this present problems do you think?
February 19th, 2008 at 10:40 am
For a lowfat substitute, I replace the 1 cup of oil with 1 cup of applesauce and double the baking powder. Mu family can not tell the difference and it is just as yummy and just as moist.
February 23rd, 2008 at 1:50 pm
I recieved a starter a few weeks ago. Yesterday was the second time i baked the bread. While it tastes delicious, it doesn’t rise properly. There is a big dip in the middle. I only use a small box of pudding. Does that make a difference. I am wondering if I should just make a new starter. HELP!!
February 23rd, 2008 at 1:52 pm
Just recieved a starter a few weeks ago. Yesterday was the second time I baked the bread. While it tastes delicious, it doesn’t rise properly. There is a big dip in the middle. I only use a small box of pudding. Does that make a difference. I am wondering if I should just make a new starter. HELP!!
February 24th, 2008 at 12:01 am
I make muffins insted of bread, but I only bake it for about 25 mins.. Does anyone else do that? One more question, on day 10 if I dont have anyone to give starter to is there any way to keep one starter for myself and use the rest of the batter then and make muffins? If so does the ingredients I put in after I am suppost to take out my starters change? I have looked on the web and I have not found a site that says anything about it.. Thanks so much
February 24th, 2008 at 2:06 pm
According to other websites I’ve read, you can freeze the batter on the day you split it in 1 cup portions and thaw 2 hours - then just pick up where you left off.
And by the way - I’ve always had my batter in gallon ziplock bags, and just squeezed the bag thoroughly to mix.
February 24th, 2008 at 9:48 pm
Could you mix bread and then freeze in bread pans? Then perhaps turn them out of the pans after frozen and keep wrapped for future baking? If so, how long would they keep?
Also, what about baking in metal pans or the silverstone kind?
February 24th, 2008 at 10:37 pm
my instructions say that its ok the use metal stuff AFTER you take out the 3 one cup starters…Also today I found on the web instructions to make quick amish friendship muffins. I made them and they turned out wonderful..
February 24th, 2008 at 11:07 pm
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February 25th, 2008 at 10:01 pm
I am confused. I received starter from a stranger and got nervous so by day 10, I threw it out. Now can I start my own starter with yeast mixture above and then jsut divide it and bake on that day? Then give 2 starters away??
February 27th, 2008 at 3:41 pm
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March 3rd, 2008 at 4:51 pm
I added the flour, sugar and milk today but made a BIG mistake—I added an egg. Will it make a difference. Should I throw it out? Help!!!!
March 3rd, 2008 at 8:24 pm
I’m confused about this starter recipe. The ingredients include milk, but in the directions there are no instructions as to when to add the milk. Anyone know what to do about this??
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March 8th, 2008 at 5:13 pm
maybe you can clarify something for me. If i make the starter myself,is day 1 when i mixed the yeast,water,flour & sugar?
March 11th, 2008 at 9:23 pm
Yes, day one is when you mix the yeast,water,flour,and sugar.
March 19th, 2008 at 9:35 am
I was given 2 starters for the bread..can anyone give me a recipe for baking all the mixture into loaves? Then with the other starter..I’ll divide and share..thanks
March 19th, 2008 at 9:37 am
I like the bread..but don’t know that many people who want to make it..
