How to Make a Starter for Amish Friendship Bread

The recipe and tradition of passing along a starter ostensibly comes from the Amish populations of the U.S. The starter for Amish friendship bread contains a thriving yeast colony. With it you can bake delicious sweet bread without having to buy yeast and activate it. After tending the starter, allowing the yeast to multiply, a portion of it is passed to friends so they can do the same. In this way, a colony of yeast can last 10 years or more, similar to a sourdough bread starter.

Things You'll Need

• 1 package (2 ¼ tsp.) active dry yeast
• ¼ cup warm water (110 degrees F)
• 3½ cups flour
• 3½ cups sugar
• 3½ cups warm milk (110 degrees F)
• 2 non-metal bowls
• Non-metal spoon
• Clean kitchen towel
• 4 gallon-size plastic zipper bags

Instructions

Day One

1. Combine the yeast and water in one bowl. Set it aside for 10 minutes to activate the yeast. In the other bowl, thoroughly combine 1 cup of flour and 1 cup of sugar.

2. Slowly add 1 cup of the milk and the yeast while stirring. Cover the bowl with kitchen towel.

3. Let it sit at room temperature until it is bubbly. Then cover it with plastic film wrap. Store it at room temperature. Do not refrigerate.

Days Two to Nine

1. Stir the mixture once each day for days two, three, four and five. Replace the plastic film wrap cover and let it sit.

2. Add 1 cup of flour, 1 cup of sugar and 1 cup of milk on day six and stir thoroughly.

3. Stir the mixture once each day for days seven, eight and nine. Replace the plastic film wrap cover and let it sit.

Day Ten

1. Add 1½ cups of flour, 1½ cups of sugar and 1½ cups of milk on day ten and stir thoroughly. Then measure 1 cup of starter mixture into each of the four plastic zipper bags and seal.

2. Give one bag each to four friends or relatives with a copy of this procedure, as well as the recipe for making the bread.

3. Tell your friends to skip the steps for making the starter and just put the mixture into a bowl for day one. The bag already has the thriving yeast colony in it.

Tips & Warnings

• You can substitute the following types of yeast for the active dry yeast in the recipe (use the same amount: 2 ¼ teaspoons or ¼ ounce): instant yeast, quick yeast, rapid rise active dry yeast, quick rise active dry yeast, fast-rising active dry yeast, fast rising yeast, or bread machine yeast. You can make the starter without yeast and let naturally occurring yeast leaven the bread. In this case, you must omit the yeast and water, then, in Step 3, let the mixture stand uncovered for a longer period of time until the bubbles appear. How long depends on how much yeast is in the air.

• Do not refrigerate the mixture; this would cause the yeast activity to slow down. Use only non-metal bowls and utensils. The acid in the dough may harm the metal.

References

• Lauren Carr
• Cooks.com
• NakedScience.com

Resources

• Variations on baking the bread