If you’re ready to dip your toe into sourdough baking, you’ll need to make a starter. Here’s a super easy, no-fail way to start your starter (sometimes called a “lazy” starter), and it takes less than 10 minutes. The trick is to use commercial yeast to kick off the fermentation process.
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After a few rounds of feeding, your starter will take on a life of its own and continue to thrive with the sugars in the flour and wild yeasts in the air. You’ll be able to make traditional sourdough bread loaves, or if you want to do some Amish Friendship Bread baking, you can convert a portion of your starter to make an Amish Friendship Bread starter.
Test (or Proof) Your Yeast
If you’re not sure if your yeast is fresh, check out this quick tutorial on how to see if your starter is any good. If it’s good, you can add this yeast mixture directly to the bowl, adjusting the amount of warm water to only 1½ cups since you used ½ cup to test the yeast.
Day 1: Make Your Starter
Choose a large mixing bowl or jar that will allow your starter to at least double in size. Some experts recommend triple or even quadruple the size. In other words, make sure there is room for your starter to grow, or you’ll have a mess on your hands!
If you know your yeast is fresh, combine 1½ teaspoons active dry yeast (instant or rapid-rise yeast will also work), 2 cups of warm water, and 2 cups of flour. Stir well until all lumps are removed. This is your Day 1.
Cover loosely with plastic wrap and place in a warm area of your kitchen. You’ll see a lot of activity for the first few hours–your starter should almost double in size and then collapse on itself.
I didn’t use a large enough bowl (obviously!) but since I was nearby, I kept an eye on it. Stir your starter occasionally to make sure everything is well incorporated.
When you stir your starter on this first day, it should be spongy and springy, and reluctant to pull away from the sides of the bowl.
If using a jar or upright container, you can mark or place a rubber band around the level of your starter to help you gauge how much it grows when you’re not looking.
For the next 5 days, stir your starter regularly. If your kitchen is really warm, the yeasts in your starter might eat up all the sugars and need to be fed a day or two earlier. Sourdough baking is a science, and you’ll need to pay attention to your starter to see what it needs. Stay flexible, as everyone’s kitchen environment is a little bit different.
If you notice any hooch in your starter before you hit Day 6, you need to feed your starter sooner rather than later. This will happen if the temperature in your kitchen is warm, or if you have a really hungry starter, LOL. If this is the case, you’ll jump ahead to Day 6.
My kitchen is always 75-85° F year-round, so starters need to be fed really frequently in my kitchen. I’m more the exception than the rule, but here’s what I did: on Day 3, I had a light amount of hooch. Because I want to make sure this starter is hearty, I decided to feed it (you could just stir it back in). I reduced my starter to 1 cup and fed it 1 cup flour and 1 cup water. It got happy and bubbly within the hour. Then on Day 5, hooch again. This time, I just stirred it back in as I’m going to wait until tomorrow (my Day 6) to reduce it to 1 cup, give it a good feed, then stick it in the fridge. This is what I mean about playing it by ear and going with your gut — it’ll take some time to get to know your starter (and your kitchen), but once you do, you’ll be able to make adjustments as necessary.
For more information on how to keep your starter happy, these two posts may come in handy (the same principles apply to traditional sourdough and Amish Friendship Bread starters):
- Maintaining a Healthy Amish Friendship Bread Starter
- How to Get a Bubbly, Active Amish Friendship Bread Starter
Day 6: Stir, Divide, Bake/Discard, Feed, Store
On Day 6, stir your sourdough starter and remove one cup. Place it in a new bowl or container the same size or larger (I recommend a large glass storage jar with a latch lid. Here’s the one we use.). Add 1 cup flour and 1 cup water. Stir well.
Discard or bake with the remaining starter. Most of the cakes, cookies, pancakes/waffles, scones, and sweet bread recipes in my Recipe Box can be made with 1 cup of your discard, though you may want to tinker with the sugar as the recipes work mainly with Amish Friendship Bread starter, which is a sweet sourdough starter. Don’t try a recipe that requires any kind of rise as your discard doesn’t have enough oomph to help with that.
Let the starter sit on your counter overnight. In the morning, stir well and place in the refrigerator. Never seal a starter, it needs to breathe! Cover loosely or latch the cover but don’t seal it tight.
