Need printable 10-Day instructions? We have lots of different styles! Click here for the printables library.
Wondering if it’s safe to share Amish Friendship Bread or the starter? The experts say yes.
Here it is, the one and only original Amish Friendship Bread.
Now you’d think with over 250 Amish Friendship Bread recipes in the Recipe Box, I’d have a ton of favorites. And I do. But I’ve got to say the original recipe (with raisins and nuts and all that cinnamon-sugar glory) is in first place. Okay, maybe second only to this one, but honestly it’s a pretty close race. If I’m in a pinch and want to gift a loaf of bread in a hurry, I know I can count on this classic recipe to make even the grouchiest person happy (and sometimes that grouchy person is me).
If you like raisins, combine different variations (golden, Thompson, and red flame) to keep it flavorful and interesting. A few years ago, our neighbor began to give us a bag of homemade sugared pecans every Christmas. I never knew what to do with it, it was so crazy sweet and there was always so much of it. I found its true calling one day when I chopped some up and tossed it into my Amish Friendship Bread batter when I couldn’t find any plain old nuts to add. It gave the bread an extra sweet crunch so now I keep a bag of candied pecans or walnuts frozen in our freezer for just this purpose.
There are so many ways to make this and you really can’t get it wrong. If you’re ever feeling like you want to take a walk on the wild side, you can try another variation but just know that you’ll always have this one to come home to.
The one question I get asked a lot is, “Is Amish Friendship Bread really Amish?” I’ve done a lot of research and let’s just say the results are inconclusive. What I do know is that the spirit of the bread is sharing what we have with others, and when we make this simple gesture, miracles and acts of kindness start showing up in our own lives, too. So share a slice, or a loaf, or a bag of starter, and see what happens next!
Amish Friendship Bread
Ingredients
- 1 cup Amish Friendship Bread Starter
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup oil
- ½ cup milk
- 1 cup sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 2 cups flour
- 1 small box vanilla instant pudding
- 1 cup nuts chopped (optional)
- 1 cup raisins (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325° F (165° C).
- In a large mixing bowl, add ingredients as listed.
- Grease two large loaf pans.
- Dust the greased pans with a mixture of ½ cup sugar and 1½ teaspoons cinnamon.
- Pour the batter evenly into loaf or cake pans and sprinkle the remaining cinnamon-sugar mixture on the top.
- Bake for one hour or until the bread loosens evenly from the sides and a toothpick inserted in the center of the bread comes out clean.
- ENJOY!
Notes
Nutrition
Quick Links
- Need an Amish Friendship Bread Primer with the ten-day instructions? Go here for this simple 101.
- Don’t have a friend to give you a bag of Amish Friendship Bread starter? Make your own! Go here for the recipe.
- No time to get a starter going? Try our Starter-Free/No Starter Amish Friendship Bread here.
- Want to try something new? Check out the Recipe Box and find 250+ Amish Friendship Bread recipes to bake and share with others. Click on the Recipe Box in the menu or go here.
>> Have you tried this? Share your best pic with us or leave a comment below and let us know how it worked for you!
I’d like to know how to bake just one loaf, instead of two, using 1/2 cup of starter. My neighbor is a widow who wants to bake some but 2 loaves is way too much for her! I know how to halve all the ingredients except the 3 eggs. Do I use 1 egg or 2 eggs? Or 1 egg + 1 egg white?
I see in one of your photos that you baked the bread in a round cake pan. Would you use two 9″ round pans for this recipe? A friend just gave me a start, and I can’t wait until it’s ready to bake. 🙂
Could you tell me if I could add shredded zucchini and how much would you suggest please!
I got my original recipe over 10 years ago. I lost the starter after baking the bread once: it was ok, but not great. I recently was gifted regular sourdough starter and baked my first loaf: excellent taste and texture. I resurrected my Amish Friendship Bread recipe and converted some regular starter to Amish starter, and today I baked. Several comments that never occurred to me all those years ago: what Amish baker uses Instant Pudding? If I have a fermented started, why do I need the baking soda and baking powder? Does an Amish baker use oil? What kind? I would like to get a recipe for an Amish Cinnamon Raisin sourdough bread that has to rise at least one. Is such a thing out there?
It has been years since I have made this bread.
Looking forward to that old familiar taste
Love the bread!! Do you have to refrigerate the bread after it bakes or can you leave it out?
I’ve been making this recipe since 2000 I found out about Amish friendship bread when I moved to Alaska and in Alaska we have a lot of natives live there and they show me what friendship and sharing a loaf of bread or a slice of some hot loving friendship, bread that you have created that day is awesome. Sit down with a couple of girlfriends with a cup of coffee , it’s so sweet and delicious. It’s awesome and I would advise anybody to make this and grab a couple of new friends when you make it also enjoy cause I know me and my family we are.
I have the basic recipe and wish to prepare the chocolate bread. The original calls for vanilla instant and the chocolate bread calls for the chocolate pudding. Do I put both in or substitute?
I want to use butterscotch pudding but can only find it in the “cook n serve” types. How can I make that work, if possible, in place of instant pudding?
Would it be OK to use butter in place of the oil?
Is one slice only 204 calories I see it says kcal b it I was wondering if they were the same.
