Can I halve the Amish Friendship Bread recipe?

If you're not familiar with Amish Friendship Bread, or if it's been a while: Basically you mush the bag of starter every day for ten days. On days 5 and 10 you add one cup of milk, one cup of flour, and one cup of sugar. On day 10 you again add one cup each of milk, flour, and sugar and then divide it into four equal parts.

Theoretically that is enough to make one loaf of Amish Friendship, share a portion of starter with two friends, and still have one portion of starter left over to keep it going. Of course, in the real world you run out of willing friends pretty quickly. Then you start making more than one loaf at a time. Then you get burned out and throw the starter away. Sounds like fun to me!

So I was thinking: Surely we could add less sugar/flour/milk and end up with only two portions of starter at the end. Then you could just make one loaf every cycle. It would be a lot less burdensome!

Best Answer

Okay, I usually don't answer my own questions but by the time I got done writing up my question the answer came to me:

On day 1 take your one portion of starter and divide it in half. The other half can either be shared with a friend or thrown away. (I promise I won't tell!)
On day 5, instead of adding 1 cup of milk/flour/sugar just add 1/2 a cup of each.
On day 10, instead of adding 1 cup of milk/flour/sugar just add 1/2 a cup of each.
Don't forget to mush/mix the bag each day.

Now on day 10 you'll have two regular sized portions of starter. You could use it to make two loaves of bread. Or you could use one portion to make one loaf, take the other portion and start again with step 1 above.

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How do you make Amish Friendship Bread less starter?

Method 3: Reduce Your Starter By Half

Using an active starter, stir well then remove 1/2 cup and put in a new bowl. Bake with the remaining starter or freeze for future use.

Add 1/2 cup flour, 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 cup milk, and stir well.

Store in a warm place.

Move to a weekly schedule of baking once a week.

What can I do with extra Amish Friendship Bread starter?

You can also just store the leftover starter (in a Ziploc if it's easier) and bake with it whenever you want \u2014 you don't have to keep sharing it every 10 days. After the first 10 days you can bake with your starter at any time, just don't forget to feed it about once a week.

What happens if you use metal with Amish Friendship Bread?

You will need the "Amish Friendship Bread Starter" to make Amish Friendship Bread. Do NOT use any type of metal utensils or bowls for mixing, it will interfere with the fermentation process.

Why is my Amish Friendship Bread dry?

If too much moisture escapes, the bread could dry out. Check expiration dates and use fresh ingredients. For Amish Friendship Bread in particular, you'll want to make sure your yeast (if starting a starter from scratch), baking soda, and baking powder are fresh.

Amish Friendship Bread Recipe + How to make Starter

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