March 19th, 2008 at 10:16 am
Hi. To all if you, I received my first starter on Dec 1. I have been baking since then. I have made changes (minor ones) to the final recipe (the cooking one). Just so you know, I have been baking it as muffins, mini loaves, medium loaves and big loaves. I have also been using the small box of pudding as well as the big one, and all sorts of flavors. (If you use the Devil’s Food Choc pudding, the flavor is great, but you will see a tint of green on the bread after cutting it. Don’t panic! It has not gone bad. It is just a reaction to the pudding, but nothing is wrong) Also, when the cooking part of the recipe suggests that you can add fruit bites, I have been adding all sort of mixes as well as choc chips, peanut butter chips, etc. Everything so far has come out wonderful. And I mean it. My husband takes a big loaf to work the day after I bake and within 10 min it’s gone. Once I have cooked everything, I take them out of the pans, wrap them in foil paper, label them and put them in zip loc bags in the freezer. I have heard from people I have given already-baked bread that the flavor and consistency is much better after frozen. No complains at all. And I am thinking of starting to sell them (especially since I have 3 full shelves of a stand-up freezer full of them). One more thing, I have been keeping my starters in ziploc bags instead of bowls and no problems. Let me know if you have any questions. And don’t be afraid to experiment with flavors.
March 20th, 2008 at 8:41 am
I have the same question as De, How can I make all 4 bags at once? Do I quadruple the recipe or what?
March 20th, 2008 at 6:03 pm
Monique, (or anyone who has made their own starter using the recipe on this site): I asked this question a few weeks ago, but no one responded. I’m confused about the starter recipe. The ingredients include milk, but in the directions there are no instructions as to when to add the milk. Is this a mistake in the igredients or instructions? Can someone please help. Thanks.
March 21st, 2008 at 8:58 am
Linda, If you want to bake all starters at once, or more than one, you would need to multiply the baking part of the recipe by how many starters you are baking. Based on my experience, sometimes I end up with all 5 starters because noone else wants one, so I take 1 cup out, put in the ziplog bag to start the process again, and with the remaining 4, I either cook 4 different batches (if I want 4 dif flavors) or I cook 2 at a time. When you do more than once at a time, put how many cups of the starter (2, 3 or 4) in a big bowl and multiply the recipe bu how many cups. Also, to cook muffins, I cook them for 30 minutes, mini loaves, for 40 minutes and big loaves for 50 minutes. Sometimes they take a couple of minutes more.
March 21st, 2008 at 11:05 am
Hi Nicole. Sorry but I have only used the starter that was given to me and I have keep using it. By looking at it, it would make sense to mix the flour and the sugar together, then add them and the milk, alternating them, into the yeast mix. Hope that helps.
March 23rd, 2008 at 9:20 am
THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR THE RECIPE IVE BEEN LOOKING FOR IT FOR A LONG TIME I LOVE THIS BREAD
March 25th, 2008 at 3:03 pm
As luck would have it, I used a metal measuring cup to divide the starter into the 4 bags. The two loaves turned out fine. Should I throw out the bags and start over?
March 27th, 2008 at 6:59 am
Can you freeze the starter?
March 27th, 2008 at 11:46 am
I did a little more research on the starter question of when to add the milk. There are a lot of starter recipes out there and most of them have the same omission. But I found one that says to dissolve the yeast in a 1/4 cup warm (110F)water, then in a separate bowl, combine the flour and sugar and mix thoroughly to prevent the flour from lumping when adding the milk. Then slowly stir in warm milk (110F) and the disolved yeast mixture.
There is also another article about preserving the starter without feeding it so often and also on freezing the starter. Hope this helps
April 1st, 2008 at 10:32 am
Does anyone know how to reduce the amounts added so that I end up with only 1 starter for myself?
April 4th, 2008 at 10:08 am
Even reading these comments i’m still really confused!?! when you say “when you give the cup of starter to a friend on your day 10, then their day one is already finished” then do they add any thing or do they keep stirring? another question, can you yourself make all 4 loaves of the friendship bread?
April 4th, 2008 at 10:30 am
When it says “Do Nothing” on days 8 & 9, do we leave it tightly covered or loosely? and just at roon tempurature?
April 4th, 2008 at 2:17 pm
Jessica, when you give a cup to a friend on your day 10, that is their day one. Then they start the process. They follow the same number of days as you did before. Also, on the days that you do nothing, just keep it covered. I use freezer ziploc bags, and keep it outside, closed. On those days, just massage the bag gently to “stir” things up. If there is any air in the bag, open it a little bit to let it out and close it up.