Recipe is confusing on the cinnamon and sugar ingredients. Does this sugar/cinnamon go in the bread (instructions say mix ingredients according to as listed.) So where does the cinnamon/sugar for sprinkling in the pan come from – it is not in the ingredients ????
I wish this entire recipe was a little clearer.
You sprinkle the cinnamon and sugar in the pan. It puts a nice sweet coating on the bread.
I agree it is not clear and came here looking for the answer. I would assume that the sugar and cinnamon listed goes into the loaf and you need additional sugar and cinnamon for dusting.
I guess what I don’t get is what to set the oven at and for how long to cook it. Is it that difficult to find the answer for this?
You bake the bread at 325°f for 60 minutes.
My bread didn’t rise very much but I could have dealt with that but I cooked it lik
For an hour in a preheated oven at 325 degrees baked for an hour. It didn’t appear to be done and fell in the center. I left it in the oven and the center didn’t cook through. Can you think of what I did wrong that could have cause this? I think it will be delicious if I can get it done.
I love this friendship bread. I do have a question. How can I make ginger bread friendship bread.? Is there more to it than just adding ginger to the original recipe?
Thanks so very much,
Debby
So, I do some things a bit differently but with great results. First, I do a sponge the day before baking. I take one cup of the flour, one cup of starter, the 1/2 cup of milk and the 2/3 cup of sugar (I do the reduced amount) and mix them up, then let them sit for no more than 24 hours prior to baking. I do this step prior to feeding my starter. I find that it keeps the finished bread from being so dense. Next, I have taken to adding the 3 packets of instant oatmeal from the apple oatmeal bread to all of my friendship breads. I do however change up the flavors to suit my additional ingredients. For instance, I add blueberry instant oatmeal packets to the blueberry bread. Thank you for your website. 🥰
***PLEASE FORWARD TO SHIPPING MANAGER***
Hi,
I’m Cathy Diggs, with England Logistics. I work in our Refrigerated LTL Division, and I want to earn your business. Please provide the details below on any lanes you’re currently working, and I’ll reply with pricing. There is never an obligation to explore the shipping options we offer. Thank you, in advance, for the opportunity to earn your business and I look forward to working you.
Temperature:
Commodity:
Number of pallets:
Weight:
Pickup Zip:
Delivery Zip:
Frequency:
Heloo friends I’m glad you had the original amish friendship bread recipe, id lost mine . Thsnk you.
i made this one day and my grandkids came over and ate half a loaf and ask if we could make it for them to take home so we made 5 loafs. My grandson took one for himself and said that was all his so they left with 3 out of the 5 loafs
My family and I absolutely loved this! The second time I made it I made a few changes that really enhanced it, I think. I switched out the raisons for dried cranberries and added 1 cup of chopped walnuts. I also cut out the cinnamon sugar on the loaf pans since it was making a hard candy coating that stuck to the pan. Instead I combined 3/4 cup of brown sugar and 1 tsp of cinnamon and liberally sprinkled it across the top of the uncooked loaves, patting it down slightly to help it stick to the bread. Then I took a 1/4 cup of melted butter and drizzled it on top to make a yummy cinnamon streusel topping. After baking, the cinnamon streusel gives the bread a nice sweet crunch and the cranberries give a tartness that helps balance out the sweetness some.
Can I use the original Friendship bread recipe to make fruitcake?
Here you go: https://www.friendshipbreadkitchen.com/amish-friendship-bread-fruitcake/ 🙂
I enjoy all of your recipes that I have I’ve tried so far, and would love to receive your weekly or daily updates of new and old recipes.
I made this no starter recipe with the buttermilk. It had more liquid than the recipe using the starter and was much easier to mix. My loaves were lighter in color and weight but FLAT. The flavor was there, but it just did NOT rise!
Hi Linda! We’re sorry that happened to you. We haven’t had trouble with non-risen bread with our no-starter Amish Friendship Bread recipe, but it’s always disappointing when it doesn’t turn out the way you want. If it seemed like the batter was more liquid-y than usual, we’d recommend lessening the amount of buttermilk (start by adding 1 cup and see how it looks, then add more as needed).
Another common reason why bread may not be rising (or it falls too quickly) is because the oven temperature is too hot. A lot of times people’s ovens’ actual temperature is different than what it says on the oven. An easy way to remedy this it to buy a temperature gauge that you can put in the oven. Let us know if you have any other questions or if you try again!
I have 4 more loaves to make and ready for bed. Can i leave the batter on the counter til morning and finish baking then?
What is the metric weight of 1 cup of Amish friendship bread starter?
Hello Finnn! We don’t often weigh our Amish Friendship Bread Starter. However, if it’s metric measurement you’re after, 1 cup of Amish Friendship Bread Starter would be 237 milliliters. If you’re trying to convert your measurements for baking, you might find our conversion tables helpful! You’ll find them here. Happy baking!
Hello I am french,
Thank you for having me on this forum. I am passionate about Amish bread, I started 10 days ago, the starter. When I started this leaven for 10 days, I thought of finishing a bread to accompany my meal and not a cake.
Would you be kind enough to tell me where I can find a recipe compatible with starter leaven. I am actually looking to prepare this type of Amish bread:
https://www.friendshipbreadkitchen.com/afb-whole-wheat/
… but with a white flour of wheat.
