Shortcut Amish Friendship Bread (no starter) – so quick and easy, great for breakfast or dessert!
I wanted to make Amish Friendship Bread for a very long time. But whenever I look at the recipe and see that it requires starter which needs 10 days of stirring and waiting to be done, I quickly lose interest. I thought, would it be possible to cheat a little bit? So, I used same ingredients for starter as the original recipe, but also added some fresh yeast. I know, yeast and sourdough are not the same, the sourdough lands a little bit of acidity to the bread, but the difference is so small that it can easily be ignored.
I made a video to show you how to make Shortcut Amish Friendship Bred. Note that video shows making just one loaf, while written recipe below is enough for two loaves.
Shortcut Amish Friendship Bread (no starter) – so quick and easy, great for breakfast or dessert!
- FOR THE “STARTER”:
- 1/3 cups sugar
- 1/3 cups flour
- 1/3 cups lukewarm milk 90-100 F (32-38 C)
- 10 g (3 tsp) fresh yeast or 4-5 g (1 tsp) active dry yeast or 0.3 g (3/4 tsp) instant yeast
- FOR THE BREAD:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup white sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 eggs
- 2/3 cup vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup chopped nuts
- 2 apples – peeled cored, chopped
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FOR THE “STARTER”: In a small bowl, combine ingredients for the starter. Place the bowl in a warm (not hot) location, free from drafts. Wait for about 10 minutes or until yeast activates – it will become foamy and show signs of expansion.
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FOR THE BREAD: Combine together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.
-
In a large mixing bowl, mix together the “starter”, eggs, oil and vanilla. Stir in the sifted ingredients and mix until just blended (do not overmix). Finally stir in the chopped apples and nuts. Divide the batter evenly between two lightly greased and floured 9×5 inch loaf pans.
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Bake in 350 F (175 C) preheated oven for 50 minutes. Check for doneness with a toothpick inserted into the center of a loaf – it has to come out clean.
Recipe Video
FOR 1 LOAF:
FOR THE “STARTER”:
2 1/2 Tbsp sugar
2 1/2 Tbsp flour
2 1/2 Tbsp lukewarm milk 90-100 F (32-38 C)
5 g (1 1/2 tsp) fresh yeast or 2 1/2 g (1/2 tsp) active dry yeast or 0.15 g (1/3 tsp) instant yeast
FOR THE BREAD:
1 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup white sugar
1 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 small eggs
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/2 Tbsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup chopped nuts
1 apple – peeled cored, chopped
I pinned this one! The bread looks incredibly moist for being dense! I’m wondering how live yeast reacts to alcohol? If I added a dash of brandy to the batter would it kill the yeast?
Thanks for another great recipe!
Yeast works by consuming sugar and excreting carbon dioxide and alcohol as byproducts. So, you can safely add a dash of brandy to the batter. I know lot of recipes that use rum or similar alcohol in yeast doughs without any problem.
How can I print out this recipe? When I hit print I get blank paper. Love to try this one.
Click on a gray Print button under the image in the recipe. A new window (or tab) should open with a printable recipe. Print it out.
Also, check the ink levels in your printer.
I still have not made this recipe, but it looks delicious, and not having to make the starter the long way seemed easier to work with this recipe. Thank you for sharing it. I have been to Amish land and know that your food is delicious.
Thank you, Cecilia, for your comment. It is really very easy to make this recipe without starter. You basically just mix the ingredients, pour into a pan and bake. I was very pleased with the way it turned out – flavorful and moist.
I have sourdough bread flour that I get from the Amish store and have to wonder if I could use this with this recipe for sourdough bread. Any ideas?
I am sorry, I’m not familiar with that.
Can I make verifications and make this a chocolate bread, strawberry etc.
and how would I do that?\
Well, I guess you could. For chocolate bread I would probably use about 1/2 cup cocoa and 1 tsp coffee granules. You can also add 1/4 cup chocolate chips.
For strawberry bread I would use 2 cups sliced fresh strawberries and maybe about 1/2 tsp lemon zest (optional).
In both of those recipes you omit the apples, of course.
I must add that I haven’t tried any of it, so I’m just guessing here.