And yes, you can make all 4 loaves yourself instead of giving the starters away. On day 10 you should have enough to give 3 or 4 away, depending on the recipe, and keep one. If you run out of people to give it to, just make all of it yourself. Measure one cup of the starter, make the recipe that follows to bake it, and keep going with the rest of the cups. You can also measure 2 cups at a time, and double the recipe. Sometimes I make a cup at a time, sometimes 2 at a time, depending on time and everything else. Just remember that if you decide to make all the starters yourself, whether or not keep a starter to start the process again, you are going to have several baked loaves, muffins, etc. And you can freeze them once baked, or give them out. I am freezing mine and sometimes giving them out too. Hope this helps. Let me know if you have more ?.
April 6th, 2008 at 6:39 am
Does anyone know if it is ok to do the following: I got to day ten and through the step of preparing starter bags. I baked my portion. It turned out great. I wanted to go ahead and make two more loaves using some of the starter bags, but it got too late in the evening. Does anyone think it will hurt to make the bread one day after the starters were created? … or do I now have to wait 10 days? Thanks
April 7th, 2008 at 11:22 am
It really doesn’t matte to the yeast if you bake the bread one day sooner or two days later. I’m terrible with dates and I frequently forget to stir the starter or I feed it a day or two after the instructions say. I’ve baked it on day 13. I’ve frozen my starter on day ten, let it thaw weeks later and it baked up fine.
April 7th, 2008 at 1:32 pm
Is there a Vegan recipe for the bread?
April 7th, 2008 at 10:21 pm
can you make the bread on the starter day?
April 8th, 2008 at 11:55 pm
I made the starter. It took 10 days, just like the starter I received. I took out 3 cups and froze them for the next time I bake and made the fourth one.
I used a large box of sugar-free, fat free chocolate pudding, fat free milk, splenda, 1/2 cup soybean oil, 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce, and egg beaters to equal the 3 eggs. Next time I’m going to eliminate the oil and just use unsweetened applesauce. It’s gratifying to do this for the very first time and have it come out great.
I also added 1/4 cup of each of the following: dried cranberries, raisins, ground walnuts, sunflower seeds, flax seeds and whole oats.
I baked it at 325 degrees F for 1 hour and 5 minutes.
It makes 2 loaves, and each loaf sliced into 12 slices makes them 147 calories, 20 grams carbohydrates, 1 gram of fiber, 3 grams of protein, and 6 grams of fat per slice.
I took it a large group I belong to and it disappeared within minutes of unwrapping it.
April 10th, 2008 at 2:33 pm
Can you use a metal loaf pan to bake the bread in?
April 10th, 2008 at 3:28 pm
Hi,
I am really bad w/getting this done. My 10 days was up a week ago. All I have been doing is mixing the bag. Do you think it is too late to do anything w/it? I know that some starters for other breads, such as sour dough, have been around for years. What do you all think?
Thanks,
Sassy
April 11th, 2008 at 9:14 am
Yes Mandy, you can use any baking pans you want. I bake mine in metal muffin cups, metal mini loaves, and metal big loaf pans. No problem.
And, Sassy, I am no quite sure if you would be ok baking the starter that you have. I have never tried to do anything with it once it passes the 12th day. I have extended the middle cycle (day 6) for a day or so and then extended the end cycle (day 10) for a day or two and I haven’t come up with any problems.
April 18th, 2008 at 1:11 pm
I have starter that was given to me and have made several loaves. I then froze the remaining starters because I had no one to give them to. After I pulled them to make more bread the starter has slowly lost its yeast affect. Now I have 4 starters that haven’t expanded their bags in 4 days. Is it possible to eventually mix the yeast out? How long is a starter to last?
April 21st, 2008 at 7:37 pm
No one answered Jessica’s question about doing nothing on days 8 & 9. You don’t even stir it on those days? If so, why not? Aren’t you suppose to keep the yeast mixed in well to keep it fed? I mixed it everyday and my bread came out very good.
