A delicious Amish Friendship Bread recipe covered in a cinnamon sugar mix. The recipe includes the starter so you can share it with friends!
I love breakfast breads! My Sour Cream Banana Bread recipe gets amazing reviews. So moist and flavorful. Or try this Copycat Starbucks Lemon Loaf for a burst of citrus flavor!
The Best Amish Friendship Bread
Have you ever shared a bread starter with a friend?
This Amish Bread recipe is based on a tradition of passing a bread starter (a living yeast mix that provides the leavening) from person to person.
That’s how it gets the name “Friendship Bread“. You make a batch of delicious Amish bread then pass the starter along to the next one in line.
I’ve been baking versions of this Friendship Bread for as long as I can remember. It quite possibly may have been the first homemade bread I ever baked!
Eaten fresh from the oven or toasted and slathered with butter, a slice of Friendship Bread tastes like love.
I didn’t even tell you about my favorite part of Amish Friendship Bread yet: the cinnamon crust.
The crust is a thick, crunchy cinnamon sugar, especially if you coat it generously before baking.
Making your own bread starter is super easy, so don’t be intimidated! With this bread, you can mix up the starter batter and use it in the bread right away or set it aside for later.
FAVORITE BREADS: Snickerdoodle Banana Bread | Zucchini Bread
How to Make Friendship Bread Starter
To do this, dissolve yeast in 1/2 cup hot water. Add 1 1/2 cup hot water, 1 cup milk, 1 cup flour and 1 cup sugar. Mix until blended. Use whisk if needed.
You now have enough batter for 4 portions.
Transfer 1 cup sized portions of the batter to THREE individual gallon size freezer bags and set aside.
With the fourth remaining starter batch, prepare the Amish bread.
PRO TIP: Don’t want to give away the starters? You can use each of the 1 cup portions immediately to make a total of 8 loaves of bread, which are perfect for freezing.
Ingredients Needed
Add these ingredients to the bowl with your starter for bread and mix to combine:
- Eggs
- Milk
- Oil
- Flour
- Baking soda and baking powder
- Instant Vanilla Pudding Mix
You’ll have a thick and lumpy batter.
Bake the Friendship Bread
Combine sugar and cinnamon to make the topping.
Grease two loaf pans generously, After greasing the pan, sprinkle with a cinnamon-sugar mix.
Divide batter between two pans then generously top each battered pan with remaining cinnamon sugar mixture.
This is what provides a nice crunchy cinnamon layer on the bread so be generous here!
Bake in a 325 degree oven for about one hour. Cool about ten minutes in pan, then remove to cooling racks. Delicious served hot or cold, with butter! Enjoy.
Storage
This is one of my favorite loafs of bread to freeze! I’ll often make multiple loaves at once so we always have some stocked in the freezer.
When eaten fresh, this bread is best within a day or two. When eaten fresh, this bread is best within a day or two. Store in airtight container at room temperature.
Leftovers are also amazing toasted (in the oven or toaster) or used in Berry French Toast Casserole.
How to Use Starter for Bread
You know those three ziplog baggies full of good starter for bread you have leftover? You will use them indefinitely to keep making more and more bread!
Follow these directions yourself OR write the directions on a note card to deliver with the bag of starter you give to a friend.
Aimee’s Tip
Be sure to write these directions ON the ziploc bag.
- DAY 1: This is the day you make starter or receive bag! Do nothing.
- DAY 2- Day 5: Mush the bag with your hands to keep the yeast moving.
- DAY 6: Add more flour, sugar and milk to the bag.
- DAY 7- DAY 9: Mush bag daily again!
- DAY 10: Bread baking day!
Pour contents of bag in large bowl, add 1 1/2 cup each of flour, sugar and milk. Measure out 1 cup into 3 ziploc bags like you did the first time you made the starter; the cycle keeps repeating.
With remaining batter follow instructions above for making my amish friendship bread recipe.
More Breakfast Recipes
- Beer Bread
- Apple Banana Carrot Bread
- Apple Cider Donuts
- Apple Cinnamon Bread
- Cranberry Orange Bread
- Orange Bread
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Amish Friendship Bread Recipe
Ingredients
For the Starter:
- 1 envelope active dry yeast
- 2 cups warm water
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup whole milk
For the Bread:
- 3 large eggs
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- ⅔ cup whole milk
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 large or two small instant vanilla pudding boxes (not sugar free)
For the topping
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 Tablespoons cinnamon
Instructions
For the Starter:
- To prepare the starter batch, mix yeast with 1/2 cup hot water until yeast is dissolved. Add 1 1/2 cup hot water, 1 cup milk, 1 cup flour and 1 cup sugar. Mix until blended. Use whisk if needed. You now have enough batter for 4 portions.
- In three ziploc gallon sized freezer bags, add 1 cup of batter to each bag. These can be given away or used immediately.
- In your bowl will be a remaining one cup of batter. You can use this immediately following the directions below.
For the Bread:
- Okay, with your 1 cup of batter, add remaining ingredients (except the topping ingredients). Mix. Will be slightly lumpy, that’s okay.
- In two loaf pans, grease generously. I like to grease my pans, lay parchment paper on just the bottom of the pan, then grease again!
- After greasing the pan, sprinkle with a cinnamon-sugar mix. Divide batter between two pans then generously top each battered pan with remaining cinnamon sugar mix. This is what provides a nice crunchy cinnamon layer on the bread, very important!
- Bake in a 325 degree oven for about one hour. Cool about ten minutes in pan, then remove to cooling racks. Delicious served hot or cold (with butter of course)! Enjoy.
- For the remaining 3 bags of batter, follow the instructions in the notes below: (I usually write these on the bag with sharpie)
Notes
Nutrition
Whether you share your bread starter with friends or keep it all to yourself, this Amish Bread recipe is so much fun.
Best bread ever!
Hi Aimee, I’m in the UK and I don’t think I can get instant vanilla pudding mix here, is there something I can substitute instead, or do you have a recipe for making your own please?
Best regards
I’ve found you can substitute the sugar and reduced sugar milk. However nothing explains why I cannot use sugar-free pudding. I’m attempting to have the lowest sugar recipe as possible.
Does using metal bowls, utensils matter? I’ve seen recipes before that say not to.
Yes, u can go 11 days. If u finished the 10 day process, just leave it out on the counter. If u freeze it u will have to start the 10 day process again.
Do you refrigerate the starter?
Nope, it can be left on counter in ziploc freezer bag!
Can you freeze starter for bread to make later in a month or so ??
When u freeze starer u have to leave it out on the counter and start the 10 day process again. Do nothing on the first day when u take it out of freezer. If u stopped on the Fourth day, then just pick up whatever day u left off and continue where u left off.
Can you go 11 days on starter before using?
Yes, u can.
After the starter info is confusing to me. Can I add the other ingredients and make the bread without doing the 10 day process and have 8 loaves as soon as I can get them baked?
Yes that’s exactly what I do.
Can you substitute soy milk or coconut milk for the recipe? And can i omit the pudding?
My bread stuck to the pan even tho I sprayed them. 1 loaf fell apart completely! Next time I’ll use parchment. I set the oven for325 & after 50 mins the bread was finished. A little disappointed but will try again!
Yep, I do suggest using parchment paper in the recipe so they don’t stick 🙂
Thanks for this easy to follow recipe! It turned out really amazing!
Thanks for this easy to follow recipe! It turned out really amazing!
I had never heard of this bread but it turned out moist and delicious!
This bread was moist and delicious! We all loved it and can’t wait to make it again!