Amish Friendship Bread with Printable Version

I received this amazing recipe from my sister-in-law, Michelle.  I was over at her house the other day making a wedding video for my sister and she had this YUMMY bread sitting there in her kitchen.  I kid you not when I say I easily downed half a loaf myself…it was SO good!  I asked her for the recipe and she told me it was an “Amish Friendship Bread” that you pass out to your friends and let them finish the starter bag you made for them.  I love the entire concept of it!  I am not sure where the recipe originates from, but this is the one my sister-in-law gave me and it really is SO GOOD!  It has the bread consistency of zucchini or banana bread (really moist) and just the right amount of sweet! I have also included a printable version for you so you can print off some copies and give them out to your friends when you hand out your starters!Have so much fun and pass it along!  This is a fun thing to do with neighbors, family, and friends!

 

You can find a printable version of this recipeto pass out to your friends HERE

 

AMISH FRIENDSHIP BREAD

Do not use any type of metal spoons or bowl for mixing.
Do not refrigerate.
If air gets into the bag, let it out.
It is normal for the batter to rise, bubble, and ferment.

 

Day 1: Do nothing. This is the date on which you receive the bag. Squish-squash-mush the bag. Make sure the bag is dated!
Day 2: Squish-squash-mush the bag
Day 3: Squish-squash-mush the bag
Day 4: Squish-squash-mush the bag
Day 5: Squish-squash-mush the bag
Day 6: Add to the bag 1 C. flour, 1 C. sugar, 1 C. milk. Squish-squash-mush the bag.
Day 7: Squish-squash-mush the bag
Day 8: Squish-squash-mush the bag
Day 9: Squish-squash-mush the bag
Day 10: BAKING DAY! Mix and divide the starter as follows:Pour entire contents of bag into large non-metal bowl and add: 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar, 1 cup milk.

Measure out 4 separate batches of the starter batter, 1 cup each, into 4 separate Ziplock bags (one gallon size).
Keep one for yourself and give the other 3 to friends along with a copy of this recipe/instructions.
Pre-heat oven to 325

To the remaining batter in the bowl, add:

  • 3 eggs
  • 1 cup Canola oil
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2 cups flour
  • 1 large box instant vanilla pudding (about 5.9 oz.)

 

In a separate bowl, mix together

  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

 

Grease or butter 2 large loaf pans. Dust the greased pans with half the cinnamon/sugar mixture.
Pour batter evenly into the pans and sprinkle the top with remaining sugar mixture.
Bake for 1 hour. Cool until bread loosens from sides of pan and turn out to serving dish.
If bag isn’t passed on to a friend on the 10th day, be certain to tell recipient which day the bag is at whengiven to them. If you keep a starter bag for yourself, you will be baking every 10 days.

 

OPTIONS: Add 1C. Chopped nuts or raisins. You can also exchange the Vanilla Pudding for Chocolate Pudding.

 

SIDE NOTE: This is not in the printable version because they will each receive their own starters, but to start the bread yourself here is the starter recipe you will use to get the Amish Friendship Bread recipe rolling

1 pkg. active dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water (110 degrees F)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup white sugar
1 cup warm milk (110 degrees F)

 

In a small bowl, dissolve the yeast in warm water for about 10 minutes. Stir well.In a 2 quart glass or plastic container, combine 1 cup sifted flour and 1 cup sugar. Mix thoroughly or the flour will get lumpy when you add the milk.Slowly stir in the warm milk and dissolved yeast mixture. Pour into a ziplock bag. The mixture will get bubbly. Consider this Day 1 on the cycle, or the day you receive the starter.
For the next 10 days, handle the starter according to the instructions above.

Enjoy and have fun!

If you make this recipe, snap a photo and hashtag it #chefintraining and/or #chefintrainingblog. I would love to see how these recipes take shape in your kitchens.

Filed under: bread, sweet, treat

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Comments

  1. Joan@chocolateandmore

    I can't wait to try this, what a neat idea and a great way to introduce someone into baking bread!Pinned.