April 25th, 2008 at 2:27 pm
Hi could you clarify? If I want to save the starter to give to friends at a later time I should freeze it once I have separated it.Is that correct or is there a better way to keep it? Thanks
April 25th, 2008 at 3:07 pm
As to the question of wherter there is a way to reduce the amount of starter….YES!
I only ad 1/2 C. of each flour sugar and milk on day 6. Then I only add 1/2 cup of each on day 10 as well. I come out with 2 C. to bake with and 1 C. for my next batch.
I also have a friend who has had her starter for over 15 years. She said that it does not matter what day you “feed it” just feed it when it seems to be getting less active.
Where is a site that has more than just bread recipes???
April 27th, 2008 at 8:29 am
This site has lots of different kinds of recipes. On the right hand margin there is a list of many different kinds of recipes. Chicken Recipes, Beef Recipes, Pork Recipes,
# Appetizer Recipes
# Apple Recipes
# Barbeque Recipes
# Beef Back Ribs
# Beef Recipes
# Bread Recipes
# Cajun Recipes
# Cake Recipes
# Candy Recipes
# Casserole Recipes
April 27th, 2008 at 4:58 pm
No one answered AMC’s question from April 1st. Can anyone help?? I would also like to know if there’s anyway to just end up with enough starter for myself. A lot of my friends like to eat the bread, but not do the work!! Thanks!!
April 30th, 2008 at 10:18 pm
The question as to whether or not you can split the bag was answered on 04/25/08 by ordella, I have done the same thing and it worked out fine for me. Just use 1/2 a cup of the flour, sugar, and milk instead of a full cup. This means you will either have 2 starter bags (one for you & one for a friend)with the 1 cup of batter to cook or you will have 1 cup of starter (for yourself)and you will have to bake 4 loaves of bread. This means you will have to double the recipe in order to make it come out right. As for another site try cdkitchen.com I love this site & they have loads of recipes for all kinds of things.
May 1st, 2008 at 3:23 pm
Thanks so much for your help, and for more recipes!! Next time, I’ll be sure to turn my eyes “on” and read better!!
May 3rd, 2008 at 8:58 am
i went to cooks.com and they told me to put my starter in the fridge. will that mess up my starter?
May 3rd, 2008 at 8:14 pm
As far as I am aware it is not good to put your starter in the fridge. it is too cold for the yeast to work correctly. Keep it @ room temperature & don’t use any metal spoons etc
May 3rd, 2008 at 9:25 pm
Someone gave me an Amish Friendship Bread starter 2 weeks ago in a freezer ziploc bag. Other than “mushing” it, I have done nothing with it yet. Is it no good now and should I just throw it away and try to create a new starter with one the the recipes?
May 4th, 2008 at 10:37 am
Tomorrow will be my day 10 - the bag keeps filling with air and the smell of the fermented starter is terrible - is it really okay to bake/eat?!?
May 5th, 2008 at 2:19 am
Yes, the excess air in the bag is normal, just the fermentation of the starter. Its perfectly normal and is fine to bake with and OK to eat. The excess gas is normal especially after you feed the starter on day 6. I usually have to squeeze the excess gas out of the bag at least once a day after that. I have been baking with the same starter for a couple months and haven’t gotten sick. Totally normal.
May 5th, 2008 at 7:08 am
I was given a starter and in the middle of the week added the ingredients, but then got too busy to bake until today, which is about 5 days after. Is it too late to bake?Thanks
May 5th, 2008 at 7:13 am
Come on, guys. It’s BREAD. It isn’t supposed to be low-cal, low-sugar, low-fat.
It makes an AMAZING bread that is good with pretty muche everything.
Leave the recipe alone, and just bake happy!
