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Soft & fluffy Amish friendship bread is covered in an irresistible cinnamon sugar mixture. Make this without a starter using buttermilk!

Amish friendship bread requires only a handful of ingredients and 10-15 minutes of prep! I don’t know about you, but that’s my kind of recipe. Bisquick Banana Bread, Lemon Poppy Seed Bread, and Blueberry Bread are a few of more of our favorite sweet breads!

Amish Friendship Bread sliced on a cutting board


What is Friendship Bread?

A long time ago a friend gave me a bag of mush and told me to follow the rules – to knead it, add things to it, and speak nice things to it, and one day it would turn into a glorious loaf of Amish Friendship Bread.

I did those things, and a few days later, it indeed, was a glorious loaf of Amish bread! And it even left me with more mush to give away to my friends, spreading love from one kitchen to another.

So, what is it? It’s a cake-like bread that is made with a starter that is shared in a manner similar to a chain letter.

For many years I thought If I wanted to taste that delicious bread again, I would need to be given a bag of mush (aka an Amish bread “starter”).

Then, I realized I could still make it from scratch – without the starter. And so today, I bring you this divine Amish Bread, that has been tried and proven true for your kitchen. Good news – it only takes an hour to make rather than days!

eggs, butter and sugar in a glass bowl

Making Amish friendship Bread Without Starter

You can thank the buttermilk for allowing you to have this delicious Amish Cinnamon Bread without a starter!

If you’re extra anxious to eat this bread, but don’t have any buttermilk on hand, you can make your own using these tips!

TOPPING. Mix sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl and set aside.

MIX + DIVIDE. In another bowl, or in a stand mixer, cream together butter, sugar, and eggs and then add the buttermilk, flour, and baking soda. Divide 1/2 of the batter into two greased loaf pans (in other words, 1/4 of the mix in each pan). (I used two 5″ x 9″ metal loaf pans that are 3″ deep.)

LAYER. Sprinkle some of the cinnamon sugar mixture on top of the batter in each pan, reserving about 1/4 to sprinkle on the tops. Evenly add remaining batter to your two pans, and then sprinkle on the rest of your cinnamon topping.

BAKE. Bake at 350° for 45-50 minutes or until baked through. Cool for 20 minutes before removing from the pan. Enjoy!

TIP: Altitude, weather, oven and even the type of pan can all affect the bake time. If you find that your bread is taking longer to cook in the middle, use a piece of tin foil to tent over the top to keep the crust from getting too dark and crisp.

1/2 of the batter spread in a glass loaf pan

Recipe Variations

Variations: Here are a few ways to change up this recipe…

  • Add chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, nuts, raisins, cranberries… the possibilities are endless!
  • Substitute ½ the butter with an equal amount of applesauce.
  • Use a gluten free baking blend. Substitute the all purpose flour with a 1:1 ratio. You may need to add a touch more buttermilk.

Another variation is to make muffins: Divide half of the batter evenly into muffin tins. Fill the tins about 1/3 of the way full. Sprinkle on cinnamon sugar mix then add the remaining batter. Finally, top them with another layer of cinnamon sugar. Bake them at 350 degrees for 25-35 min. Check them after 25 with a toothpick through the middle. 

Dough and cinnamon and sugar mixture layers in a glass loaf pan

Storing and Gifting Amish Bread

STORE at room temperature in an airtight container/Ziploc, or wrapped in plastic/foil for 2-3 days. For longer storage go ahead and tightly wrap the loaf with plastic wrap and again with foil. Label and store in the freezer for 1-2 months. Thaw before cutting. 

Gift it: As mentioned one of the reasons this is called friendship bread is because you pass on a baggie of the starter to friends so they can make their own. To keep the spirit of friendship alive simply give a finished loaf to family, friends, neighbors, teachers, coworkers…anyone! 

Pinterest has some amazing ideas for gifting bread. One of my favorites was to simply wrap the loaf with parchment paper, tie it with raffia, twine or string, then add a cute gift tag and even the recipe so they can make their own. 

Amish Friendship Bread sliced on a cutting board

For more favorite (quick!) bread recipes:

4.93 from 78 votes

Amish Friendship Bread Recipe

By: Lil’ Luna
Soft & fluffy Amish friendship bread is covered in an irresistible cinnamon sugar mixture. Make this without a starter using buttermilk!
Servings: 2 loaves
Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 45 minutes
Total: 55 minutes

Ingredients 

Bread

Cinnamon Sugar Mixture

  • 2/3 cups sugar
  • 3 tsp cinnamon

Instructions 

  • In a small bowl, mix sugar and cinnamon. Set aside
  • Cream together butter, sugar, and eggs. Add buttermilk, flour, and baking soda. Divide ½ of the batter into two greased loaf pans (1/4 in each pan). Sprinkle cinnamon sugar mixture on top of the batter in each pan, reserving about ¼ to sprinkle on the top.
  • Evenly add remaining batter to your two pans; sprinkle the rest of your cinnamon topping.
  • Bake at 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes or until baked through.
  • Cool for 20 minutes before removing from pan. Enjoy!

Video

Notes

DIFFICULTY: easy
HOW MANY DOES IT FEED: 2 loaves
ANY CHANGES MADE: added just a little more cinnamon 
ANY SUGGESTIONS FOR NEXT TIME: none

Nutrition

Calories: 2977kcal, Carbohydrates: 472g, Protein: 40g, Fat: 106g, Saturated Fat: 64g, Cholesterol: 434mg, Sodium: 2391mg, Potassium: 679mg, Fiber: 8g, Sugar: 278g, Vitamin A: 3470IU, Calcium: 405mg, Iron: 12.8mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Additional Info

Course: Bread
Cuisine: American
Making this recipe? Tag us!
Share it with us on Instagram using the hashtag #lilluna, so we can see what you’re creating in the kitchen!

Adapted from Red Fly Creations.



About Kristyn

My name is Kristyn and I’m the mom of SIX stinkin’ cute kids and the wife to my smokin’ hot hubby, Lo. My mom’s maiden name is Luna, and I’m one of the many crafty “Lil’ Lunas” in the fam. On this site I like to share all things creative - from recipes to home decor to gifts and home decor ideas. Welcome!

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Recipe Rating




93 Comments

  1. 5 stars
    I baked my first ever loaf of bread with your recipe tonight and it came out flawless. Thanks so much!

  2. I made this bread today and it was totally soggy in the center, I ended up baking it for an extra 45 minutes and it is still wet inside. Are you sure it is supposed to have 2 cusp buttermilk?

    1. It is supposed to have 2 cups of buttermilk. So, altitude, weather, oven and even the type of pan can all affect the bake time. If you find that your bread is taking longer to cook in the middle, you can use a piece of tin foil to tent over the top to keep the crust from getting too dark and crisp while the middle continues to cook. Hope that helps!

    1. The full recipe makes enough for two loaves. You can always half the recipe and it will just make one. If two loaves are more than you need, this bread freezes great. So you could freeze one loaf and then defrost for a future time. Freezing instructions are in the post.

  3. Sounds almost complete except one of the steps has you divide the batter into 2 pans … then the last step has instructions for the remaining batter. ?

    1. Yes, so you’ll use 1/4 of the batter for one bread pan, then 1/4 of the batter for the other (which is 1/2 of the total batter), then sprinkle cinnamon topping on top of each of those. Then you will do the same thing again, topping with the remaining cinnamon topping. Hope that makes sense! The video of the recipe might provide a bit more clarification too.