Submitted by: Marti Yount
Image (c) Cheryl Olson
“I like this recipe because it is done in stages. Enjoy this very old recipe, friends!”
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 50-60 minutes
Servings: 16
Yield: 2 loaves
Ingredients
1 cup Amish Friendship Bread Starter
6 cups bread flour
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup corn oil
1 1/2 cups very warm water
Directions
- Put all ingredients in a very large bowl (20-cup size) and mix until batter is stiff.
- Oil hands with corn oil and knead dough into a mound.
- Add extra oil to the bowl, cover and let rise over night or until the dough has risen to fill up the bowl.
- Remove dough from bowl and knead.
- Lightly oil 2 or 3 loaf pans.
- Cut dough into even pieces and place in the loaf pans.
- Let dough rise again all day or night.
- When ready to bake, preheat and bake at 325° F (165° C) until golden brown.
- ENJOY!
Kitchen Notes
From Marti Yount: “This recipe can also be used to make rolls. Add more warm water to the recipe if the starter is too thick.”
From Brenda Halbardier: “If the sugar is left out of the ingredients, the bread will be a little more tart. Try letting the dough rise for 12 hours and then 8 hours for the second rise. To help the rise along, put a pan of hot water on the bottom rack of the oven. This bread has a really great texture.”
From Cheryl Olson: “I noticed that my starter is quite active a day after feeding. My first attempt at baking the sourdough bread resulted in a loaf that didn’t rise (itt ended up being made into bread crumbs), so I decided to start baking a day after feeding the starter. Second attempt was a winner.”
Images
L to R: (c) Marti Yount; (c) Becky Lewis; (c) Brenda Halbardier
my first sourdough bread came out great!!!
I just put another batch of dough in the bowl for its overnight rising and this time I omitted the sugar altogether hoping for more of a sourdough flavor
Good for you, Betty! Snap some pictures! We’d love to see your goodies.
I do like the pictures!
I have used this starter for cakes, but never “sour dough bread”. True “sour dough starter” for sour dough bread dosen’ t have sugar in the “starter”
Can you substitute whole wheat flour in this instead of the bread flour?
I have used whole wheat flour in bread recipes and it doesn’t work quite right. There is, however, a whole wheat bread flour out there that works wonders! The bread flour has increased gluten, which works with the yeast to create the wonderful texture we love in homemade bread. Hope it works for you! (I bought mine at a Whole Foods Market)
When stating a cup of starter…you are referring to AMISH starter to which you add flour, sugar and milk? Do you cut the amount of sugar when using it for sourdough? does the salt lessen the effect of the sugar? I am just confused…very interested in trying it as I have not been successful on m ast attempt at making a sourdough starter and would love for this to work.
I use this recipe to make dough for flatbread that I grill. I add a bit of rosemary to the dough then cut pieces off after rising the second time, roll out in rounds brush with olive oil, sprinkle with sea salt and cook on a high grill until lightly browned on both sides.
I have tried this recipie twice and both times my dough does not rise much at all… making horrible bread…
I love the way this bread came out. It is not as tart as regular sour dough, probably because of the way the starter is made. My first batch I let rise for about 14 hours the first time and 8 hours the second. I am going to check mine at about 10 hr for the first rise this time and see how it goes. I omitted the sugar the first go round, this time I added it to check the taste. I have included this recipe with the starter I give away!m7z
Thank you, Brenda for letting us know your experience with this bread. We love hearing what is going on in your kitchen at home. Snap some pictures and share with us! We really would love to see them! Happy Baking!
Does this come out sour? I’m seeing that some people are omitting the sugar…that the 1/4 cup sugar in the recipe, right? Because the starter already has so much sugar? Or are they omitting the sugar in the starter?
Hi! This was a reader submitted recipe so we just follow what was given to use. The Kitchen has not tested this recipe. If they are omitting the sugar in the recipe it is probably to cut down on the sugar since, yet the starter does have sugar in it. From the listed ingredients it doesn’t look like any sugar was omitted in the starter. If you check in the recipe box, we do have a starter without sugar that you could use.
Hope that helps! Let us know how it turns out for you!
Susan
FBKitchen Assistant
This just says bake until golden brown. How long is that? An hour-ish?
Yes, Hannah!
I have made this recipe 3 times now and it has quickly replaced store bought sandwich bread. Like other posters I omitted the additional sugar, it is not really a sour dough per se but it really is a tasty loaf. I have also found the loaf comes out best when I let it rise over night, then knead it the next morning and let it rise a whole day more, baking it the second morning. Voila! Warm bread for lunch that day!
Thanks Liz for sharing with us! We will add your tips to the Kitchen notes. We do love this bread, too! Feel free to snap pictures of any of your baking and share it with us! Happy Baking.
I made it the same way as Liz, this bread is wonderful!! I omitted the sugar and let it rise 2 full days. The loaves were huge. I baked them for 45 minutes and they turned out perfect.
Hi Megan!
We are so thrilled to hear this from you! Thanks for sharing your kitchen experience with this recipe.
Happy Baking,
Susan
FBKitchen Assistant
I was given a Amish Friendship Bread stater by my brother in eary December. I followed the recipe that came with it but found it waaaaay tooooo sweeeet. In searching for an alternative recipe to use for my multiplying starters as Christmas gifts I was thrilled to see your bread recipe. Instead of giving away the starters I baked them all up and shared them with family; what a treat, I forgot how much my brothers enjoy fresh bread. Went to visit my brother today and came home with two more bags of starter and a request for the “Christmas Bread Recipe” from my brother. I don’t think we will be buying bread anytime soon! Thank you!
You’re welcome, Karen! Thanks so much for stopping by and letting us know, and so glad you found a recipe that worked for you (and your family).
Thank you so much! I have never had bread turn out so good! I use whole wheat and brown sugar to feed my starter and used brown sugar in the recipe instead of white. Turned out great and not too sweet! Not sure how to post a picture but it looks beautiful too
How thrilling for you, allbo! Thank you for sharing your experience with us. We would love to see a photo. You can share it under the recipe tab or on our Facebook page.
Happy Baking,
Susan
FBKitchen Assistant
I made this today, well, over the last three days. Turned out great in the end, but I didn’t knead it enough the first day. It barely rose the first night (like I couldn’t tell it had risen at all) but I kneaded it like crazy the next day and it rose well over the next 18 hours. One loaf wasn’t as pretty as the other, but it tasted great. It will make really good toasted sandwich bread (for paninis and such). And I left out the sugar.