(Start screwing around with a recipe and you will kill the taste, the flavor, and the entire experience)
May 5th, 2008 at 7:15 am
DON’T put the starter in the fridge! It will kill the yeast and the action of fermentation.
It should smell like bread dough. Nice and “yeasty”.
Open the bag as you “mush” it, and let the gas out of the bag.
It is a VERY simple process.
May 9th, 2008 at 2:25 pm
I don’t really understand.
So, i got this starter thing id a plastic bag.
Now, I understand the mushing it and waiting th days and adding thing- but this is what I don’t get. Once you’re done doing all that, you are supposed to use some of it and give the rest away?? That means that you’re giving away the portions that have already had the other stuff mixed into it… and they would just eventually be mixing in more stuff?
Is that really how it works?
May 10th, 2008 at 10:56 am
According to this twitter post this particular recipe is the most popular blog post of all time at World Famous Recipes.
May 12th, 2008 at 7:52 pm
okay, I just made a chocolate version of this bread. i used the devil’s food pudding, and my bread turned out GREEN!!! i was freaking out until i read here that it’s a color reaction with the pudding. thanks for the info! i also put semi-sweet chocolate chips in it and it is so delicious, but it looks WEIRD!
May 15th, 2008 at 11:30 am
John
I take offense to you not wanting anyone to adjust the recipe. Some of us are diabetic’s but would still like to endulge in sugar free breads and deserts. The only way we can come up with them in a lot of cases is to take a regular recipe and adjust it with splenda and sugar free additivies. I am on my secondy start and have considered tyring to make a new starter with splenda instead of sugar. Why should I spend all the time on this bread for my family and not be able to adjust it and enjoy some of it myself.
May 20th, 2008 at 2:43 pm
Kim,
Tell us how it comes out with the Splenda. My husband is diabetic and I would like to make something that I wouldn’t feel bad about him eating.
Good Luck!
May 22nd, 2008 at 8:04 pm
I second Andy’s question
Anyone seen an egg and dairy free version of this?
I’m on day 6, and added soy milk. I’ll try the baking with egg substitute and soy milk and see how it goes, I’ll let you know next week.
May 28th, 2008 at 8:02 am
Well, I followed a different receipe to begin a new starter using a packet of yeast, 1/4 cup water, 1 cup splenda, 1 cup skim milk and 1 cup flour. I did like the receipe above stated and didn’t do the 10 day process due to having fresh yeast in the bag. Added my day 10 ingredients and then split it out. Baked one batch of 2 loaves changing the pudding to sugar free pudding. It didn’t turn out to bad. It didn’t raise like the regular receipe does, may have something to do with not waiting the 10 days. You can tell it’s not as sweet but still has a good taste. I have a stater on the counter now from this batch, yesterday was day 6 so I added my stuff when I got up this morning the bag was about to blow. Maybe it won’t be all over the kitchen when I get home tonight. Will be baking the splenda batch again on Saturday. It will be interesting to see if does anything different since it has gone through the 10 day process this time.
June 4th, 2008 at 7:13 pm
I made this with soy milk and Ener-G egg replacer. Tastes great and is animal free, if you care.
June 6th, 2008 at 8:43 am
Advice anyone— I received 2 starter bags from my neighbor (as well as a baked loaf— HEAVEN) since I have a Day Care and many little mouths to feed— this morning on day 5 I added my milk-sugar & flour– however in one of the starters I added the milk twice— to try to fix it I doubled up on the flour and the sugar???? Has anyone else done this??? Have I ruined that bag????
June 6th, 2008 at 12:56 pm
I am interested in cooking.A lady i know gave me a started,and the remaining recipe.I followed it till the 10th day,and called her for some insight as to backing the whole amount,and freezing wnat i did not use up immediatly.She had no answer,except to experiment.I did.All my finishing ingredients were straight out of the fridge.(COLD)I mixed all the batter,and poued it into a 9″x13″ cake pan.Half full.The remainder i put into a large loaf pan.I baked them for one hour,and they came out remarkably well.The cake pan mixture rose to fill the pan completly,while the loaf pan was perhaps 2 1/2″ high.After cooling,i froze what i did not use,or give away right away.Ten days is a bit long for an impatient man like me,but it came out fine.I did add a little extra flour,sugar,and milk,to make up for the extra starter.1/2 cup each.
