Do you want to make an Amish Friendship Bread starter or kickstart your bread recipe with a little active dry yeast? Wondering if your yeast is still fresh or any good?
Old or expired yeast risks recipe disappointment. Here’s how to test your yeast to make sure it’s fresh and ready to be added to a recipe.
How to Check if Your Yeast is Fresh
If you’re like me, you might buy your yeast in a jar and freeze it past the expiration date. That’s a great way to save money, but it also means your yeast may no longer be any good, so you’ll want to test it before using it.
Combine half of a package active dry yeast (about 1½ teaspoons) with ½ teaspoon sugar. Add ½ cup warm water (this liquid should be subtracted from the recipe if you’ll be adding it in later) and stir well.
Note: You can test instant yeast (also known as rapid rise) with this same method.
After 10-15 minutes, the mixture should be bubbly. If it’s not, your yeast isn’t fresh. Bummer, I know, but better to find out now instead of later.
If you see bubbles, you’re in business! You might end up with a puffy foam top — that’s also good news. Give the yeast mixture a stir, and you should see lots of activity once you break through that foam top.
Oh, and don’t forget to name your starter.
You can now add the yeast mixture to any recipe, adjusting for any liquid content.
Notes
- If making an Amish Friendship Bread starter, you can proof your yeast in warm milk instead of water.
Tutorial – How to Test or Proof Your Yeast for Freshness
Ingredients
- 1½ teaspoon active dry yeast (about half a packet)
- ½ cup warm water or warm milk
- ½ teaspoon sugar
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients in a small bowl. Wait 10-15 minutes.
- If your yeast is fresh, your yeast mixture should have bubbles or a foam top. Stir well and then add it to your recipe or starter, adjusting for the liquid content since you used ½ cup warm water or milk.
Notes
>> Have you tried this? Give the tutorial some stars and leave a comment below to let me know how it worked for you!
Hi I used one full cup of water since that’s what my recipe called for. It’s been nearly 15 minutes and its not completely flat but also NOTHING like as foamy as this. Maybe a little bit low-grade foamy? So I’m having a hard time telling if my yeast is good or not. It was Fleichman’s regular yeast (not instant) and it has been stored in the freezer, in the original packets since I bought it, and it has 10 more months until it expires.
Hi Michaluna! If it’s not as foamy as what the pictures show, then it is probably loosing its potency, which means that you should probably replace it with some new yeast from the story. That’s always a bummer when it says that it has more time before expiration on the label. However, you always want very active yeast when you’re baking with it.
This worked, so I have to say THANK YOU!
So glad it worked for you, Kimberley!
Thank you for sharing with us. I had forgotten about friendship bread and cakes. Back in my younger marriage days a dear friend gave me a starter. I kept that going for months. Than life happened and I used up all the starter I had. For some reason I don’t remember now I never asked how to get it started. So I am excited to start again. Thank you so much for this. Patty
Hi Patty! So glad you’re getting back into the world of Amish Friendship Bread. Happy Baking!