Amish Friendship Bread Starter (Amish Sourdough Starter Recipe)
This Amish friendship bread starter recipe is the perfect way to get started. It’s simple, easy, and a lot of fun. You can make this sweet sourdough starter to share with your friends and family. Once you have the starter, the possibilities are endless. You can make all sorts of different kinds of bread with it – sweet or savory, it’s up to you.
Ingredients
- 2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast or 1 packet
- 1/4 cup warm water
- 3 1/2 cups all purpose flour divided
- 3 1/2 cups granulated sugar divided
- 3 1/2 cups whole milk divided
Instructions
day 1:
- In a small bowl, combine 1/4 cup warm water with 2 1/4 teaspoons of active dry yeast. Set the bowl aside for 5-10 minutes to allow the yeast to bloom.
- Meanwhile, whisk 1 cup of flour and 1 cup of sugar in a large bowl, then mix in 1 cup of milk.
- Once the yeast has been fully activated and is bubbly, pour the yeast mixture into the flour mixture.
- Cover it with a clean kitchen cloth, a kitchen dedicated shower cap, or plastic wrap and store it at room temperature.
days 2 - 4:
- Uncover the bowl and stir the mixture thoroughly. Recover and set aside.
day 5:
- Feed the starter. Start with 1 cup milk, and stir until completely combined, then add in 1 cup flour and 1 cup sugar. Stir until combined.
- Recover and set aside.
days 6 - 9:
- Uncover the bowl and stir the mixture thoroughly, scraping the sides as required. Recover and set aside.
day 10:
- Feed the starter. 1 1/2 cup milk, 1 1/2 cup flour, 1 1/2 cup sugar, stir until completely combined.
- Divide the starter. Separate the starter into 1 cup portions. Reserve 1 cup for your starter, 1 cup for baking, and gift the rest to friends who love baking!
Notes
Batch:
One batch of Amish sourdough starter will result in 4-6 cups of starter. This amount will vary based on how active your starter is. Variations in starter activity are totally normal, the starter can be more or less active depending on a few factors, like ambient temperature, age, and even the type of flour used.Storage:
During the active fermentation of the new starter, there is no time for storage! This starter cannot be left or forgotten at room temperature. If you're looking to store some starter for future use, use the fridge or freezer to preserve it. While storing your starter in the fridge will slow down the yeast activity, the fermentation doesn't completely cease, so it's important to not toss your starter in the fridge and forget about it. If you plan on storing the starter for longer than two weeks, it should be frozen.how to store in the fridge:
- After feeding and dividing, place 1 cup of the active starter into a clean plastic or glass container with a lid, but avoid air-tight containers - the fermentation hasn't stopped, and the last thing we want is a fermenty bomb in your fridge!
- Date your container - This helps to remind you quickly and easily when the last time you fed your starter to avoid having to revive your starter (like my long-forgotten sourdough starter last summer!)
- Feed your starter every 10 days. At least. Avoid going too long between feeds because you can easily damage or kill your starter, I find these ones are a little bit less resilient than sourdough starters.
- Ensure that you remove your starter 24-48 hours before baking with it! This allows the yeast and bacteria to reactivate, as they are sluggish in the fridge.
- Immediately before baking, feed your starter (1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar, 1 cup milk), portion it out, and return the fed starter to the fridge.
how to freeze amish sourdough starter:
- After feeding and dividing, measure a generous cup of starter and pour into a ziploc style freezer bag, removing all the excess air. I actually like vacuum packing my starter if I'm going to be storing it in the freezer because the vacuum bags are much thicker and can withstand the abuse of being banged around in the freezer without being punctured.
- Label the bag with the contents, the volume, and the date. Ex. 1 cup Amish Friendship Bread Starter March 1, 2022.
- Lay the bag flat on a baking sheet and place it in the freezer until completely frozen. Tuck the flat-packed starter in a safe place.
- Remove the bag of starter from the freezer 24-48 hours before baking, and allow to thaw at room temperature - keeping an eye on the bag, it will likely start to puff up as the yeasts reactivate. Or once thawed enough, transfer it to a bowl.
- Immediately before baking, feed your starter (1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar, 1 cup milk), portion, and bake away!
Recommended Equipment + Ingredients
Nutrition
Serving: 1gCalories: 4823kcalCarbohydrates: 1074gProtein: 76gFat: 34gSaturated Fat: 17gPolyunsaturated Fat: 3gMonounsaturated Fat: 7gCholesterol: 102mgSodium: 344mgPotassium: 1830mgFiber: 14gSugar: 741gVitamin A: 1383IUVitamin C: 0.02mgCalcium: 1125mgIron: 21mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!