June 9th, 2008 at 7:24 pm
Hello Everyone. I have been making and baking Amish Friendship Bread forever it seems. I have experimented to the point of creating, and am able to answer so many of the questions I have read above. The first thing that I tell all “MY FRIENDS” is to ignore the day 1-10 and use day 0-10, it is so much easier and does not alter the recipies one iota. On day 10 I split my batches and that is day 0 for all my starters and day 10 for my baking. My procedure is exactly the same EXCEPT!
Day 0 Do Nothing
Day 1-4 Mix or Mush, depending if you bowl or bag(I have found bags so much easier)
Day 5 add 1 cup each of sugar, flour & Milk
Day 6-9 Mix or Mush
Day 10 add 1 cup each of sugar, flour & Milk (if you have LOTS OF FRIENDS or LOVE TO BAKE, ADD 1 & 1/2 cups of each. This gives one extra starter.)
I have also used my starters to bake with at any time before day 5 as a single baking batch. They still turn out GREAT. I do freeze my starters that are not given away so that I can stagger my baking days. When I take them out of the freezer that is Day 0 for them and I start mushing the next day. I freeze mine laying out completely flat so that they lay in the freezer much easier, take up so much less space and thaw evenly when I take them out.
By the way, just in case anyone wants to know, the two best recipes my friends and family LOVE are:
1. Basic Bread recipe above substituting oil with 1/2 cup granola oil and 1/2 cup Unsweetened Applesauce and using 2 small boxes of white chocolate pudding with white chocolate chips mixed in. They don’t care whether it is bread pan or cake pan, they eat them immediately.
2. Same as above except 1 cup Unsweetened Applesauce and using a large box of Oreo’s Cookies and Cream Pudding. They like this one more in cake form for some reason.
Both recipes I use a very generous amount of sugar-cinnamon in the pans. It just adds so much flavor to the crusts.
Remember, even though some people don’t want to mess with the starters, Most Everyone Loves CAKE, lol. Bake a Cake, Make a Friend.
June 12th, 2008 at 12:34 am
I’m new to Amish friendship bread but not new to baking. Just did my first bake and will tell you, this is a very forgiving recipe. I think I added a day late, was no problem, just continued on. I also baked a day late, again no problem. adding ingrediants to produce more starters produced lumpy results, I know better than to just dump flour into wet ingrediants, but adding the rest of the ingrediants to bake smoothed things out again. I didn’t have anyone to give starters to so I kept one cup for my next starter, baked the first half according to directions in metal pans, didn’t affect rise at all, and did a chocolate pudding with chocolate chips for the second batch. mine didn’t turn green but at the last second before baking I decided to throw in 14 cup Ghiradelli chocolate powder so that might be why. it turned out wonderfully and I cannot wait for the next bake. I would say yes you can bake on day one just like it’s day 10 because it is however you will no longer have your starter, go through the process, it’s fun. as for sugar substitutes, I wouldn’t use any till the bake day and last ingrediant add because the yeast needs sugar to grow, at which point you would have half a cup of sugar in your starter but I have no idea how much the yeast affects the sugar and if it renders it less sugary? sounds like a question for Alton Brown.
June 12th, 2008 at 12:36 am
oops, I meant to say 1/4 cup not 14 cup
June 12th, 2008 at 11:43 am
I use the whole 5th portion (a little over a cup) when I divide my starter up on the 10th day. I then butter and dust a bundt pan with sugar/cinnamon and put a good thick coating on the top of the batter once it is in the pan. Makes a good crispy and sweet bottom to the bread. Very pretty… My little ones love it!
