Amish Cinnamon Sweet Bread Recipe

This Amish bread starter recipe is the delicious friendship bread you get to share with your friends.

With this recipe you will have three bags of starter to share with your friends and one bag to keep for yourself. I have included a free printable instruction sheet to give along with the bag of sour dough starter mix.

We used to make Amish Friendship Bread often. Every home in my family had the starter on their kitchen counter for a few months. We eventually had to take a break but it has been years now and we are baking bread again!

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Why Ferment for 10 Days?

This is the sweet bread recipe that ferments on your kitchen counter for ten days.

We need to begin with the starter recipe but first let me point out that you can indeed make this Cinnamon Bread without the starter and 10 day process. However you won’t have sour dough if you do it that way. Fermenting creates sour dough and is one of the ways this homemade bread gets it’s memorable flavor. 

Freezer Friendly

This easy recipe for Friendship Bread is freezer friendly!

The Starter is freezer friendly. I recommend freezing on Day 1. Be sure to write on the outside of the bag ‘Day One’ and the date so you can remember how long it’s been frozen. You will thaw at room temperature and begin the process again. I have heard this recipe is good in the freezer for  years but I have not personally tested that theory. I’d probably keep it no more than one year. 

The Bread is freezer friendly. Allow the bread to completely cool. Wrap the entire loaf. I recommend using plastic wrap followed by foil. Write on the outside of the foil the date you are freezing it and exactly what it is. Don’t you love those mystery frozen foil blobs in the freezer!

Thaw at room temperature. You can heat sliced sweet bread in the microwave for a few seconds for warm bread.

Also see: How to Freeze and Thaw Baked Goods

Squish the starter

You will be storing the sour dough bread starter in a ziploc bag on the kitchen counter for the fermenting process.

There are 9 days of squishing the bag as it sits on your kitchen counter. During that time there is a good possibility the bag may become rather large and swollen as a result of the yeast action. This is normal. and more likely to happen if you have just created the starter from scratch.

How to let the air out of the bag

Stand the bag upright and carefully pull a very small opening in the bag. Gently squeeze out the air. Reseal and squish.

Ingredients

This recipe uses common baking ingredients most of which you will have in your pantry. Add a large box of vanilla pudding to your grocery list. The printable recipe card is below.

Starter Ingredients

• 1 cup All purpose flour
• 1 cup Sugar
• 1 cup Milk
• 1 pkg. active dry yeast (2 1/4 tsp)
• 1 cup warm water

Day 6 Ingredients

• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1 cups sugar
• 1 cups milk

Baking Day Ingredients

• 2 cups sugar
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 cup milk
• 1 Cup oil
• 3 large eggs
• 1 tsp. Vanilla
• 1/2 Cup milk
• 3/ 4 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 2 tsp Cinnamon
• 1 large box of Vanilla pudding (6 serving size)

More Homemade Bread Recipes

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• Southern Cornbread Recipe
• Make Your Own Cornbread Croutons
• Fiber Filled Apple Banana Oat Muffins Easy Recipe
• Pumpkin Banana Bread Easy Recipe

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5 from 1 vote

Amish Cinnamon Friendship Bread Recipe

Amish Friendship Bread recipe for making the 10 day sour dough version. Starter and Baking instructions included.

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 1 hour hour

Total Time 1 hour hour 10 minutes minutes

Servings 1 Cup

Calories 1371kcal

Ingredients

• 1 pkg. active dry yeast 2 1/4 tsp.
• 1 Cup warm water 110° F
• 3 Cups All Purpose flour
• 4 Cups granulated sugar
• 3 1/2 Cup milk I use 2%
• 3/4 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 large (6 oz.) box of vanilla pudding

Optional Ingredients

• 1 cup chopped nuts
• 1 cup raisins

Instructions

• In a small bowl or measuring cup dissolve the yeast in the warm water. Allow to stand for about 10 minutes.
• In a large glass or plastic bowl combine the dry ingredients; 1 cup of sugar, 1 cup of all purpose flour
• Blend the dry ingredients using a wooden spoon
• Now slowly add 1 cup of milk and the dissolved yeast to the dry mixture, stirring well after each addition
• Continue to stir until all the lumps are gone.
• Cover the bowl loosely with plastic wrap and allow to stand until the mixture is bubbly.
• Once your starter mixture is bubbly, pour it into a gallon size plastic food storage bag on which you have written 'Day 1' along with the date
• The squishing process begins.
• Day 2 Squish the bag
• Day 3 Squish the bag
• Day 4 Squish the bag
• Day 5 Squish the bag
• Day 6 Add 1 Cup each all purpose flour, granulated sugar and milk. Squish all the lumps out (I mix the flour, sugar and milk in a glass bowl using a plastic whisk THEN pour into the starter)
• Day 8 Squish the bag
• Day 9 Squish the bag

Baking Instructions

• Pour the starter into a large glass or plastic mixing bowl
• To the starter, add 1 cup all purpose flour, 1 cup milk and 1 cup sugar. Mix with a wooden spoon.
• Prepare 4 gallon size plastic food storage bags by marking the date and Day 1 on the front along with the words Friendship Bread.
  
• Pour 1 cup of batter into each of the 4 plastic food storage bags and set aside. These are each now a bag of starter for Friendship bread. You can keep or give away to your friends. It also will freeze well.

Into the remaining batter in the bowl add:

• 1 Cup oil
• 3 large eggs
• 1 tsp. Vanilla
• 1/2 Cup milk
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/ 4 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 2 tsp Cinnamon
• 1 large box of Vanilla pudding (6 serving size)

Optional Ingredients

• 1 Cup chopped pecans or walnuts
• 1 Cup raisins
• Preheat oven to 325°
• Grease well 2 large loaf pans or a bundt cake pan
• Mix all of the ingredients well using a wooden spoon until no lumps remain. You may use a plastic coated whisk.
• Pour batter into the prepared pan(s)
• Bake at 325° for about 1 hour or until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. Oven temperatures vary.
• Cool slightly before turning out of the pan.
• Can be topped with a sweet glaze if you like.
• Serve and enjoy!

Topping Option

• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 3 Tbsp. sugar
• Mix sugar and cinnamon together and pour into pan FIRST before adding the batter. This will make a sweet crust when the bread is done and turned out of the pan.

Notes

Never use a metal bowl or utensils when making this recipe.

I use a plastic coated whisk for mixing this recipe. 

If your bags become swollen during the squishing days, you should gently let the air out and reseal. This is most likely to happen when you have made your own starter.

Nutrition

Calories: 1371kcal | Carbohydrates: 306g | Protein: 21g | Fat: 10g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 29mg | Sodium: 97mg | Potassium: 504mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 212g | Vitamin A: 395IU | Calcium: 321mg | Iron: 6mg

If you are giving the starter to friends and family, print the instructions below to include with the bag.

Print this instruction page to give along with the bag of starter to your friends.

How to serve Amish Friendship Bread

We made French Toast recently with one loaf of our Cinnamon Sweet Bread and it was like something from a fancy restaurant. Three of our grandchildren had spent the night with us, always a joy. We enjoy gathering around the table for lively conversation. 

I had some heavy cream leftover from a recipe a few days prior so I used it in my french toast batter. Breakfast got rave reviews. If there had been more, everyone would have lingered at the table a little longer. 

Coffee or Milk goes well with a slice of this scrumptious sweet bread. Use this sweet Amish bread recipe in bread pudding or a strata!

Thank you for sharing!