This is the Amish Friendship Bread cookie recipe that people love, because not only does it make a soft and chewy cookie, but it makes A LOT of them. This is one of those great recipes to keep on hand whenever you have some extra starter to spare, because in this case, a little goes a LONG way!
This recipe is super versatile, and I hope you have a lot of fun with it. If you’ve tried this recipe and loved it, snap a pic and send it in. Take a look at what other members of the Friendship Bread Kitchen community came up with:
Amish Friendship Bread Chocolate Chip Cookies
This is the Amish Friendship Bread cookie recipe that people love, because not only does it make a soft and chewy cookie, but it makes A LOT of them.
Ingredients
- 1 cup Amish Friendship Bread Starter
- 1 cup butter
- 1 cup shortening
- 2 cups brown sugar
- 1 cup white sugar
- 3 eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 5 cups flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 16 ounce chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350° F (176° C).
- Cream starter, butter, shortening, and sugars.
- Beat in the eggs, one by one, then add remaining ingredients.
- Drop by large spoonfuls onto an ungreased baking sheet.
- Bake for 12 to 14 minutes or until edges begin to brown.
- ENJOY!
Notes
Add in 1/4 cup of cocoa powder for extra chocolate flavor. For shortening, use the butter flavor. This recipe works great with different flavored chips and nuts, too. Use a small cookie scoop to make bite-sized cookies or two small scoops to make a larger size cookie.
From Erika Yak: “Added 1/4 cup cocoa powder and 1 1/2 cups M&M’s to make them chocolatey chocolate chip cookies.”
From Karen Garcia: “For another variation use dark chocolate chips and substituted 2 tablespoons of powdered stevia for the white sugar.”
From Becky Lewis: “I made my cookie dough and then left it in the fridge for 48 hours to rest before baking the cookies. These are without a doubt the best chocolate chip cookies I’ve ever made. I love the fact that they don’t have the baking soda taste that a lot of homemade cookies have. I’m so glad that someone gave me a friendship bread starter. “
From Elizabeth Bruce (Belleville, IL): “Different stage of cookies dough: Did a baking test. I froze individual dough pieces and baked them at thawed (some thawed on pan and some thawed in fridge) and frozen. I also baked some using dough that was in the fridge overnight. They all turned out the same well baked and no additional time needed.”
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These chocolate chip cookies are the best. I have an egg allergy so I replace the egg with 3 tablespoons of Just egg which is in a carton found in the dairy section at the grocery store. My grandkids have dairy allergies so I use oat milk. After making dough I roll into balls and flash freeze them. Then put in Tupperware so I always have on hand to bake at 350 for 15 minutes when we want fresh cookies. So delicious thanks for sharing the recipe
I haven’t tried these, but I was just wondering something. Isn’t the point of using a starter is to not need baking powder/yeasts? What is the point of adding the starter then?
This starter just makes for the perfect cookie I was looking for. It bakes thin, but not flat. I don’t like a thick cookie, so just what I want. I used an ice cream scoop to keep them all about the same size, rolled in a ball and then flattened them down with my hand and they baked perfect. They were also huge! The only things I changed was having to substitute 1 cup of shortening for another cup of butter instead, since I had no shortening. I also baked for just 8 minutes. I’m going to have to learn how to freeze this starter so I can keep making these cookies when I want to! My whole family are in love with these cookies and I’ve used the recipe several times already. YUM YUM!!
Not a bad recipe. The best From-Scratch-Homemade recipe I know of, but it has far too much vanilla and is just overall too sweet for my taste. I was hoping for more “twang” from the Herman starter, but I think the sweetness just covered it up.
These are by far the best cookies out there. We make these the oatmeal raisin, peanut butter and snickerdoodles. We sell at a farmers market and between the breads and the cookies my other side doesnt get much attention 🤣. I get requests for these all the time and even make them with peppermint oil and mint chips and the barely make it from my house lol.
Is 1 cup of starter really only 28g? That doesn’t seem right.
These are great! When I made a batch before Christmas, 10 dozen, I thought I wouldn’t have to make any more for a year. Well, today I’m making my 3rd batch since then! It’s amazing how fast they go. My husband has never been happy with homemade chocolate chip cookies, but he loved these! I keep bags with a cup of started in the freezer and take out one when I need it. If I’m running low, I just feed one and start again.
Cameoutreally well. No tweeking of recipe. Thank you
So glad you enjoyed the recipe!
Can this recipe be divided down to make a smaller batch, as I am the only one who eats cookies? I’d like to make about 1/4 of this recipe. Can it be successfully done?