June 19th, 2008 at 5:21 pm
Thanks Bill ,, this clears it up so well.. start with a Day 0. and continue with the rest of the recipe. Did anyone answer about the freezing? I don’t have anyone to give it too yet, I would love to freeze it until I do. thanks for this forum. It has been very helpful
June 28th, 2008 at 2:46 pm
Do not use Ziploc Double Guard Freezer Bags (two-layer protection) to store the batter. The gas formed between the layers of the bag and I was unable to release the gas from the bags. I had to cut the bag open and transfer the contents to a regular (single layer) bag and ended up discarging all the ones I would have given away.
July 4th, 2008 at 8:21 am
well there are some wonderful tips on this site, i was actually looking to see if i could freeze the batter when you divide it and apparently you can, this is great news as i can’t seem to find people who want to take the time and do the baking, tho they all want to eat the bread, lol. so this week i have 3 bags of starter i’ve been mushing and adding ingredients to that no one wants and i hate to waste it, besides its summer and having the oven on just does not seem appealing so, i am going to try to freeze and see how it comes out and save some of the baking for a cooler day. Also, being diabetic myself, the first time we baked (son and I) it was so loaded with sugar i’d fear going on a freenzy so when we kept a bag of starter i mushed and mushed and when it came time to add sugar, i used splenda, to do my baking day, it turned out great, i did use vanilla pudding, but added one very ripe banana, omitted cinnamon, added 1/2 c chopped walnuts and if you can believe it when i was in middle of mixing realized i was out of milk so what to do…well i’m figuring out that this is a substitue recipe, trade a dry ingredient for another, trade a wet ingredient for another etc, so when i was out of milk and needed the liquid i looked in fridge and found i had some sunny D orange drink and added 3/4 c of it instead of the milk, wow it was soooooooo tasty, i guess you would call my bread banana/orange walnut. Now when i started my new bags of starter i did use sugar but i figure over 10 days the sugar is probably needed to get the rise and by the time you bake and add splenda your not getting that much of the sugar so this is how i justify it. Also, when added sugar on my baking day i only used 3/4 c of splenda, i don’t want it to be extremely sweet tasting and it really came out fine, i suppose it could have had a little more rise in the baking but it wasn’t that big of a difference… i am really wondering what other treats i can use this batter for, i’m thinking of using it to make some pizzelle’s (italian waffle cookies), it seems the batter would be thick enough but i’ll have to post when i try it and let you know how it comes out…thanks for all your tips and suggestions, can’t wait to find some savory recipes to use this in so i’m not just always ‘baking’ sweets with it…
July 4th, 2008 at 10:23 pm
I have a question about the amount of Baking powder and baking soda in this recipe, most other recipes call for 1 1/4 tsp baking powder and a 1/2 tsp baking soda. Is there a typo on this recipe ?? please help!!
July 10th, 2008 at 3:36 pm
After getting the starter bag and doing everything that I was supposed to I ended up with some GREAT bread. I however had some problems finding people to take the starters from me. I got rid of 2 of them which left me with the one for myself and one extra. Is there any way the I can alter the recipie so that I don’t end up with 4 starters. I would like to just cook the two bags that I have currently and not have to deal with any more starters I love the bread but as I stated I am having problems finding homes for starters!! Can anyone help me??
July 11th, 2008 at 2:44 pm
Anna,wrote for an answer as to what to do with extra batter.I had the same problem,and on the 10th day,i added an extra half cup of each ingredient.I poured a 8×13 cake tin half full,and put the rest in a large loaf pan.It turned out excellent.Seems like there is nothing you can do to this recipe,that will harm it.I believe i made a similar reply several weeks ago.
