Starter Recipe for Amish Friendship Bread (Sourdough Culture)
This Amish starter recipe begins with flour, milk, and sugar that is taken through a twelve-day fermentation process to create a starter for making friendship bread. If you enjoy Amish Friendship Bread, having a lively starter is essential.
Ingredients
- 1 cup milk (whole or 2%)
- 1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup sugar
- milk (whole or 2%)
- unbleached all-purpose flour
- sugar
Instructions
- Amish friendship bread starter requires a 10-day fermentation process before it is ready to use for making bread. However, since this recipe doesn't use any commercial yeast, we need to add two extra days to the initial starting process. After getting a culture started we resume the 10-day process.
- Pour 1 c. of milk into a glass bowl and let it rest at room temperature for 24 hours.1 cup milk (whole or 2%)
- The next day, add 1 cup flour and 1/4 cup sugar. Stir it with a wooden spoon, cover lightly with a clean dish towel, and set it in a warm place. The next day counts as day one. (Do not refrigerate. Do not use a metal bowl. Do not use a metal spoon to stir.)1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour, 1/4 cup sugar
- The Amish Friendship Bread Starter operates on a 10-day cycle, involving the routine of feeding the starter every five days and dividing it every 10 days.
- On Day #1. Stir with a wooden spoon.
- On Day #2. Do nothing.
- On Day #3. Stir with a wooden spoon.
- On Day #4. Do nothing.
- On Day #5. Add 1 cup milk, 1 cup sugar, and 1 cup of flour. Stir with a wooden spoon. Place in a larger bowl if needed. Cover lightly and set in a warm place.
- On Day #6, Do nothing.
- On Day #7. Do nothing.
- On Day #8. Stir with a wooden spoon.
- On Day #9. Do nothing.
- On Day #10. Add 1 cup milk, 1 cup sugar, and 1 cup of flour. Stir with a wooden spoon. Set aside 1 cup of starter to make friendship bread.
- With the remaining starter, put one heaping cup of starter into three separate ziplock bags or containers. Keep one of the bags and give the other two to friends, along with a copy of the 10-day instructions and the recipe for friendship bread.
- To have the flexibility of baking friendship bread whenever you wish, always set aside an additional bag for yourself. You can either freeze it until you're ready to use again or restart the 10-day process. The starter improves in taste with time, so instead of making it fresh every time you crave Amish Friendship Bread, it's a good idea to keep a bag handy. If frozen in an airtight freezer bag, it should be good for up to a year.
Notes
Tip: Never use metal spoons or bowls when working with sourdough culture.
On day 10, after feeding and dividing the starter, you can immediately use one cup of the starter to make a batch of friendship bread. Or make it at your convenience within the next 24 hours.
To freeze the starter for later use, place one cup of the starter into a ziplock freezer bag and freeze it. (You may want to use a Sharpie to label and date it as well as write instructions on your bag.) To use the starter again, thaw it and begin the 10-day process again.
Find the Recipe for Friendship Bread here.
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