I recently acquired a set of American spoons, and I wondered when you were talking about a cup, if it was the largest?
Can not wait to read your return, nice evening and thank you.
Hi Helene!
Almost all of the recipes on the site tend to be sweet, because of the sugar content in the starter and most recipes. We do have a few traditional loaves here (using the Amish Friendship Bread starter): https://www.friendshipbreadkitchen.com/category/recipes/sourdough-breads. Otherwise you can just make a traditional sourdough bread and starter (Google will give you lots of results!).
One cup is 8 ounces in the U.S. Hope this helps!
can you freeze the remaining starter?
Hi Peggy! Yes, you can freeze your Amish Friendship Bread Starter. Just measure out one cup of starter into a Ziploc bag, label it with the date that you froze it. When you’re ready to bake with it again, you can pull it out of your freezer to thaw. We have a tutorial on how to revive frozen starter. You can find the tutorial here. Happy baking!
Once baked doesn’t it have to be refrigerated or leave out at room temperature?
What is the shelf life once baked?
Hi Amy! Once you’ve baked your Amish Friendship Bread, its shelf life depends on how you store it. Out on the kitchen counter, it probably has one or two days before it starts to get stale and gross. However, if you seal it and store it in the fridge, it will last about a week. You can also freeze it, and pull it out later to thaw. Hope this helps. Happy baking!
Just put a loaf in the oven! This recipe has been running in my family for years. Around the holidays it is always a huge hit; you can never go wrong with this bread recipe. There has never been a time when we haven’t used all purpose flour, but if you want your bread to be more fluffy then I would recommend using self rising flour.
I’m getting ready to bake my first batch tomorrow (was supposed to do it today but forgot). I’m going to make a batch of sourdough bread and a batch of this original recipe. Is pudding mix a necessary ingredient? I’m trying to cut back on store bought processed foods and pudding mix has a bunch of artificial colors and ingredients I can’t pronounce.
I am on day 10 and need to bake today, 12-17-2017. I also need to know if I absolutely have to add the day 10 1.5 cups of flour, sugar, and milk? I do not need to give any away and would prefer to just stop now. My first bake took over four hours (six loaves) even with separating out into Ziploc bags. A super-quick response to my email would be most appreciated.
Yes, you could absolutely bake with what you have and not continue feeding the starter! But you can’t keep a starter without feeding it, so you should bake it all, give it away, or freeze it. The beauty of the starter is you can stop anytime you want! Hope this helps!
Having lived in Pennsylvania Dutch (aka Amish) country all my life, I can tell you that no traditional friendship bread recipe calls for the use of instant pudding, nor does it use yeast (as l have seen in many recipes).
OK, if I want a Bread structure rather than a cake, does anyone has a recipe for it – bread using this starter
Hi, I also want to make bread, as I don’t have any instant pudding and I would rather a sourdough than the sweet cinnamon kind in the recipe I got. However, all these in your link call for me to put yeast in and I thought the whole point of the 10 days of mashing and waiting was that the yeast was already in there. Do I really need to put MORE in and what if I don’t happened to have any yeast?
I added about half a can of apple pie filling to this recipe, including one box of vanilla pudding, and used chopped walnuts but no raisins. Love it! It is now my go-to when I bake the Friendship Bread. I did chop up the apples in the pie filling, to make them more bite sized. Very yummy, and stays moist until it’s all gone. Which really isn’t that long, actually!
My mother used Amish Friendship bread as the base for making carrot cake. She added 1.5 cups of finely grated carrots and a pinch of table salt. Baked it in 2 nine inch cake pans.
Can anyone tell me what kind of flour to use? Self rising or all purpose? On day 5 now
I used regular all purpose flour. I talked to the person at work who gave me the starter. They said that since it is a moist bread, it will cave in. I guess that is normal for this style of bread. I am bummed cuz I threw it out when I could have tried it.
We use all-purpose flour for the recipes unless otherwise indicated, Kayla. If you only have self-rising flour, you should know that it already has salt and baking soda added in, so you’d have to change the ingredients of whatever recipe you are making to accommodate this.
I made this today and it did not turn out. When I took the loaves out of the oven they looked and smelled great. As they cooled, both loaves caved in. The insides didn’t even look done. Any suggestions on how I can prevent this again? I’m basically starting over. Does mixing the milk, four and sugar directly into the bag have anything to do with it?
Hi Mattie! What a bummer — sorry to hear that! This original recipe actually does not often cave in. If your bread is doing that, there could be several culprit but here are the top three:
1. Your baking soda and baking powder are old or not active enough — make sure it’s fresh.
2. The batter is too wet or has too many add-ins. This can also happen when you substitute ingredients (i.e. replacing oil with ripe bananas, which have high moisture content. Make sure everything is properly measured.
3.It needs to bake 15 minutes longer — if it starts to brown, cover the top with foil. A toothpick should come out clean when testing for readiness.
Mixing the ingredients in the bag during feeding periods (Days 6 and Days 10) are not a problem, though when you prepare the actual bread you should use a mixing bowl.
I hope you’ll try it again — good luck!
