Amish Friendship Bread Starter (Potato Flake)
Friendship Bread Kitchen: Tina Finders + Friendship Bread Kitchen
There are lots of ways to make Amish Friendship Bread, and just as many starters. This Amish Friendship Bread starter uses mashed potato flakes.
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons instant mashed potato flakes
- 3 tablespoons white sugar
- 1 cup warm water
- 2¼ teaspoon active dry yeast
Subsequent feedings: - 3 tablespoons potato flakes
- 3 tablespoons white sugar
- 1 cup warm water
Directions
- In a glass or plastic container with a lid that has several holes in it, combine potato flakes, sugar, water and yeast.
- Cover and let starter sit on the counter for 5 days.
- Stir starter every day with wooden or plastic spoon.
- On the morning of Day 5, feed your starter with 3 tablespoons potato flakes, 3 tablespoons white sugar, and 1 cup warm water.
- In the evening, take out 1 cup of starter and use in a sourdough recipe.
- Place the remaining starter into the refrigerator.
- Repeat step 2 every five days.
- If starter is to be used in a recipe, then let 1 cup of starter sit at room temperature for 6 hours and refrigerate the rest. If starter is not to be used then either throw away or give away 1 cup each time you feed it.
Kitchen Notes
Use this starter with Potato Flake Sourdough Bread or Strawberry Upside Down Amish Friendship Bread Cake.
I have tried an amish bread recipe and I have found that it is very dry and I don’t remember with the frist time I made one from a started that my friend gave to me
please help I love making it but if it is so dry I don’t want to give it away for chistmas.
Be sure to spoon your flour into your dry measuring cut and level it off when measuring. I used to just scoop the flour, for many years. Now I do it that way and my breads are much better.
Bonnie, was that from a recipe you found here? Try the classic 10-day Amish Friendship Bread, which is very moist and sweet, or check out and of our other artisan sourdough variations that use the classic Amish Friendship Bread starter. You can find a bunch of them in our Recipe Box. Good luck!
This sounds sooo yummy! I am definitely going to try this!
Thank you very much. Been looking for recipe with less sugar.
Cant figure out what I am doing wrong. This is the second time I have tried the starter. First time, when I mixed the bread up on day five, it never rose. Second attempt, the starter bubbled well on the counter for the first day, then on subsequent days after stirring with wooden spoon, starter separated into liquid on top and solid on bottom. After feeding on day five, same result, liquid on top, solid settled to the bottom. No bubbling. Afraid to waste ingredients to mix bread later this evening as it may not rise. Suggestion s please.
I’m having the same problem. Hoping someone here has a solution. I have a bowl full of dough thag barely rose. I may attempt to bake anyway to see how it turns out. Fingers crossed… I’m going in!
Someone shared a starter with me and I made bread last weekend and it was good. Making another batch today but noticed after feeding the starter and letting it sit, and then taking out the 1 cup for baking, there was more leftover starter than there was last week. Will it increase each time or did I do something wrong?
You didn’t do anything wrong. Just be sure you always have ine cup starter in your jar.
I have become intolerant to gluten and other foods swell and I am trying to find ways to prepare foods so that I can eat. I have read that sourdough bread process breaks down the gluten and can then be digested more easily. And I hope that I can win the skillet. I remember my mom cooking bread in hers and I would love to that as well.
I’m going to have to try this because I accidentally gave away my last starter. I thought that I had a back up in the freezer. 🙁
Can the potato flake starter be used in the other recipes that call for the traditional starter?
My bread isn’t rising. Is there anything I can do? The recipe I was given says to feed starter and leave it out all day and then take out one cup to make your dough and then put back in refrigerator. Do you think I should leave it out for five days instead? Once you leave it out five days days and then put back into refrigerator, how long do you keep it in refrigerator before you take it back out and leave it out for five days?
Hi Beth,
We prefer to leave it out rather than in the fridge, which slows the fermentation process down, but the original author of this recipe recommends the fridge. I’d recommend trying one cycle with it out and see if you get better results. 🙂
I have a potato starter that I have been using for about 4 weeks now. I have noticed that after I feed it and let it sit out, that it is nearing the top of my jar. Can I half it into two jars next week and feed both jars?
Yes! I made bread in a local restaurant, and I built up my production volume by splitting the batches. I had 5 different batches of 1 gallon each so I could make enough loaves daily to keep up with the demand!
Yes, that should work, Sarah! It’s probably time to bake as well! 😉
Hi there, im a little confused with this receipe. I have made my starter and this is the fifth day. I am going to feed it and take out a cup for bread. My question is, in the starter receipe it says to repeat step 2, which says to feed every five days and leave on counter top for five days?? I was thinking you should feed every five days and on the fifth day after feeding leave on counter counter all day and then take out a cup of starter and make bread and return starter to the refrigator. IS THIS CORRECT?? Help please. Thank you!
Hi Joann,
On Day 5, you take out a cup to bake with then put the remaining starter in the fridge and treat it like it’s Day 2, except in the fridge. Does that help? 😉
Hi Terry! We don’t swap this starter with the traditional starter, but a few people have and said it’s fine. I’d recommend sticking to the bread/cake recipes rather than cookies or some of the more unusual recipes, at least in the beginning. Good luck!
I’m in need of help/advice. I’ve attempted to make the starter according to the above recipe 5 times and I’ve been unsuccessful. The starter will bubble well for the first day then it ”goes to sleep” and won’t reactivate. I proof the yeast each time and it appears that the yeast is active as the mix foams. I’ve even tried storing the starter in my glass jar in the oven with the light on ( no heat) to insure it stays warm. I’m not new to this type of bread making as I’ve been doing it for almost 20 years. I need a new starter and so far the one’s I’ve tried to make have produced bread dough the won’t rise. Any suggestions as to what is going wrong ?
Hi John! What a bummer — I’m not sure why your starter seems to be zoning out! The potato flake recipe seems a bit more finicky than the standard one we have on our site. It was submitted by Tina and so far seems to be working but if you’re having issues I’d boost the amount of sugar, ¼ cup at a time, to a max of ¾ cup. It could be that it’s hungry. In the traditional starter recipes, the starter is fed by the sugars in the flour (and for Amish Friendship Bread, the addition of sugar as well). Let me know how it goes when you start feeding it more sugar (both when you make it and for subsequent feedings). 🙂