Amish Friendship Bread (Original Starter Recipe)-Pa Dutch
Submitted by jwcarlton
Original yeast-based Amish Friendship Bread starter that ferments for 10 days, then divides into portions to share or bake. The Pennsylvania Dutch tradition starts here.
YIELD
12 servingsPREP
30 minCOOK
0 minREADY
10 daysThis is the authentic Pennsylvania Dutch version of the famous starter, made with yeast instead of the sugar-milk method that became popular later.
Dissolve yeast in warm water, then stir in flour and a touch of sugar to get the fermentation started. Over 10 days, you’ll feed it twice more with flour, sugar, and milk on days 5 and 10. By the end, you’ve got three cups of bubbly, tangy starter ready to turn into sweet quick breads. Divide it among friends to spread the tradition, or use all three cups at once if you want to bake a big batch.
It’s a living batter that gets passed from kitchen to kitchen, keeping the chain going for generations.
Pro Tips
- Use warm (not hot) water to dissolve yeast or you’ll kill it
- Don’t refrigerate during the fermentation period or the yeast will go dormant
- Stir daily to release gases and keep the fermentation active
- Mark your calendar for feeding days so you don’t forget and lose the starter
Ingredients
Directions
Dissolve yeast in ½ cup of the warm water in a deep glass or plastic container.
Stir in remaining warm water, flour and sugar.
Beat until smooth.
Cover with loose fitting cover.
Do not refrigerate! The starter requires 10 days for fermentation as follows:
Days 1, 2, 3 and 4:. Stir batter Day 5:. Add 1 cup each milk, flour, sugar and stir Days 6, 7, and 8:. Stir batter each day Day 10: . Add 1 cup each flour, sugar, milk; stir. The batter is ready to use. This makes 3 cups batter to use in the recipes. If you want to you may pour 1 cup batter each into 3 containers and give 1 or 2 away. Save 1 cup to begin process all over again OR you can use all 3 cups batter for the recipes at 1 time and when you want to bake these again just start the starter again.
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