Hi Melissa! This recipe is the one that has been circulating for several decades — the addition of pudding came about from an unknown source but older instructions still include it. There’s debate on whether the recipe is Amish or inspired by the Amish, who didn’t have refrigeration and needed to keep things at room temperature, but there’s no doubt that it carries the Amish spirit of sharing what we have with others. I say “original” because this is the primary recipe (unlike the other 249 on the site, which are modifications). You can easily omit the pudding as well. If you find anything interesting in your research, let me know! 🙂
It says to bake two mini loaves out of the 1 cup of mix, what temp should my oven be? Am I misunderstanding?
Hi Harley, if you’re baking mini loaves with this recipe, we would suggest baking it at 350 degrees Fahrenheit. It should yield six to eight mini loaves. Happy Baking!
I have enjoyed Amish Friendship Bread for almost 20 years…wondering if there is a way to make the recipes without eggs. I have been using almond milk as a substitute for dairy and am pleasantly surprised..hooray! Thanks so much! 🙂
I have made friendship bread in the past. This time it didn’t come out as good as usual. I’ve been leaving it in a zip lock bag. Do I need to open it to expose it to air and mix with wooden spoon or can I continue to just mix the bag around? I also remember having to uncover it in the past to let air out but that didn’t happen this time. Did I do something wrong?
Hi Spencer,
Mashing the bag (or mixing it in a bowl) daily is important, as is adding the ingredients on Day 6. You should see bubbles and the starter should grow by Day 7 (some starters are more active than others, but there should be some activity). If you don’t see any activity and your starter doesn’t smell yeasty, then your starter may not have been alive/active. Usually brand new starters are the most active (where it almost looks like it’s going to explode in some cases!), and subsequently you should have good activity but not as much as when you first made it. Hope this helps!
This would be great to make for my family and my church!
I would love to make this for my mom and grandma! They love bread 🙂
I have always wanted to make some Amish friendship bread. I would make some for my baby cousin, who is stationed in Texas and can’t be with us this year. And another loaf for my good friend who is always there for me.
Hi I will be baking the Amish Friendship bread for both of my brothers who live in California (I live in Oregon) and will be FedExing the loafs to them (fingers crossed it works). Their names are Sean and Michael Reilly.
My three kids prefer this one. The regular old fashioned one that started it all
Even with all the wonderful variations on this recipe, the original is by far the one I love most. I had made it a long time ago, but lost the recipe in a series of moves. When I read the book I was so excited to get into it again! It brings many memories along with the delicious taste of eating it warm from the oven AND cooled later in the day.
Thanks again for bringing it into the forefront with your delightful, heartwarming book.
If you dredge the nuts or fruit in flour before adding to the mix and lightly fold them into the batter they won’t sink to the bottom while baking.
I’m looking forwards to trying this! I’ve got sourdough starter scraps lurking in my fridge somewhere; I wonder how incorporating those into the starter would work?
I made this bread or a variant of it about 20 years ago and I found my old starter recipie so since I found
you, I’m gonna give it a try again. I loved it once. I hope I do again.
I think it would be delish’ to dust it with powdered sugar,maybe marble it with spices or cocoa, or add dried Craisins(cranberries). The sugared pecans, or nuts one lady described using, we lovingly refer to as “pralines” in the south.
WOW LOOKS GREAT–AND EASY –I THINK I WILL TRY THIS AT MY NEXT CHURCH POTLUCK THIS COMING OCTOBER–WE ARE HAVING A HARVEST DINNER THEMED GATHERING…….
THANK YOU 🙂
LORA ROWE
You’re welcome, Lora! Amish Friendship Bread is really easy and it’s great to share it with others — you could even bring a couple bags of starter and the instructions to hand out to anyone who compliments you on the bread. Good luck!
This is by far my favorite! I make mini loaves and then we all eat a whole one ’cause that IS one serving, right?
I have non-celiac gluten intolerance and am always trying to find a way to convert my favorite recipes to gluten free. I have successfully made the starter using Krusteaz brand gluten free flour that I get from my local Kroger! I have made one batch (2 loaves) and am baking my second batch as I type this. I just wanted to let anyone out there know that you can make a gluten free Amish friendship bread! 😀 I usually split the the ingredients into 2 bowls and make two flavors (banana-walnut and chocolate- chocolate chip). I use 2 boxes of the pudding, one for each flavor and they come out moist and super yummy! my mother-in-law, who is really picky when it comes to food, cannot even tell the difference.
This was a huge hit at work! I had several people asking me for the recipe (I gave them yours) but some got a little disappointed when it needed a starter but I was happy to provide that. This was my first time doing this and it was wonderful!
My granddaughter is allergic to everything I made this bread for her she is allergic to wheat, gluten, eggs, peanuts, fish and about everything else you can think of. But we figured out how to do it wheat, gluten and egg free and she loves it. we add gluten, wheat free flour and yogurt for the eggs and it comes out great she loves it so much she cannot have regular bread so this is her bread and when we do it with cinnamon she just can not get enough of it, she now bakes it for her self regularly thanks so much for the recipes and now that we know how to add what she can have it has made it great.
Should I sift the flour? My starter after feeding before baking is very lumpy. I mix and mix and mix and they will not budge. What do I do?