July 17th, 2008 at 2:45 pm
Hello “friends” I would like to know… When I was a child my aunts, grand mothers and mom had this wonderful stuff called hermin starter that they would pass along to friends the same as the amish friendship bread… It made the most mouthwatering things and I have lots of recipes for baking with it… I was recently given a friendship starter… Is it the same thing as the Hermin bread starter? if so I have lots of recipes to share
July 18th, 2008 at 4:42 pm
For all those people who don’t know what to do with their starters or don’t want to deal with getting rid of them. If on day five you Add only 5 TBS. Milk, Sugar, Flour, then on day ten Add only another 5 TBS. of Milk, Sugar, Flour; you will end up with one cup to bake with and one cup as a starter for next time or you can double the recipe and use both cups for baking and have no starters. I did this and it came out wonderful and it was much easier then to try and find homes for so many extra starters. *Please note that you may end up with a little over a cup of batter to bake with (maybe 1 or 2 tablespoons the most)which is fine but if you want you can just measure out your 1 cup starter and 1 cup for baking and discard the rest.
July 19th, 2008 at 5:59 am
Hello Everyone Again!
I have been so busy the past couple months that I decided to save me time. Instead of giving away my starters I kept all of them myself and on day 10 I added the extra half cup of each to give me the extra starter. I then measured out 15 starter batches into 1 Gallon Freezer Bags and got all the air I could out of them, flattened them as flat as possible and FROZE THEM ALL. Now I am not messing with them at all and when I want to bake, I go to the freezer and pull one out, let it sit for a couple hours to thaw, or if I am really rushed, I run water(temp does not matter) for a couple minutes to thaw it out, and proceed with whatever recipe I am wanting at the time(my 2 favorites are still [Oreo's Cookies and Cream] & [White Chocolate Pudding with White Chocolate Chips]) It saves so much time and I get to bake when I want, not on day 5 or 10. Oh yeh, don’t remember if I mentioned it befor, but if you are in need of baking and do not freeze, you can take one of your starters (if you have more than one) and bake with it at any time prior to adding on day 5 just as if it were day 10, just bake with it. If you are after day 5 but befor day 10, just pull out 1 cup of the starter, treat that as day 1, bake with the rest and start the new starter over as day 1, not day 0. As someone mentioned earlier, THIS RECIPE IS VERY FORGIVING! Love Ya All and we really do need more experimental proven recipes on here, going to try the walnut/banana/orange juice(minus the walnuts, lol), that sounds delicious. Until Next Time….Papa Bill
July 21st, 2008 at 4:19 am
I started my amish bread and a sour dough recipe 5 days ago. Sour dough looks good however the amish bread is not bubbly today. im supposed to “feed” it tomarrow. Is no bubble action normal on day 5?
July 22nd, 2008 at 5:15 pm
Essentialy this mix is just a starter base. I cup of base = 1 loaf of bread. You can remove 1 cup at any time during the process as long as you “feed” the mix first so you don’t run out. The starter can be frozen for up to 3 months and takes 3 hours to thaw. It can also be refrigerated to slow the fermentation process. Like a lot of people have said, it’s VERY forgiving so sticking to the 10 day cycle is not a must. I’ve found that like most baking it’s better to add the eggs and milk when they are room temperature. Slowly add the milk last while stiring to avoid the batter being lumpy. My favorite variation is to add 1 1/2 tsp of nutmeg and 2 diced granny smith apples. Just a note: It did not originate with the Amish.
July 22nd, 2008 at 5:23 pm
Oh, I forgot to mention, when feeding the mix it should be equal parts milk, flour and sugar. And, while you can substitute splenda during the baking process (or cut down the sugar, or whatever), really the yeast needs white granualated sugar to feed on during the fermentation process.
July 24th, 2008 at 10:29 am
I have come across two different recipies for the friendship bread starter. One recipe adds the yeast and the other does not have yeast. Does anyone know what the difference is between these,(other than the obvious)? The natural fermentation that will take place with the sugar, flour and milk should take the place of the yeast, shouldn’t it? Has anyone tried both versions to see if there is any difference in the taste? Thanks for any help with this.