Hi Isabeau! We haven’t tried to cut down this recipe before, but it should work. If you are feeling a little nervous, you can always try cutting it down the recipe amounts by half first. You can always freeze your extra cookies for later, as well. Happy baking!
These are wonderful! For years I have been searching for a really good chocolate chip cookie recipe. I now have ended my search. You can’t get any better than these.
These are going on my Christmas platter with red and green mini m & ms on top for color. Move over Tollhouse.
I have never made cookies with my starter but definitely want to. I love chocolate chip cookies and I’m sure my grandchildren would love to help eat them!
Best cookies ever!! This is a simple, basic, chocolate chip cookie with a might fine taste. My family devours these. I don’t mind the high sugar content because it’s not something we eat ever day. We just have them occasionally. Anytime I need to make cookies to take to an event, these are the ones I take. It makes a huge batch and everyone loves them.
These were TOO SWEET! I read reviews prior to making them and there were comments that the dough was sweet. I usually alter recipes as I see fit but went against better judgment as I’m new too baking with the starter dough. If I made these again, I would drastically cut the sugar.
I made these cookies with excellent results. Since I did not have any shortening I used margarine. The recipe did make a very large amount of cookies, however, my family had no problem making them disappear. I will definitely make them again. I really appreciate having more options to use my starter.
I just made these cookies…again. They are by far one of the best basic chocolate chip cookie recipes out there. I love simple chocolate chip cookies. I don’t want anything added to “spruce” them up. I just like a basic cookie and this recipe truly delivers that. Thanks for another great recipe!
Could I please get the recipe for the starter bread, would love to make these cookies.
Chocolate chip cookies are my favorite cookie!
I love all ur friendship bread recipes. Just tried these chocolate chip cookies today! I does make a ton of dough! so I am baking half today and then dropping the rest into ice cube trays to freeze and use later. That way when I want cookies I’ll have little frozen scoops all ready. I did scale back on the sugar a bit tho, I used 1 Cup white and 1 1/2 cups brown. I might even scale back a bit more next time. They turned out super good! Cant wait to try them with different chips/nuts!
Thank you Samantha! Great tips and we’d love to see a pic of the end result! You can submit it here if you’re interested: https://www.friendshipbreadkitchen.com/recipe-box/submit-photo/. So glad to have you in the Kitchen with me!
BEST COOKIE RECIPE !!
What can I use instead of shortening?
Hi Jae! You can use butter. Shortening is all fat whereas butter is fat + water, so you’ll lose some of the crispiness. I have had some people say they don’t like how buttery the cookie turns out, so you’ll have to try it to see what you prefer. Good luck!
I made these cookies for a book club meeting and they disappeared very quickly. The children of the members couldn’t get enough of them.
Yay! So glad it worked out, Karen! Thanks for sharing!
I cannot wait to try these cookies. From the above comments, they sound amazing and chocolate chip cookies are my favorite next to brownies of most kinds. I am in love with chocolate and I already told my doctor that if for some reason that I could no longer have chocolate, I may as well be dead. LOL
I live in Mexico where shortening is unheard of (and so is applesauce for that matter). Can I substitute lard for the shortening and add butter flavoring to it?
Hi Sheri! We haven’t tried it so I can’t say, but from what I can tell lard is an acceptable substitute for shortening. The butter isn’t just for flavor but to also help it crisp up, which the lard will help do, butI don’t think 2 cups of lard to replace the shortening and butter will yield a great-tasting result (I could be wrong). In this case I think the best thing to do is maybe halve the recipe and just try. I’d replace the shortening but not the butter. I did see something that says when replacing shortening with lard, reduce by 2 T per cup, but you might want to double check on that. Good luck! I’d love to know if it works!
Coconut oil can be used as a substitute, just make sure it is solid (if it’s melted pop it in the fridge to solidify). Also make sure to chill your dough as coconut oil may cause the cookies to spread more than usual since it has a lower melting point than shortening.
Butter can also be substituted for shortening, but since it has a higher liquid content, slightly reduce the liquid called for in the recipe.
Both can be substituted at a 1:1 ratio.
These are fabulous cookies, makes a ton of them. First time I made them I cut the recipe in half as they still made a lot. Everyone I gave them to loved them.
Can this dough be rolled up and put in the freezer for slice and bake cookies?
Yes!
My 5 grandsons love chocolate chip cookies and this recipe makes enough to last them for at least several days.
Made some of the best chocolate chip cookies. Did a baking test. I froze individual dough pieces and baked them at thawed(some thawed on pan and some thawed in fridge) and frozen. I also baked some using dough that was in the fridge overnight. They all turned out the same well baked and no additional time needed.