You don’t need to sift the flour, Lisa. Lumpy and a little thick is normal, but make sure your starter (before you feed it), has the consistency of pancake batter and that you’re adding equal parts of flour, sugar and milk (minimum 1 cup). Stir with a wooden spoon and scrape the sides and then leave it for a bit. Come back after a few hours and give it another stir, and you should find that it will have broken down quite a bit by then. By the next day it should be a lot smoother. Make sure you’re using an all-purpose flour and that all your ingredients are fresh. Hope this helps!
Wow. Made this for the first time last night– I had to sneak to get the 2nd loaf wrapped up and hidden. Loaf #1 was gone before bedtime! lol Of course, loaf #2 is about half gone now, but at least it made it overnight. Good thing I made extra starter so I could do more baking today.
I did have to vary slightly from the original recipe– used apple sauce for half of the oil and since *someone* (who shall remain nameless and was not me) got into the baking supplies and made cookies, i was low on white sugar. I had enough for the recipe, but not for dusting the pans. So… I used a brown sugar and cinnamon mixture for that and to sprinkle on the top. It was… oh my, no words– closest would be *awesome*! Dad said I can bake more “cake” anytime I want from now on… lol
One question, though. Does anyone know how well the baked loaves freeze? I’d usually be serving them fresh baked (or close to it), but I’d like to have an extra stored for “in case of”s if the bread freezes well.
Thanks!
Ma’am would you send me your recipe ,just got a starter kit need a good
Did I miss something but what is the Amish starter kit?
Hi Margie, there’s no starter kit per se, but if you haven’t baked the bread or made the starter before, you can start here: https://www.friendshipbreadkitchen.com/amish-friendship-bread/. Welcome to the Friendship Bread Kitchen!
Will almond milk work?
Hey Dave! Yes, we’ve used rice and almond milk in the past — it doesn’t froth up as much so you’ll be looking at a flatter starter but there should be some bubbles as both almost and rice milk are sweet and have sugars that metabolize in the starter. Other members of the community have tried other milks (nut milks and non dairy) and have reported that it still resulted in a delicious bread but there were definitely some slight changes in the flavor and consistency of the final product. Good luck!
Thanks! I’ll give it a try. 🙂
2 questions,
confused about the instant pudding mix, is this added, prepared(as Pudding) or just add the dry pudding mix to batter?
does the milk need to be whole milk, or can 1 or 2% be used? in both starter or if you’ve received a bag of starter?
Dry
This original recipe is still our favorite, and we’ve made hundreds of Amish Friendship Bread loaves over the years.
When I received the instruction with my 1st cup of starter it never said how much would be left to bake with, just that I should give 3, 1 cup portions away, keep 1cup to add to for myself and bake the cake with the remaining…which turned out to be 2 cups. I always get 6 cups total.
I’ve read your recipe where it says to use 1 cup to make the cake. Other than that difference the recipe is identical. I’ve always used the 2 remaining cups as I didn’t know differently and it turns out perfectly every time. I’m so confused!
I’m glad it turns out & is delicious, but would love to understand why it is turning out with using 2 cups instead of 1. I’d also like to use just the 1 cup as I could make twice as many loaves (4) at one time, but because it turns out with 2 cups of dough, I worry that if I start using 1 cup it won’t.
Any thoughts?
My point was that I’ve been baking it with 2 cups of starter for 3 years now, not knowing it was only supposed to be 1 cup. It turns out perfectly EVERY time. Not too wet, not too dry.
I have also been freezing the starter for as long so that I don’t have to continually feed it/take up space in the fridge with it.
I guess the one drawback when things get passed around for so long as the recipe gets changed…as mine does say to give 4 away or keep 1 to grow and bake with the remaining (which has been 2)
I’ll try it with 1 cup & hopefully be just as happy with the results. 🙂
I’d love to hear if you think the recipe changes from what you’re used to with the two cups to one — we’ve always done one, maybe we should try two!
I need some advice on the sugar (1cup) in the white choc chip amish friendship bread. does it go in the dough or in the pans dusting top and bottom
I made the starter and then made the bread. It’s friggin’ awesome! Hope you like it sweet 🙂
Great recipe!
I make the small loaves wrap them in colorful saran wrap and give them to my kids and grandchildren for Christmas plus other goodies in a basket. I use about four starters. They all LOVE it. Saves money and comes from Mom or Grandma!Iv,e done it for years. Just thought I would share this with you!
ive been using friendship bread starter for a while now but i was curious …when baking the 2 loaves on day 10 is there anyway to make 2 different types using 2 different flavors of pudding ect. if so how would i go about mixing and or converting the recipe?
Hi Michelle! Since the recipe usually calls for 1-2 small boxes, you can use 1 small box of pudding for one loaf and another small box (different flavor) for another. You will have the halve any recipe you make with respect to all the other ingredients if you are looking at two different recipes. Hope this helps!
I am making Amish Friendship Bread for the first time. I live in New Zealand and we have packets of instant pudding here not boxes. Can anyone please tell me how many grams or ounces if easier are in your boxes of pudding so I add the correct amount when I go to bake.
Thank you
Niska, here’s a conversion chart: https://www.friendshipbreadkitchen.com/conversion-tables. The U.S. boxes of pudding are 3.4 ounces (96 grams) for a small box and 5.0 ounces (141 grams) for a large. Pudding adds moisture and a flavor boost, but it’s not entirely necessary and some people leave it out altogether. In other words, you have some wiggle room! Hope this helps.