You don’t need to stir your starter daily, though I recommend it if you can. It’s always a good idea to check in with your starter and make sure everything is going well.
Repeat the above steps once a week, allowing the starter to come to room temperature before removing one cup to bake with (or discard), and then leave your starter at room temperature after feeding before returning it to the fridge.
Take a Break From Your Starter
If you need to take a break from your starter, you can freeze it after you feed it. Here’s the tutorial for freezing your starter.
- 1½ teaspoons active dry yeast (about half a packet, 0.2 ounces, or 6 grams)
- 2 cups warm water
- 2 cups flour
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In a mixing bowl large enough to let your starter double or triple in size, combine all ingredients. Stir well and cover with plastic wrap. This is your Day 1. You should see a lot of activity this first day.
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If you prefer to store your starter in a glass jar, make sure there is enough room for the starter to double or triple in size. Do not seal, but leave room for air to come in and out.
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Place in a warm area of your kitchen.
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For Days 2-6, stir daily, scraping down the sides.
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On Day 6, stir well. Discard or bake with 1 cup. Feed the remaining starter 1 cup flour and 1 cup water. Stir well and let it sit on the counter overnight.
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Stir and place in the refrigerator. You don't need to stir it daily, though I recommend it. Repeat the above step once a week, allowing the starter to come to room temperature before feeding and removing one cup to bake with.
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If you need to take a break from your starter, freeze it after you feed it. Read more about that here: https://www.friendshipbreadkitchen.com/tutorial-storing-amish-friendship-bread-starter-for-future-use/
- Make sure your yeast is fresh. To proof or test your yeast, combine the yeast with ½ teaspoon sugar and ½ cup of the warm water. Combine and wait 10-15 minutes. It should get bubbly. If you don’t see any bubbles, your yeast is old and shouldn’t be used.
- If your yeast is good, you can use this mixture in place of the yeast in the recipe, and add only 1½ cups warm water in the recipe since you’ve already used ½ a cup in the yeast mixture.
- You can also use instant yeast (also known as rapid rise yeast).
- Use this starter to make any of the traditional sourdough recipes in the Recipe Box.
- Understand how to take care of your starter (the same principles apply to AFB starters and regular starters): Maintaining a Healthy Amish Friendship Bread Starter and How to Get a Bubbly, Active Amish Friendship Bread Starter
- If you notice any hooch in your starter before you hit Day 6, you need to feed your starter sooner rather than later. This will happen if the temperature in your kitchen is warm, or if you have a really hungry starter, LOL. If this is the case, jump ahead to Day 6.
>> Have you tried this? Give the recipe some stars and leave a comment below to let me know how it worked for you!
The Giveaway!
I want you to try this lazy starter, or an Amish Friendship Bread starter, or any yeast bread, buns or rolls, but I know that’s near impossible for some of you. I can’t do much right now about the no-flour scenario, but I can do something about the yeast!
THE GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED. Because I know we are all struggling to bake, and because I believe baking is good for the soul, I pulled 9 bonus winners, too.
If you’re not a winner but would still like to order yeast, I have a special coupon code that gives you 10% off if you order from her directly from her Etsy store (the coupon code will be automatically applied at checkout):
www.etsy.com/shop/artisanbakingstuff?coupon=DARIEN10OFF
The yeast is LeSaffre SAF Premium GOLD Instant Dry Yeast, which is a terrific yeast. The yeast is repackaged in a 1oz (30g) sealed bag, so you’ll be able to make several loaves or starters from this single package. This is not active dry yeast, but instant yeast, which can go directly into your starter or dough without needing to be activated.
Ends May 10, 2020 (Sunday) at 11:59 pm PST. US residents only, 21 and over.
Winners will be notified no later than May 12, 2020, and will need to submit their mailing information no later than May 15, 2020 or another winner will be drawn (the tight timeline is due to the scarcity of yeast — I want to make sure people get their yeast sooner rather than later, and I also don’t want the supplier to run out). If you see your name on the list below but haven’t received an email, PLEASE check your spam or junk folders. I can’t give you your yeast if I can’t get a hold of you!