This may also sound like a stupid question but if you have received a starter and want to bake with it before day 6 when you add flour, sugar, and milk; do you just add what ever the recipe you are using calls for or do you add extra?
Sarah, it depends on what you want to do. You add the flour, sugar, and milk to your starter to “grow” it. So if you want to have extra starter left over, you should feed it first and then take the cup out for the recipe. If you don’t want to have starter left over, then you can just use the cup of starter you received for the recipe and not have any more going forward. Regardless, you will take the cup of starter and follow the directions for the cookie recipe. The ratio of ingredients will still be the same in the starter.
If you received your starter and want to bake immediately, treat your baking day as Day 10 and go straight to the bread recipe. You will use up the 1 cup of starter and not have any left. If you want to have some left, add the ingredients as listed on Day 10 before the bread recipe, mix and divide. You may come up a bit short of 4 bags with 1 cup each (one which you’ll use to bake), but you’ll have some surplus to either share and save for future baking.
This may seem like a stupid question but I just received a starter and the cookies sound so good. Do I wait to make the cookies on the 10th day like i would the bread or can I just make them now?
Hi Brooke! If you received the starter from someone, you can bake now. If you make the starter from scratch, I recommend at least one 10-day cycle before you bake. The “older” your starter, the better the flavor. Good luck and I hope you’ll share photos with us!
Made these for my son’s graduation and everyone loved them! they were so good! I will make them again.
Just made these SO YUM! but the recipe seriously make a million cookies!!!
I have made several batches of these cookies and LOVE them. They are killing my diet, but I cannot resist them.
Awesome! I substituted coconut oil for the butter, and did half chocolate chips, half m&m’s. I couldn’t get my kids to stop eating them. I am gonna substitute coconut oil for the shorting next time to see which way we like it better. yum, yum
How did they turn out with the coconut oil in place of the butter and shortening?
Everyone absolutely loves these cookies and want the recipe! First batch I made with the additional 1/4 cup cocoa, nuts and was a huge hit with everyone. For my granddaughters birthday I placed a warm cookie in a martini glass, placed a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top sprinkled with colored sprinkles! I was loved by all! Failed to take a picture we were having so much fun!
Second batch, made the same way but with 1 cup chocolate chips and 1 cup caramel nips – really liked the slight chewey effect from the caramel!
I would like to make these without the shortening. Do you think applesauce would work ok in place of the shortening in this recipe???
I’d recommend dividing your batch and trying one with shortening and one with the applesauce substitute. I’m concerned that the cookie may not hold together as applesauce is great for moisture and can bind in cakes, but cookies are a whole other science! Good luck and please keep us posted — snap a picture or two if you, even if it doesn’t quite work out. If it does, then I know a lot of our Kitchen Friends will be THRILLED!
So, I did the applesauce switch – 1/2 cup of applesauce for one cup of shortening.
I decided to make an 8×8 pan of chocolate chip brownies and make cookies with the remaining dough. And I ended up with over 5 dozen cookies in addition to the brownies!
My grandfather, husband and 6 year old son were my taste testers and unanimously declared them all delicious.
As a disclaimer, I also added a hint of cinnamon to the batter and I refrigerated it for about 4 hours before baking.
I can send pictures if somebody tells me how. 😉
Can’t wait to make these! Yummy!
Just made these and they are very tasty. Only used 1 cup of brown sugar and 1/4 cup of white and they are still nicely sweetened.
Can you freeze the cookie dough and/or the cookies?
I’ll add that to our list the next time we’re in the test kitchen with this recipe, Iisha — my guess is that the cookies will freeze well, and the cookie dough should be fine — I’m hesitating only because of the shortening. I’d certainly give it a try — it would be nice to be able to have it in the freezer for whenever a craving for fresh baked cookies hit!
These cookies are wonderful!!
A+! I use ovaltine instead of cocoa powder! Think vitamins!
would like to try cookies with starter but mine is made with self raising flour how do i use this to amke cookie and othre recipes listed here thanks inez
Just made these cookies. They are so good. I used dark chocolate chips and substituted 2 T. of powdered stevia for the white sugar. Turned out great!
We are cookie eaters. Some like them crisp, and one, our Granddaughter. Rachel likes hers soft. She usually under cooks the things she bakes because of her preference. I have used the friendship recipe before, in fact we have some starter in the freezer.
Just finished baking these cookies. Used butterscotch chips instead of chocolate chips. They are sooo good! soft and chewy in the middle with crunchy edges, my favorite!
These sound so good… I can’t wait to make them….