There’s also a recipe to make your own instant powdered pudding mix in large batches to store away in tightly sealed containers, in your food pantry, for later use when you want to bake the Amish friendship breads. All you need to do then is measure out the amount needed for your breads.
I added chopped apples to mine. Yum!!
Has anyone tried using flavored gelatin in addition to/instead of the pudding in the recipe? I dearly love lime flavor, and can’t find lime pudding mix, if it even exists in the first place…
We have a few AFB recipes that use gelatin, but it’s a completely different texture and changes the recipe somewhat (it also makes the recipe super sweet, so you’ll need to adjust the amount of sugar in your recipe). Some stores (like health food stores or even Amazon) carry a lime extract that will give you that lime flavor boost for your recipes without altering the texture of your bread (see our Strawberry Lemonade cupcakes in the Recipe Box)
You can use the unsweetened gelatins (sugar-free Lime Jell-O)
I am confused. One recipe I have says at day 10 to add 1c. and the other one says to add 1 1/2c.. Which one do I use? Also on day 10 when you freeze it, and get it back out of the freezer, do you add to it, or count that as day one to start over?
I know, there are so many different versions floating around out there! We do 1 1/2 cups here in the Kitchen. As for your second question, if you have any remaining starter that you want to keep after you add the ingredients and then divide into equal portions of 1 cup each, Day 10 technically becomes Day 1, but if you freeze it immediately you have the option of taking it out and baking after it thaws or starting the whole 10 day process again (if you want to have some starter to share with others). Going through the process again also lets your starter develop a richer flavor — the older the starter, the better. Hope this helps!
can I use honey instead of sugar? if so, how much?
also, I cant use the instant pudding, can I leave it out or replace it with anything else?
Why do you call this Amish? I’m pretty sure that Amish don’t use instant pudding.
Is it possible to do this gluten free?
Cheryl, check out the Recipe Box for these starters:
Amish Friendship Bread Starter (Gluten-Free)
Amish Friendship Bread Starter (Gluten-Free and Casein-Free)
oh my gosh thank you Darien so very much i have been looking for this for months my family and friend will be so happy I lost mine and couldnt make them anything thank you again
that dont tell u what you have to add for the next 10 days
Kathy, you only add ingredients on Day 6 and Day 10. The rest of the days you just mix the starter (or squish the bag). On Day 10, after you feed it, you divide it into equal portions of 1 cup each. You can bake or save your portion. If you save it, the ten day cycle starts over again. The starter is only fed twice in a 10 day period. Hope this helps.
i understand that part but what and how much do you feed it
Kathy, are you referring to the 10 Day process? This link provides the complete care and feeding of AFB in detail:
https://www.friendshipbreadkitchen.com/amish-friendship-bread
I cant find the starter recipe i lost mine help me plz.
https://www.friendshipbreadkitchen.com/pantry/amish-friendship-bread-starter
can you bake the bread before day 10?
If you made your starter from scratch, wait 10 days for the best flavor results and also so the yeast has a chance to do it’s magic in the starter. If you received a starter from someone else, then you can bake anytime.
i recently received a starter from a friend and am following the directions. i love this bread and its been years since i have participated in one of these “swaps”. however, i found that as my friend was trying to pass on her started most people were not receptive to receiving them. so my question is when i get to the end of my days (day 10), instead of taking out the 4- 1 cup starters to give away, can i just make it all into bread? how would i do that? thanks. oh and i will be keeping a 1 cup started for myself to continue on. thanks
Thanks for the input
When we made ours we used everything that was left in the bowl after taking out the 4 cup starter bags, (probably 4-5 cups of starter left in bowl) and the dough turned out very thick but baked a good tasting bread. We will do another with just the 1 cup starter and see how it turns out.
Hope to come back and post the results.
Yes, Dean, we’d love an update the next time you bake!
Hi there,
it’s been years since I’ve made AFB, I can’t wait! I have my starter all set but where are the instructions for the next 10 days? I know I am missing something here. Thanks so much!!
Confused on the math from
https://www.friendshipbreadkitchen.com/amish-friendship-bread
Day 1 = 1 cup starter
Day 5 add 3 cups stuff = 4 cups plus rise from yeast
Day 10 add 4 1/2 cups stuff, mix and take out 4 cups = 4 1/2 cups left to add eggs, oil etc to.
Recipe on this page starts with 1 cup starter and adds egg oil, etc.
What am I missing
Hi Dean,
Sometimes it’s easier to see it in the original form, so here: https://www.friendshipbreadkitchen.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/SCN_0001.jpg.
Basically there are two parts: the care and feeding of your starter, and then the actual baking. Days 1 through 10 are about caring for your starter. On Day 10 you add the final flour, milk, and sugar before dividing into equal portions of 1 cup each (the original instructions say 4 portions of 1 cup each, but because many people make their starter from scratch, they tend to end up with more as brand new starters are always more “enthusiastic” than ones that have been around the block!).
Now the recipe for the actual baking of the bread is the list of ingredients that begins with 1 cup of starter.
So if someone gave you a bag of starter, which should be about 1 cup, the day they gave it to you is Day 1. You go through the 10 days and then on Day 10 you bake.