  2. Sarah

    Thank you so much for posting this! I had a starter for this bread, but let it lapse after I had my fourth child, and I wish I hadn't! Now I can make it again! I'm super excited, because it is SO good!! Thanks again!Did I use enough exclamation points? I can always throw it a few more. :)

  3. Aimee

    Too funny, I think this recipe is identical to the one I have on my blog!! I don't even remember where I got mine, but I know it was many many years (15???) ago! Now I want to go bake some bread :)

  4. Ginger

    Thank you! I always wanted to know how to make the starter yourself. :)

  5. Jessica

    My mother-in-law shared a starter with me once and after we gushed about how delicious the bread was, she decided to figure out how to make it without the starter and gave me this recipe. I LOVE it because now I can share it all the time! I hope people really try this out because it is one of the best desserts ever... my little guy calls it "snickerdoodle cake!"

  6. Katie

    I love Amish friendship bread! I made it several times with my roommates in college. I was so bummed that I never knew how to make a starter! Thanks for the recipe!

    1. Terri

      I made my own starter I'm on my 10 th day of starter am I ready to bake? Or do I have to go another round of 10 days? Since I have my starter now? I'm confused :(

  7. Anonymous

    Do it with all different kinds of pudding mix...chocolate is my favorite. Have done banana and lemon too!

  8. Anonymous

    Have fun with different flavors, too. It's been many years, but I've done it with lemon pudding (w/ poppyseeds) and, believe it or not, pistachio pudding is really good! I may have to start some up....again!

  9. Veronica and Daniel

    I remember making this with my mom when i was growing up. So yummy! But I never knew how to start it! Thanks for posting :)

  10. Rose

    When I was a kid one of my moms friends gave her the starter bag for the Amish Friendship Bread and we had so much fun with it. I am so happy I came across this recipe. I'm a new follower. I just started my own blog it would make my day if you came and checked it out. http://www.arosiesweethome.com/

  11. Anonymous

    I love this bread too. Did you know that you can freeze the "pass on" bags and that way you always have some. You just let it defrost and that is day one or bake with it after it defrosts. A friend and I experimented with all the different favors too. Yum. I never had the starter recipe before, and now I can start the obsession again. - DawnJoy

  12. Anonymous

    I remember making amish bread with my mother, she passed on years ago and i decided to ask around for the recipe, i finally found someone who had it, and i love it! The only difference is my 'starter' called for 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar, and 1 cup milk, and it turns out perfect everytime! All the other 'days' and ingredients are the same! Just saying:)

  13. Lady Behind The Curtain

    I love your recipe! I've always wanted to make this bread. Would you come over to Cast Party Wednesday and share it?http://www.ladybehindthecurtain.com/?p=23692Thanks,I hope to see you there!---Sheryl---

  14. Friendship Bread Kitchen

    We love your bread! Your photo is beautiful! Stop over and give us a visit at Friendship Bread Kitchen! Check out the Recipe Box where you will find almost 200 variations on Amish Friendship Bread! If you would like to share your picture, we do have a submit photo button with the Recipe Box tab. We give full credit to photos/recipes and will link it back to your blog. Have a super sweet day, Friendship Bread Kitchen http://www.friendshipbreadkitchen.com

  15. Tina @ Babycakes Blog

    Thank you! I have been looking for this recipe, specifically the starter. I want to start a batch of this ASAP!

  16. Sarah

    LOVE Amish Friendship Bread! Pinned this! Come share at my link party, please!http://www.dwellonjoy.com/2012/02/dwell-on-fridays-three.html Have a great weekend!!!

  17. Anonymous

    This bread is super yummy... But I only have so many friends. It all just ends up going to waste, honestly.

  18. Anonymous

    You can freeze the "starter" bags & use them when you decide to make more!!

  19. Kayla

    I made some bread yesterday with a friend and though I had bought what I thought were large boxes of jell-o pudding mix, they were only 1.5 oz sized and the recipe said they should be 5.9 oz, so I used 3 boxes of the mix and the dough had to be spooned into the bread pans. The bread tasted good but seemed really dense, so I am going to use just one box next time. Since I wasn't sure that the pudding box was the right size, I called my mom that had made the bread many times and asked her about the pudding, she had the large boxes of pudding in her cupboard and we discovered that both made the same amount of pudding but they were different sized boxes (hers being the 5.9 oz). So I suppose I'm wondering has anyone else run across this? Does jell-o make a different sized box? Should I use what I think the large box is and not worry about what the box size is as long as it makes the same amount.? Sorry that this is really long, I am a bit sleep-deprived and tend to ramble, LOL.

