Starter for Amish Friendship Bread

This is the mother culture for Amish friendship bread, the chain-letter bake that has been passed hand to hand for generations. Three ingredients, five days of patient counter-time, and you have a sweet, bubbly fermented starter that gives the finished bread its tangy, almost-sourdough complexity.

Unlike a traditional sourdough starter, friendship bread starter relies on the natural sugars feeding wild yeasts in the air and on the flour. The high sugar content keeps the culture sweet rather than sour, which is why the resulting bread tastes more like a cinnamon coffee cake than a tangy boule.

Use a glass or plastic container, never metal. The mild acid in the fermenting starter reacts with metal and can produce off flavors or even discolor your container. A wide-mouth quart jar with the lid resting loosely on top is ideal.

Do not refrigerate. The starter needs room temperature (around 70 to 75°F / 21 to 24°C) to ferment properly. A cool kitchen slows the yeast and your starter won’t be ready in five days. A warm kitchen speeds it but may produce off flavors.

Stir daily with a wooden spoon. The mixture will bubble, separate, and smell yeasty. That’s normal. Pink or orange streaks mean it’s gone bad and needs to be tossed.

Kitchen Tips

• Leave the container lid loose. The fermenting starter releases gas and a sealed jar can build pressure.
• Smell test daily. A healthy starter smells sweet, yeasty, and slightly boozy. Sharp vinegar or rotten egg smells mean it’s spoiled.
• After five days, divide the starter into one-cup portions to share with friends, hence the name.