Does this help?
I still see two different starting points for baking:
1. You get a starter bag and just want to make two loaves, ie. no feeding.
2. You complete the ten day process and end up with 4 starter bags and what is left in the bowl which is significantly more than 1 cup.
We did #2 above and bread turned out great, but I can’t see #1 being the same
Hi Dean! If you received a starter that’s been around for a while, #1 can taste great, too. #2 is great because you add a bit of your own kitchen (and starters do love to be fed) and you also get to share it. If you have an active starter (or one that’s been recently made using commercial yeast), the yield will be more than 4 cups (1 cup per bag – 3 bags + what’s in your bowl to bake with) so freeze the extra or give away a couple more bags. These are the original instructions that have been passed around for decades and works on the premise that your starter is healthy but not necessarily frothing and bubbling as much as the ones that have been “alive” longer (as the commercial yeast boost has died off or is no longer there).
Thank you for poasting the starter I love this bread but lost it and have been wanting to know how to start it,, I put a chopped up apple insted of the raisinis and black walnuts. Everyone loves it
I am terribly confused, and not sure if I should be. I printed out the recipe for the starter and was getting ready to print out the recipe for the bread, when I realized the starter says to”Consider this day 1 of the 10 day cycle. For the next 10 days handle starter according to the instructions for Amish Friendship Bread.” I used to make this all the time with my mom when I was a girl, but I haven’t seen a starter in probably 15-20 years. I know there are things you add every so many days to your starter, but this recipe for Amish Friendship Bread does not give the directions for the steps to increase your starter. Do I need to increase my starter? Is there a way I can find the steps? My mom passed away in 2004 and I would like to teach my daughter how to make this like my mom did with me. Thanks!
Never mind!! I searched around this wonderful site and found what I was looking for. But, I do want know if anyone has ever heard of a starter that you add canned peaches to?? If could have been something else Mom was making, but I really don’t remember.
Hi, did you ever find the starter that you can add a canned of peaches? My husband been telling me about it, I don’t believe it not until I’ve read your comment. I tried and tried to look on the internet but never find it, I’ll keep on looking though. If you ever find that kind of starter would you please send me the recipe. PLEASE!!! Thanks!
google Amish Friendship fruit starter and you will find it. I loved using it and make many wonderful cakes with it. Been a long time since I have done any but had saved the recipe not long ago and plan on doing it once again now I have retired.
Search for fermented fruit cake. That may be what you’re thinking about with the peaches. My mom used to make it when I was a kid and it was wonderful!
This probably a stupid question, but once you start your starter (yeast, water, 1 cup each milk, sugar and flour), what do you do then? What is the 10 day process? I’ve never made it before, but my mom used to make it when I was in university and she’d send me some and I’d like to try it, but I don’t want to mess it up. Please help.
How come some of the breads in your pictures look so smooth? Are they without cinnamon? They look like they didn’t even crack on the top. I just took 2 loaves of original Amish Bread out of the oven now I have 2 loaves of regular with chocolate pudding and chocolate chips in the batter in the oven. Can’t wait to taste it!
How do I know when my starter is ready, and when do I put my starter in a bag?? Thanks for your help. This is my first time making Amish Friendship Bread and very excited. I have my mix in a plastic bowl and it’s been sitting on the counter, loosely covered for about 1 hour.
How long can the starter be left in the freezer before it “goes bad?” As much as we love friendship bread, sometimes we need a break and I don’t want to lose a good starter. Thanks!
I started a starter without yeast last month and fed it as I was supposed to. I have since used the starter in some friendship bread. Although the bread tastes great it does not rise very high. The finished bread barely comes halfway up the loaf pan. Does this mean my starter is not quite right? HELP!
It has been a number of years since I have made amish bread. I enjoyed making it and giving it away. One of my favorites was a white choclate with almonds and a triple choclate. I have just made some starter I am using plastic bags. I can not wait for day 10.
My friend gave me a starter already started with the add one-of-everything days marked on it. She gave it to me on the 29 and that was an add day, I didn’t get a chance to add that day. I did add today, the 30. Is it still good? Can I still bake on the 3, as marked? Or should I wait and bake on the 4?
J’aimerai me lancer dans la préparation de la recette, pour certains ingrédients, comme le Pudding, je ne sais pas si j’en trouverai en France ? Se pourrait-il qu’une amie française ait déjà réalisé la recette ? Pourriez-vous lui transmettre mon message afin qu’elle me donne sa recette ?
En tous cas, le livre m’a énormément plu, ce n’est que du pur bonheur, merci de l’avoir si bien écrit !!
A bientot, je l’espère….
Une amie de France
Oh how i just luv Amish Friendship Bread, I would like to get a starter from someone but i don’t know anyone that is doing the breads, Please send the recipe to my email i would very much appreciate it so very much
Wish me luck, tomorrow I’m making my Amish Friendship bread, and I’m going to add strawberries and pecans!
this is so madden do you know how many pages i click on and never got the starter recipe for the starter what does a person have to do to just get the simple recipes when i used to make it it was just
1 cup milk
1 cup sugar
1 cup milk then you made it with box cake mix what happen am very dispointed never had such a run a round in my life
I think this is right, if you give away 1 cup of starter and your friend bakes with it then she won’t have any left. It’s best to give her 1 cup of starter and that would be “Day 1” for her. That way she can continue to grow her starter and bake with it on Day 10.
