Amish Friendship Bread


This is a no yeast coffee cake sort of bread. It has a starter which is a culture of bacteria. The starter is resilient. I have had mine for years-it doesn't get infected by outside invaders!!

The Bread
The fun thing about this bread is that you can put almost anything in it and you can double the recipe easily.

Basic Recipe
  1. Mix in yogurt (plain or flavored) and 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  2. Mix in applesauce, sour cream, 3 cups flour, bananas or other fruits, nuts, and 1 cup sugar.
  3. Top with a mixture of 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1 cup sugar, 1/2 cup oil, and 1 cup milk.
  4. Bake on 350 for 50-60 minutes (Knife test).

The basic recipe always seems a little dry so I add milk, water, or juice until it seems like it will be moist enough. Mix dry ingredients together. In a separate bowl, mix the rest and then combine. Prepare 2 bread pans by lightly greasing them and sprinkling sugar on the bottom. Pour in the batter until the pan is about 2/3 rds full. Slice apples and decorate the top. Sprinkle topping generously over the breads.

Starter

When you first get your new pet (bacterial colony):
  • Day 1 place it in a Tupperware with a tight lid. Keep the starter at room temperature (dark)
  • Day 2, Day 3 do nothing
  • Day 4 add 1 cup milk, 1cup flour, 1 cup sugar stir with a wooden spoon
  • Day 5, Day 6 do nothing
  • Day 7 Feed as above
  • Day 8 do nothing
  • Day 9 give one cup of starter away to a friend, cook with 1 cup of starter and feed remaining cup Repeat as above.

    Once your starter gets going, you can ignore the timetable above. I bake Amish Friendship Bread every weekend. My family sometimes gets tired of it-but the scientists at NIH (where my husband works) and the Sidwell students and faculty have come to depend on it for morning snacks!
    Last Updated: 12/17/2004