No, I’m not going to be posting pictures each day for my Amish Friendship Bread Starter. However, I will post this one so that you can see what it looks like. I did this last night. Now I need to put it in a Ziplock bag and squeeze it each day and add stuff to it. I then need to make some Amish Friendship Bread on day 10!
Contrary to popular belief, the origin of this bread cannot be traced back to the Amish. This recipe is several decades old. I did look up Amish Friendship Bread on Wikipedia and it said that to the Amish, Friendship Bread is merely sourdough bread that they give to the sick and needy. I can’t really tell where this Amish Friendship Bread recipe started.
I kept one of these going for over a year one time! Fun times!
Cecelia, I’ll be praying for your strength. This bread will take over your life. But not to worry, it’s the best tasting dictator I’ve ever known.
Hey Cecelia I got the ziplock bag one time. I only made one batch and I don’t think I passed it on. Yes, it does take over your life, and chances are two months from now you’ll go into your fridge and see this ziplock bag with brown stuff and wonder what it is. But it does taste great!
Have fun! But I wonder, do the Amish use Ziploc bags???
I used to make something like that years ago. It had some canned fruit in a sugar syrup. What are the add-ins for this one?
@Sharon, from what I can tell, the Amish did not start this recipe. I can’t really find out where this chain-letter-like recipe originated! Not sure why it’s called Amish Friendship Bread? I did see that the Amish have Friendship Bread, but it’s not like the recipe I’m using. It’s simply sourdough bread that they pass on to the sick and shut-in.
@Ann you add nuts, raisins, plus the following: To the remaining batter in a bowl add the following:
a. 3 eggs
b. 1 cup oil
c. 1/2 cup milk
d. 1 cup sugar
e. 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
f. 2 teaspoons cinnamon
g. 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
h. 1/2 teaspoon salt
i. 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
j. 2 cups flour
k. 1-2 boxes instant pudding (any flavor)
http://www.friendshipbreadkitchen.com/amish-friendship-bread
@Sue – A whole year? I doubt I’ll be able to keep it up for that long!
@Linda – You’ve made this before? Did you finally get rid of all of your starter?
“It was tough. The hardest part was finding folks to give it away to. When I started to realize that I was LOSING friends because they’d all run when they saw me coming, I decided to put it to rest. 😀 The easiest part was finding interesting things to add to it! We had fun!”
@Sue Francis Taylor You should read the novel, Friendship Bread! The same thing happened in the novel that I reviewed yesterday! The small town of Avalon was soon overflowing with starter!
I love Friendship bread! My neighbor (when I lived elsewhere) used to bring me a starter bag and a fresh baked loaf. I’d try and eat it all before hubby got home! 🙂
Remember that you can freeze the starter to take a break from it!! This just puts it to sleep until you are ready to use it again! Check out the FAQ on the Friendship Bread website!! http://www.friendshipbreadkitchen.com/kitchen-table/faqs
Another tip on the recipe is from Darien Gee, Author of Friendship Bread: A Novel…through her research she found that this particular “food chain letter” started with the Girl Scouts some 30 years ago! Amazing.
I’m your newest Blog and Facebook follower! Stop over and say HI! Susieqtpies Scraps of Life
I have checked everywhere to find what I am supposed to do during the 10 day rest and cannot find it. I know that it has to be mashed on certain days and fed something on certain days, I don’t know what to do on which days AND I don’t know what ingredients I am supposed to feed. People have asked this question repeatedly and you tell them where to find the information needed. I CAN’T FIND THIS INFORMATION at the sites you suggest. PLEASE HELP.
Here’s the directions for the ten days – I’VE COPIED AND PASTED FROM THE WEBSITE – be sure to let me know if your bread turns out. Be sure to leave another comment once you’ve baked your bread:
NOTE: Do not refrigerate starter. It is normal for the batter to rise and ferment. If air gets in the bag, let it out.
Day 1: Do nothing.
Day 2: Mash the bag.
Day 3: Mash the bag.
Day 4: Mash the bag.
Day 5: Mash the bag.
Day 6: Add to the bag: 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar, 1 cup milk. Mash the bag.
Day 7: Mash the bag.
Day 8: Mash the bag.
Day 9: Mash the bag.
Day 10: Follow the directions below:
Pour the entire bag into a nonmetal bowl.
Add 1 1/2 cup flour, 1 1/2 cup sugar, 1 1/2 cup milk.
Measure out 4 separate batters of 1 cup each into 4 1-gallon Ziploc bags.
Keep one of the bags for yourself, and give the other bags to 3 friends along with the recipe.
REMEMBER: If you keep a starter for yourself, you will be baking in 10 days. The bread is very good and makes a great gift. Only the Amish know how to make a starter, so if you give all the bags away, you will have to wait for someone to give you a starter back.
Should this recipe not be passed onto a friend on the first day, make sure to tell them which day it is when you present it to them.
BAKING INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
2. To the remaining batter in a bowl add the following:
a. 3 eggs
b. 1 cup oil
c. 1/2 cup milk
d. 1 cup sugar
e. 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
f. 2 teaspoons cinnamon
g. 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
h. 1/2 teaspoon salt
i. 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
j. 2 cups flour
k. 1-2 boxes instant pudding (any flavor)
i. Optional: 1 cup nuts and 1 cup raisins
3. Grease 2 large loaf pans
a. In a bowl mix an additional 1/2 cup sugar and 1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon.
b. Dust the greased pans with the cinnamon-sugar mixture.
4. Pour the batter evenly into the pans and sprinkle the remaining cinnamon-sugar mixture on the top.
5. Bake for one hour or until the bread loosens evenly from the sides and a toothpick inserted in the center of the bread comes out clean.
6. ENJOY!
The directions are also available on this link:
http://www.friendshipbreadkitchen.com/amish-friendship-bread
Note, if you don’t give the starter away, you can refrigerate it. You just don’t want to refrigerate the beginning of the starter (the very first starter), at least, that was my experience, anyway.
This is an old blog post, April 2011. I no longer make Amish Friendship Bread. It was great and fun, but, I got tired of doing the starters, plus, I didn’t have many people to pass the starter on to – most of my friends are not bakers.
I have to go “Gluten Free” is there something that works in place of the flour… I used to make this years ago, we ate it all, never had any to give away… But then with 8 children and 4 employees it never lasted long. 🙂
Thanks,
Hi, Diane
I did a Google search and found this recipe. If you try it, leave me a comment, letting me know how it turned out. The gluten-free recipe is found on this link:
http://www.friendshipbreadkitchen.com/pantry/afb-starter-gluten-free
“A gluten-free variation for Amish Friendship Bread starter.”
Ingredients
1 (0.25 ounce) package gluten-free active dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water (110° F)
1 cup gluten-free flour
1 cup white sugar
1 cup milk
Directions
In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in water. Let stand 10 minutes.
In a glass, plastic or ceramic container, combine flour and sugar. Mix thoroughly.
Slowly add in milk and dissolved yeast mixture. Cover loosely and let stand at room temperature until bubbly.
This is Day One of the ten-day cycle. For the next 10 days handle starter according to the instructions for Amish Friendship Bread and use gluten-free flour when feeding on Day 6 and Day 10.
Hello, I have started to make amis bread yesterday, I wonder if I need to put this mash torbayamı ziploc bag 2nd day is now
Fulya, I don’t understand your question? Are you asking if you need to refrigerate the starter? If so, DON’T REFRIGERATE IT. Just follow the directions and you should be okay.
Hey its kinda of a secret but they got the recipe from the Amish dont tell everyone though because they just think its sour dough or friendship bread.