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!
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!
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 ½ of the batter into two greased loaf pans (in other words, ¼ 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 ¼ 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.
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 ⅓ 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.
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.
For more favorite (quick!) bread recipes:
- Glazed Blueberry Bread
- White Chocolate Lemon Bread
- Snickerdoodle Bread
- Zucchini Bread
- Lemon Poppy Seed Bread
- Glazed Almond Poppy Seed Bread
- Cinnamon Quick Bread
- Orange Cranberry Bread
Amish Friendship Bread Recipe
Ingredients
Bread
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 cup butter softened
- 2 eggs
- 2 cups buttermilk
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking soda
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 (¼ 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
HOW MANY DOES IT FEED: 2 loaves
ANY CHANGES MADE: added just a little more cinnamon
ANY SUGGESTIONS FOR NEXT TIME: none
Adapted from Red Fly Creations.
I love this recipe too! I was wondering….can you make this into smaller loaves? I have the mini loaf pans and I would like to make those for gift giving. Not sure if the oven temperature would stay the same and for how long? Thanks!
Oh absolutely!! That’d be a fabulous gift idea. The oven temp can stay the same, but you’ll want to reduce the baking time. I’d say maybe check around 20-25 minutes. Depending on your oven and climate/altitude, it may need more time? But you can definitely make this in the mini loaves.
This bread is so good! I am making it for neighbor gifts this year!
It was so easy, quick and delicious. I did not have buttermilk so substituted milk and vinegar and it turned out just fine.
Would I be able to make this recipe as a banana friendship bread? If so would I just use less milk?
I’m I made this bread and it tastes wonderful. I baked it for 47 minutes tested with a stainless steel Kabob Point tested dry. After allowing it to cool for 30 minutes I flipped it and it was totally uncooked on the bottom. Do you think this was just a matter of not baking it long enough or is there something else you can think of?
Probably! I’m not totally sure why the bottom was uncooked. Perhaps you try baking on the bottom rack. Also, 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.
I have made this 3 times this month it is the only recipe I will ever use!! This is a keeper! You know how you try things on Pinterest and they taste and look terrible big fails. This is not one of them ! This is a recipe I will pass down through generations! Thank you so much!
Do you think it makes a difference if you use either buttermilk or mix milk with vinegar?
Can you tell me how many muffins this would make? I see it said you can make muffins but doesn’t say how many. Since you use half the batter then add sugar cinnamon then the other half batter I would like to know how many to make so I don’t use too much batter for the first layer. Thank you.
I love making this bread without the starter. It’s always been one of my favorites. So glad you have the recipe!
I read one recipe for Amish bread but it called for unsalted butter. and no salt added to the batter. What do you think about that?
You can always adjust the amount of salt if you feel like it needs a little bit. Using unsalted butter gives you a little more wiggle room to play with the salt content, so if you think it needs some, you could add it!