How to Make a Friendship Bread

Starter

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REBECCA FIRKSER • January

10, 2018
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I don’t remember what my first batch

of friendship bread tasted like, but I
remember the smell: Sweet and sour, NEWS

with a bit of cinnamon. It was
reminiscent of the inside of one of the
loaves of sourdough we sometimes
bought at the farmers market, but
The USDA's New Rules About Eggs,
Explained
TIM NELSON • January 11, 2018
more like dessert. My mom got a bag
of friendship bread starter—a
fermented mixture of yeast, water,
milk, flour, and sugar—from a friend at Engineered for
work. After feeding our bag of starter Better Sound
for 10 days, it quadrupled in size. We
divided the mixture into bags and
passed them out to a few of my
elementary school buddies. Hopefully,
each one also fed the mixture until it
grew, then shared the spoils with
friends.

I usually feel the same way about

sharable dough starters as I do the
email chain letters of the early 2000s.
You know, the ones that swore you’d Bose Wave music system IV
be smited by seven years of sadness if Espresso Black
you didn’t pass the message along to
20 other people. When given a classic
SHOP NOW
sourdough starter, you’ve entered into
some sort of binding covenant with
your giftee that not only will your
promise to keep this lumpy mass of
flour and water alive indefinitely, you
also need to start baking a very time-
consuming bread on at least a quasi-
regular basis. Friendship bread starter,
thankfully, though similar to sourdough
in terms of ingredients and distribution
method, is a much lower-stakes
project. Friendship bread is essentially
a quick bread, and comes together so
easily you’ll think you may have
missed something (a loaf of
sourdough, on the other hand, takes
days to finish).

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By John Starter
Sherman By Rebecca
Posted in Firkser
Food Posted in
Food

To make a friendship bread starter,

begin by pouring ¼ cup warm water
into a medium glass, ceramic, or
plastic mixing bowl. Sprinkle 1 packet
(¼ ounce or 1¼ tablespoons) dry
active yeast over the water and stir
gently to combine. Set the bowl aside
and let the yeast bloom for 5-10
minutes.

Grab a large glass, ceramic, or plastic

bowl and whisk together 1 cup flour
and 1 cup granulated sugar. Next,
whisk in 1 cup whole milk, and then the
yeast mixture. Cover the bowl with
plastic wrap and let sit at room
temperature until the mixture begins to
bubble.
While you’re waiting, write these 2
sets of instructions on 4 gallon zip-top
bags (or type it and print a bunch of
copies). Follow them to finish off this
recipe. Hand out the bags of starter
immediately, or note to your friends
which day (of the 10-day process)
they've received it.

Friendship Bread
Starter

Contains: yeast, water milk, flour,

sugar
Today is Day 1. Do not refrigerate. If air
gets into the bag gently open to
release.

Day 1: Do nothing
Day 2: Mash the bag.
Day 3: Mash the bag.
Day 4: Mash the bag.
Day 5: Mash the bag.
Day 6: Add to the bag: 1 cup each all-
purpose flour, sugar, and milk. Mash
the bag until well combined.
Day 7: Mash the bag.
Day 8: Mash the bag.
Day 9: Mash the bag.
Day 10: Pour the starter into a glass,
ceramic, or plastic bowl. Add to the
bag: 1/2 cup each of all-purpose flour,
granulated sugar, and milk. Mix
together with a wooden or plastic
spoon. If you’d like to keep the
friendship bread going, before you
make, write these instructions on 4
zip-top bags and place 1 cup of the
dough in each bag. Keep the last cup
of dough in the bowl for your bread.

Friendship Bread
1. Preheat the oven to 325ºF.
2. To your starter, add 3 eggs, ½
cup whole milk, and 1 cup
vegetable oil. Mix well.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together: 2
cups all purpose flour, ¾ cups
sugar, 2 teaspoons ground
cinnamon, 2 teaspoons baking
powder, ½ teaspoon baking
soda, ½ teaspoon kosher salt,
and 1 box of vanilla instant
pudding. If you’d like, add ½ cup
each of chopped nuts and dried
fruit.
4. Add the flour mixture to the
starter mixture and combine with
a wooden spoon.
5. Grease 2 8-inch loaf pans with
butter.
6. Mix together 2 teaspoons
cinnamon and ¼ cup granulated
sugar. Pour a few spoonfuls of
the cinnamon-sugar into the loaf
pans and shake the pans around
until completely dusted/
7. Divide the batter between the
 two loaf pans. Sprinkle mores
cinnamon-sugar over the top of
both loaves. Bake the breads for
55-60 minutes, or until a
toothpick stuck in the center
comes out clean.

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