Try This Amish Friendship Bread Sourdough Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Is sourdough and amish friendship bread the same? ›

A Herman starter or Amish Friendship Bread Starter is typically made with milk, flour, sugar and commercial yeast. A sourdough starter is generally made only of flour and water. A Herman starter will be sweeter and more mellow flavored than a sourdough starter.

The secret to sourdough is simple: water. The more water you add to your dough will affect how open the crumb (bigger holes and softer texture) will be once it's baked.

The original instructions for Amish Friendship Bread states that you should not use metal bowls or utensils. The original reason was because there's a chemical reaction that occurs between the fermenting starter and metal.

Keep the oven door closed while your Amish Friendship Bread is baking. You may be tempted to peek, but sudden temperature drops can result in the bread collapsing in the middle.

If it's properly cared for, Amish friendship starter can be maintained indefinitely. "It is heartier than most sourdough starters because the sugars in the added milk and sugar give the yeasts extra food to survive, but other things like ambient temperature and contamination could alter your starter," Gee says.

Pan de Campo is also called Cowboy bread and is a sort of flat bread. The bread was eaten by Cowboys who worked the ranches in early Texas. The cowboys prepared it in small portable ovens which gave it its distinct texture and flavor.

The best flour blend for creating a new sourdough starter is 50% whole-meal flour (whole wheat or whole rye) and 50% bread flour or all-purpose flour. I recommend a 50/50 mix of whole wheat flour and bread flour.

There are two main acids produced in a sourdough culture: lactic acid and acetic acid. Acetic acid, or vinegar, is the acid that gives sourdough much of its tang. Giving acetic acid-producing organisms optimal conditions to thrive and multiply will produce a more tangy finished product.

Sourdough bread's fiber, potassium, phosphorus, and sodium content all support a heart-healthy diet. The soluble fiber found in sourdough bread binds to dietary cholesterol in the small intestine, helping pass this fat through the system instead of absorbing it.

One of the main differences between a regular sourdough starter and an Amish Friendship Bread starter is that the latter is sweet, so I made sure to stock up on sugar before making the bread. (I already had a giant Costco-sized tub of cinnamon on-hand, because cinnamon is life.)

Can you refrigerate an Amish Friendship bread starter? ›

Refrigerating your starter slows the process of fermentation, but your starter is still active. Freezing your starter stops the fermentation process. This means you still need to feed your starter regularly if it's in the fridge, just not as often if you left it out at room temperature.

Most of our Amish Friendship Bread recipes behave like quick breads. The loaves freeze well when wrapped in freezer wrap, foil, or freezer bags. For coffee cakes, I recommend baking and freezing them in disposable pans that can be wrapped and can go right into the freezer.

Mix your starter well, then add one cup (about 280 g) to each bag. I usually add a little extra, because I know I won't be able to squeeze all of it out of the bag later. Remove the air from the bag, seal well, then roll or fold each bag up for easy storage. Pop into your freezer.

When you've made your bread, you can give your friends a sample and the starter that made it! Then your friends can make their own and pass it along to their friends. This is why the bread is called "friendship bread".

You might also see the term “levain bread” or “pain au levain,” which are other names for sourdough bread. Because the term levain is French for leaven, which is almost always taken to mean naturally fermented bread, the term levain is often used synonymously with sourdough.

Sourdough bread is known in almost every country around the world. Each culture has a different name for it. The French call it levain, Italians call it lievito madre or lievito naturale, the Germans call it sauerteig, in Denmark it's called surdej, the Spanish call it masa madre, and the Russians say zakvaska.

Additionally, sourdough fermentation increases the availability of essential nutrients like vitamins and minerals. Ezekiel bread, on the other hand, stands out for its use of sprouted whole grains and legumes, which provide a rich source of nutrients, including fiber, vitamins, and protein.

The difference is that commercial Ezekiel Bread sprouts its grains to minimize problems that are associated with whole grains, while Abigail's Oven accomplishes this through long fermentation time periods for their sourdough bread. Both processes make the grain more digestible without intestinal distress.