May 1 Winner: Comment #12, Nancy L
May 2 Winner: Comment #53, Shana Redmon
May 3 Winner: Comment #90, Linda R
May 4 Winner: Comment #25, Julie B
May 5 Winner: Comment #110, Stacey Lide
May 6 Winner: Comment #167, Terry F
May 7 Winner: Comment #38, Joan 6
May 8 Winner: Comment #221, Jane
May 9 Winner: Comment #137 Debbie
May 10 Winner: Comment #124 Clinton
BONUS WINNERS!
Comment #186, Erin G
Comment #153 C Nelson
Comment #39 Shay
Comment #204 Deb Waddell
Comment #171 Becky D
Comment #77 Rachel
Comment #98 Paulette
Comment #97 Christie S
Comment #209 Susan Coulson
I have an Amish Friendship Bread starter. My 5 year old requested we pull it out of the freezer so we’ve been baking extra these past few weeks! I’d love to try this lazy starter if I win the giveaway!
I have been loving your website because it helped me make an Amish friendship bread starter and I’ve been able to make all kinds of things with it. I just made bread in the bread machine with it and will be making scones with it today!
I have an Amish Friendship Bread starter that I put in the freezer and take out during the holidays. This year I pulled it out early to keep myself occupied during the “Safer at Home” orders. But I am out of yeast and wanted to try and make a traditional sourdough starter.
My daughter gave me a starter several weeks ago, and I’ve made two different breads and havent’ been dissapointed. Thanks so much for all the helpful hints.
My son and I are on our 4th cycle with the starter. Tomorrow we’re going to try foccacia. Plus we just started the potato flake starter (finally found some potato foods at the grocery) — on target to make potato on Friday night. I’ll let you know how they turn out.
I am working on an a sourdough starter shortly
My sister wanted to make the Amish bread and it’s been a long time since we’ve made this. Thanks for the recipe! One of my friends gave me your website for this.
I have a traditional sourdough starter and have made several delicious recipes with it. I’m going to try your snickerdoodles next, they look yummy! Thank you for your recipes.
I am on round #2 of my AFB starter, but I want to try the lazy starter since I’ve had horrible luck with sourdough starters.
I usually make sourdough but my 15 year old son reminded me that it’s been too long since I’ve made Amish bread. Thanks for sharing.
I have Amish Friendship starter that a friend dropped over and just made the Amish Friendship bread and kept a starter for myself to make more sweet bread, etc. I had also started a regular sourdough starter to try out baking my own homemade sourdough bread. Love sourdough baked goods!
I was reminded by a neighbor that when she moved in I gave her an Amish starter that she absolutely loved and it made me realize that was 8 years ago! Way too long since I last made any of my own. When I found your site I got started right away. Looking forward to my first loaf this Wednesday! Hoping to make a pumpkin bread 🙂
I have an Amish Friendship Starter and I wil be making the traditional bread. I actually make it already and the next time I will make the Double Chocolate bread
I would like to be entered into giveaway. I want to make my starter so I can start making bread.
Would you please clarify the difference between Amish Friendship stater and sour dough starter. It also appears the Amish Fr. bread is kept on the couner and the sourdough is kept in fridge after day 7?
Thank you!
Both can be kept on the counter as long as you feed them regularly — the sourdough starter likes to be fed A LOT which is why I recommend storing it in the fridge once it’s established. They also have a different flavor profile (AFB is much sweeter) and maintenance schedule. They are interchangeable to a certain extent though (more in the direction of a sourdough starter used in an AFB recipe, but not necessarily the other way around). This post might help: https://www.friendshipbreadkitchen.com/faq-substituting-regular-sourdough-starter-in-place-of-amish-friendship-bread-starter/
Starter doubled in size and collapsed as it was supposed to. Today, less than 24 hours I have hooch. The site above says I should see that in 5-6 days. Should I now follow the directions in day 6 and remove 1 cup of starter, add 1 cup water and 1 cup flour again to the 1 cup starter? Kitchen is at 75-80 degrees and I am at 5500 feet elevation.
Hi Jason! If you’re seeing hooch, it usually means your starter is hungry. Every kitchen is different which means every starter grows differently. This may help with how to take care of your hooch issue: https://www.friendshipbreadkitchen.com/faq-what-is-sourdough-starter-hooch/