  20. Anonymous

    Hi! So, I'm wanting to clarify my understanding of this, please :)

    So, I... go through the starter and go through all ten days. This technically means I have the starter for four loaves, right? On day ten, I pass off half of the starter mix to two friends (keeping two parts for myself for making a loaf and continuing it). My two friends then start at day one of the cycle, right?

    Thanks!

  21. Ceinwenn

    I would love to do this & pass it along to friends, but I am in the UK & instant pudding mixes are virtually non-existent. What could be used as a substitute?

    1. Christy S.

      Hello Ceinwenn,

      I would think that you could substitute Bird's custard powder for the pudding for a similar result (though you may want to splash in a *little* vanilla essence, too).

    2. TallyKB

      Ceinwenn, as a Brit ex-pat, I'd say Angel Delight mix would be pretty close!

  22. Cindy

    i was given a starter bag months ago. On day ten I take 2 cups of mixture out. One to keep for myself one to give away. Then I double the rest of the recipe and make 4 loaves of bread. I always have someone willing to take a loaf of bread! My college age boys and their roommates are always asking when is it bread making day!

  23. Lisa T.

    The starter freezes well. I always take mine out of the freezer on Thanksgiving day in order to begin making batches for Christmas gifts. This is the only time of year that I make this bread. The starter in my freezer now is the 7th generation!

    1. Sonya Anderson

      You can bake the bread any day that you add ingredients.

  24. Tammy

    Is there a way to make this without waiting the 10 days? I know I could keep 1 of my 4 bags and start over and use the 3 to make loaves that day, but wondered if there was another way. Please help, this is some of the best bread and I would love to make it when I feel like it rather than have to start when I get the urge. PLEASE HELP!!!

  25. Michelle Madden

    I just wanted to let you know that this is the most complete and understandable recipe I've found after searching five different sites. Thank you.

  26. alison stukkie

    I have eaten this wonderful bread many times. Its one of the best if not the best sweet breads I have ever eaten.

  27. alison stukkie

    Love this bread. Its the best!

  28. Tracey Anne

    Can anyone please tell me the exact quantity of the "1 pkg. active dry yeast" for the starter recipe?
    I would LOVE to try this, but I live in New Zealand so it's extremely unlikely that we will have the same kind of "package".
    Thanks very much in advance!

    1. Sonya Anderson

      Tracey Anne: one package of yeast is 2.5 teaspoons.

  29. Donna

    Thank you for posting the starter recipe. I had one started years ago, but got tired of keeping it up. I didn't know at the time I could freeze it. When I had it before, I lived in Texas - now I live in Colorado. Are there any high altitude instructions for baking the loaves?
    Thanks!

  30. RyanneNikole

    I am baking this as I type and my whole house smells like cinnamon! You NEVER forget the smell of the starter as it's doing it's thing those 10 days! Maybe I'm crazy but I kind of like it. Brings back good memories! I remember squishing the bags and passing them around with my friends maybe 15 years ago or so. =) funny thing is, I don't remember the bread itself--just the process! I'm so glad to have found the starter recipe so I can keep this going!

  31. Anne

    I have two recipes from way back of this Amish Friendship Bread, but they both call for 1 1/2 cup of each, milk, flour and sugar at day 6 and day 10 ~ So what gives? Is there a difference? I would think there would be... Please respond so I can get it right.
    These recipes I have are almost the same except for the 1/2 cup difference and these are 20 year old recipes...
    I'll try it... it was good the last time... ;-)

  32. Damaris Nieves

    Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. It was given to me a while back and I couldn't find the exact recipe until now. Absolutely love this recipe.

  33. Sonya Anderson

    Just a couple of notes and hints. I have made this for several years. After awhile, you run out of friends who will take starter, so instead of adding a whole cup of each, I cut it down to 1/2 cup of each and don't give out starter. I always keep a cup for myself and bake off the rest. I have used other flavors of pudding with excellent results, including chocolate, butterscotch, pistachio, banana, and lemon. You just can't go wrong with any of the flavors!! I also keep my starter in a Tupperware container with a lid and stir the mixture with a plastic or wooden spoon. I have used brown sugar when I have run out of white sugar with excellent results too. This recipe is pretty flexible!!

  34. Sonya Anderson

    Once baked, this bread freezes very well. I use all my starter except for the one cup to keep going and freeze most of the loaves, that way it lasts until I bake again (or almost!!).