If your friend gives you 1 cup of starter: add 1 cup milk 1 cup sugar 1 cup flour this IS day 9, day 10 stir, day 11 stir. day 12 you have 4 cups.
I have a question. if you do not cook bread today feed it with 1 teaspoon sugar and put it in the fridge. Do i do this every day until i cook bread?
let me clear up my comment above.
I use the 12 Day friendship bread.
Day 12 divide into 4 containers
At this point you can feed the 1 cup sugar 1 cup flour 1 cup milk to all 4 containers ( Day 9) day 10 stir, day 11 stir day 12 divide again…..ect.
I just found your website & printed the starter receipe. I baked 18 loaves last fall, from a starter & threw away 10 because they were very very moiste inside & were only about 3 to 4 inches tall. I bought glass loaf pans thinking that would help. Did a little. Do you think using the large box of pudding caused it not to raise & be so moiste? I baked some of the loaves 70 – 75 minutes! Thanks!
I made this bread today it is soooo good
I’ve been making this for the past few months and have a modification to add that I just realized today.
My bread turns out SUPER moist by using whatever starter’s left in my bowl after measuring out my Ziploc bags. A friend used just 1 cup, as the directions say, but I found it too dry to eat. I usually have at least 2 cups of start left in my bowl.
When you say that you use “what’s left in the bowl after putting into Ziplock bags”, how many zip log bags are you filling, and how much goes into each bag? ( I am a TOTAL newby! Salli
The original instructions say you should have about 1 cup of starter in the bowl. But we’ve found it can be more, especially if you’ve made your starter from scratch. So you’re looking at 3-7 Ziploc bags of 1 cup each, plus 1 cup reserved for you to bake with. Have fun, Salli!
What would cause my Amish bread to fall in the middle?
You mixed it too much. Mine was doing that when I used my electric mixer or kitchen aid. When I started to mix by hand and just keep folding and folding until all mixed it stopped falling.
Hi. I have a question. In the directions in the book, in one place it says you can bake yours the day you divide the starter ( day 10) and in another place it says you will be baking in ten days. (day 20?) If you give someone part of your starter can’t they also bake that day? Thanks. BTW I am on day 6.
On the tenth day I split mine and baked 6 mini pans. I will be ready to bake again in 10 days and split it agian.
How do I determine whether I need one or two boxes of pudding?
Smiles 🙂
help, in Spring I froze a cup of starter. I would like to start it up, what’s the next step?
love the things I am able to make with the starter
My starter’s almost ready to bake with! Any recommendations on which flavor of pudding to use in the bread? And is one box enough or does it really need two? Thanks.
Thanks 🙂 It’s in the oven now and that’s what I did! I will check out the forums, didn’t think of looking there.
I am so excited to see this. It has been years since I had a starter..Thank you for posting this on facebook!! Patty
Simple and delicious. I made my starter from scratch and I ended up with more starter than usual. But that was great for me! I made loaves for family, friends, and coworkers. And still have plenty left for myself which I put in the freezer.
This stuff is incredibly flexible.
I had my starter on the counter for 10-14 days past the time I was suppose to bake. Is it still good or should I throw it away ?
where do I get the starter bag. Or can I make one for myself.
Yes you can make your own there’s a link to the recipe here on this page
I made my starter last night! You can see a picture of it here:
http://ceceliadowdy.blogspot.com/2011/04/amish-friendship-bread-starter-day-one.html
I’m going to get my five-year-old son to help me squeeze the bag and add stuff during the 10-day process! I’ll be sure to leave another comment once we’ve made the bread!
Question – what if day 10 is a weekday and you don’t want to make the bread that day? What if you want to wait until the following Saturday or Sunday to bake the bread? is it possible to do this? Will it mess up the bread?
You can freeze it or the way I do it. I just keep adding to it every few days then when I’m ready to use it I dip out what I need then keep the rest going and keep adding to it. I ran out of people to give the starter to. When u go to use it just dip out one cup per recipe.
hello. Well folks today is day10 for me and my starter. I am going to the next step, so wish me luck.
I have tried making sourdough starter before and it didn’t work for me. So, I am going to try this and hope for the best.
Betty
will enjoy trying this!!
Is there a recipe for a friendship bread starter that makes its own yeast? putting certain ingredients together causes a reaction such as yeast does. i just don’t know which ingredients they are. it’s been such a very long time since i made this particular starter. thank you for your time and consideration of this email.
How can I obtain a starter for Friendship Bread
How do I get the starter
this is day 10– wow my bread turned out so yummy! I made french vanilla ( used 1 small box of pudding) with lots of nuts and dried fruit and it turned out so good! I got 4 small plump mini loafs and still have 5 bags of starter – which froze for now >>knowing what I want to make next–” raincoast crisps”, but need to get some ingredients and 2 new loaf pans.
i got the recipe for starter and bread but from making it once before this oen does not show what to do each day of the ten day process…u got recipe for starter then the actual recipe but it doesnt show what to do each of the ten day, any help????
For those questioning how to get the starter or what to do with the starter, it is all on the link “Amish Friendship Bread Starter” in the recipe