I have a ziplock bag filled with a bubbling, liquidy-paste that lives in my refrigerator. If that doesn’t sound appealing, I’ll tell you that it has been living there since 2006 when I took a cup of the starter from my mother’s, who had gotten it from a friend perhaps 8 years earlier. And it was alive before then at someone else’s house. Despite these nebulous beginnings, though, this starter dough is amazing. It can live without me even looking at it for 6-8 months and then within two weeks with some rising and ingredient additions, produce a sugary sweetbread that is usually gone while still warm. I just gave away my first cup of this friendship bread to Lily, continuing the chain, and if anyone else wants some, it is yours.
This website, among others, has the exact step by step, especially for giving it away to people more often. I’m going to share the modified recipe I’ve been using for maintaining it for years. Here is how to make the starter from scratch, in case you are faraway. Recipe follows below:
Amish Friendship Bread
1. Take your starter out of the fridge, where it has been living for 2 weeks to 6 months. Add 1 c flour, 1 c white sugar, and 1 c milk (not soy…needs to be real milk). Mix it in by scrunching the bag. Let it sit on the counter for five days, making sure to let out the air on days 4 and 5.
2. Save 1 c of the mix for next time. Put that in a new ziplock bag and put it in the fridge.
3. With the remaining starter, add it to a metal bowl with the following:
–1 c oil
–1 c sugar
–3 eggs
–1/2 t salt
–1 large bag instant vanilla pudding OR an extra 1/2 to 3/4 c sugar instead (this part is decidedly not Amish!)
–2 c flour
–1/2 t baking soda
–1/2 c milk
–2 t cinnamon
–1 and 1/2 t baking powder
4. Mix. Grease two bread pans with butter. Put cinnamon sugar in the bottom and dust it around like you would flour for a cake. Pour the bread evenly into the two pans. Sprinkle cinnamon sugar on top. Bake at 325 degrees for one hour.