  35. sharon

    I would like to bake all of the started on day 10. What do I add to the starter before I begin mixing the bread receipe?
    thanks,
    Sharon

  36. Michelle Roepke

    I have gotten to day 10 and did the adding and seperating and I froze all 4. If I want to bake again do I have to go through the 10 days again or can I just unfreeze 1 and add again then bake?

  37. Lesa

    When you bake this bread do you have to use a glass bread dish or can you use a regular bread pan.

  38. Allie

    Hello! Just came across your blog, as I was looking for a printout of the 10 day recipe for a friend. I just made a batch of this bread on Monday, and used Pumpkin Spice pudding instead of vanilla - AMAZING!! I'm going to have to stock up on the pudding before it goes out of season!

  39. Brooke

    Hi,
    I have instant dry yeast at home - if I use this, do I follow the starter directions the same or do something different? Thanks much!
    Brooke

  40. Julie S

    How thick should the starter be? My previous starters I received from friends were a lot thinner than the starter this made. This starter made a runny cookie dough consistency for me. Did I mess it up?

  41. Tawni

    I had this recipe given to me several years ago with a starter bag. I moved and lost the recipe and have been looking for it off and on for a couple years. I knew I found it because I remembered the pkg of vanilla instant pudding!
    I also found out that when you have the new starter bags, you can freeze them and when you pull them out that starts as "day 1". And it works great!
    If you don't have any friends to share with and have a few batches in the freezer, you can omit the 1 cup flour, sugar and milk on day 10 and just go on to the next step to make yourself just the two loafs! I added walnuts to mine! Hubby to a loaf to work and the guys all went nuts over it! Said it was the best bread they ever had! Of course, I sent a real stick of butter with him! Love, love this bread!!!

    1

    1. Jennifer W.

      Thank you for this info. If I was to unfreeze the starter and wait for the ten days to just make this myself (the two loaf size, not to share) on day 10 I don't add the 1 1/2 flour, sugar and milk but what about the day 6 ingredients? Still add them?

  42. Bernadette

    can I make with just egg whites or egg substitute and fat free milk. Trying to stay on my WW program. What about stevia or other low sugar blends?

  43. Yum

    It's even tastier if you add cinnamon and raisins in it!! This bread brings back so many memories!;)

  44. Linda

    I have been looking for a starter for this bread for a while. I am so excited to start this because the bread is sooo delicious and very easy to do. THANK YOU! I can't wait to come back and let you know how it goes!!

  45. Jane Miller

    Thank you so much for posting! Have been searching for this for a long time!

  46. Brenda Joyner

    Just confused about the instant pudding, .... Do you add this prepared or dry? One other thing, the Milk, does it have to be whole milk or can 1 or 2% milk be used. ? Please respond I really want to get this started.

    Thanks

    Brenda

    1. TAMMY s Taylor

      dry pudding and fat content in milk i dont think matters.

  47. Deb Konieczko

    I lost my recipe in a recent move so happy to have found it here! Also you can put the starters in freezer bags and keep in the freezer until ready to use. The day you pull it out is day 1. This way you can plan ahead for your baking day. Thanks for the recipe!

  48. Ms Moommist

    I learned about Amish Friendship Bread way back in the mid-70's when a lady I worked with brought in a dozen or so starter bags for the girls in the office. It was the best tasting bread I've ever eaten. I also took an idea to use granulated sugar to dust my baking pans instead of flour and avoid that pasty bottoms.

  49. TAMMY s Taylor

    love this bread, very versatile and fun....so yummy.

  50. June

    my recipe is same but it says to add some baking soda on day 6 and 10. Can u help me why?

  51. stacy

    5

    I make this friendship bread every year around Thanksgiving and for baskets for Christmas and my family loves it I make it other times also when I can cause they eat it as fast as I can make it lol

  52. Sarah

    I just got some starter from a co-worker and plan to try this. Quick question though. After I separate it into the 4 different ziplocks on day 10 (its on day 5 right now) and give it to friends, do they then start over on day 1? With the squishing, and stuff. And then in 10 more days THEY divide it up? Or on my day 10, when I give the bags to friends, are they able to use it right away to bake the bread?

  53. Alisa Reid

    Eons ago when my Grandmother gave me a starter, she told me I could whatever pudding flavor I wanted. So I made pistachio bread A LOT. I also remember keeping it in the fridge but notice the recipes I've read in my search for Amish Bread like my Grandmother's, say to keep it on the counter. Which kind of worries me, I don't want to end up with a batch of hootch.