This recipe goes out to Eliza, who very sweetly asked me if I thought I could recreate Amish Friendship Bread in a low carb fashion. Of course, she asked me this back in September and here it is almost December and I am only just posting it. But she makes it for friends and family every year for the holidays and I can only hope I am getting this to her in time so that she can make this low carb Amish Friendship Bread recipe this year. Because the original is anything but low carb, gluten-free, or even remotely healthy and Eliza has converted many of her friends and family into low carb supporters (go Eliza!). This year, she wants to give them the same great flavour and texture, but in a much healthier package. How could I resist such a plea???
I will tell you that this recipe presented me with a little challenge. I’ve only had Amish Friendship Bread once before, when a friend gave me some starter and the instructions. I was nonplussed, as I’d never heard of the stuff and I wasn’t exactly sure how it would pan out, sitting on my counter for 10 days. But it made a lovely quick bread, and I did my duty and passed on the starter to three more friends. Since it was rather laborious for a quick bread recipe and I’d given away all my starter, I never made it again. What I remember was a very moist, VERY sweet bread with lots of cinnamon. When Eliza approached me about it, I initially thought it would be a snap. But then I thought about the starter. I obviously didn’t have any, and if I did, it wouldn’t be low carb or gluten free. And what was the point of the starter anyway? As far as I could tell, it was mostly a way to require friends to bake and pass it on, chain-letter style.
So I gave some thought to the purpose behind having a bag of milk, flour and sugar sitting on your counter for 10 days. Besides having to massage it daily, the milk would obviously sour and give a tangy sourdough flavour to the resulting loaf. Well, milk is going to sour when left that long no matter what it’s mixed with, so it could easily be made with low carb ingredients. I asked Eliza whether she cared whether she had starter left over to pass on, and she said she never did as she used all of her starter for loaves to give as gifts. That made my life easier! And in typical Carolyn fashion, waiting 10 days to make the bread didn’t appeal to me, so I decided to see if I could jump start the souring process with a little lemon juice. This helped me cut the counter-sitting time in half. I am hopeful this will suit Eliza as she wants to get a jump on making these for Christmas!
I didn’t make this in a way where you could pass on the starter to friends, because I really wanted to concentrate on getting the taste and texture right. Maybe someday, when I have huge amounts of time on my hands, I will figure out how to do that. In the meantime, this bread came out very moist and rich, with a cinnamon-y crust from the topping melting on during baking. My memory of eating the real thing is rather faint, so I can’t guarantee it’s exactly the same, but it was delicious and I hope Eliza will agree.
Ingredients
Starter:
- 1 cup whole milk
- 2 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 cup almond flour
- ½ cup Swerve Sweetener or granulated erythritol
Bread:
- 2 cups almond flour divided
- 1 cup Swerve Sweetener or granulated erythritol divided
- ½ cup oil I used grapeseed
- 3 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 small box sugar-free vanilla pudding mix
- ⅓ cup unflavoured whey protein powder
- ¼ cup coconut flour
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup chopped nuts
Topping:
- 1 tablespoon Swerve Sweetener or granulated erythritol
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
- For the starter, combine whole milk and lemon juice in a medium bowl and let thicken 10 minutes.
- Add almond flour and granulated erythritol and stir to combine.
- Transfer to a ziploc bag and remove as much air as possible. Then seal bag and allow to sit on counter for 3 days (see notes), massaging to mix ingredients 2 to 3 times a day.
- On the 4th day, preheat oven to 325F and grease a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan very well.
- Pour starter into a large bowl. Add one cup almond flour, ½ cup granulated erythritol, oil, eggs and vanilla extract and mix well. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together remaining 1 cup almond flour, remaining ½ cup granulated erythritol, vanilla pudding mix, whey protein powder, coconut flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.
- Add dry ingredients to starter mixture and stir until fully combined. Pour into prepared loaf pan.
- For the topping, in a small bowl, whisk together granulated erythritol and cinnamon. Sprinkle over batter in pan.
- Bake 50-60 minutes or until loaf is cooked through and a tester inserted in the center comes out clean. If you find that your loaf is browning too quickly, cover with foil for the last 15 to 20 minutes of baking.
- *Please note that you are trying to sour the milk in this recipe. If you have concerns regarding the safety of doing so, simply add 2 more tablespoon of lemon juice and continue directly to next step. It may not be as "authentic" but it should still taste great.
Fonda Carver says
What can I replace the grape seed oil with? I only have olive oil, would that be ok or melted butter?
Carolyn says
Both would work!
Lillian says
Hi! Do you think it is at all possible to make a successful keto sourdough starter? I feel like you’re the queen of keto baking so I want your input. I’ve had a regular starter for over a year, and it kills me to give it up, so I’m looking for a replacement. Thanks!
Carolyn says
I honestly can’t say, never having made a sourdough starter!
marg says
Just baked this today and i gotta say ” WOW “so moist and delicious! Even looks like your picture !Mine took a extra 10 minutes to bake but that’s probably my oven. Will definitely make this again !! Thank you
vickie May says
Made this as directed. LOVED it! Cant wait to make it again. Thanks
Janette says
I love this recipe! Would this still work if I used heavy whipping cream instead of milk in the starter? That would lower the carb count a little bit more.😊
Carolyn says
I can’t see why not!
Wendy says
I’m making this right now, and seem to have run into a problem. It’s been in the oven about twice the cooking time and it’s still not quite set. The only thing I did differently was to substitute out the coconut flour for oat fiber. (That’s my normal swap and haven’t had a problem in the past.) I’ve checked over everything else and can’t figure out what I’ve done wrong. Any ideas? Thanks for any help you can give me!
Carolyn says
That would be a problem, because coconut flour is about two times as absorbent as oat fiber. So yes, that’s exactly what you did wrong…you should have reduced the liquid.
Wendy says
Thanks so much for your help!!!
Christine says
Can I use all almond flour, and what amount would I use? Thank you I love all your recipes. I at your blog every day.
Brenda says
I have a coconut sourdough starter.How can I make this bread with my starter
Carolyn says
I have no idea!
Jackie says
Great recipe – but how do you divide it to share?
Jackie says
This looks so good! But I was wondering…..can I use cream instead of milk to lower the carb count?
Northern Belle says
I know this is a year and s half later, but try the filtered milks now on the market (Fairlife). They are higher protein, lower carb.
Marjorie Clark says
Hi Carolyn,
I went looking for a healthy Amish Friendship Bread recipe, and came upon yours–thank you! I have a couple questions. I am wanting to make this for Christmas to be able to give away a baked good that I love and that is not terribly unhealthy, so thanks again! We have a friend coming right after Christmas that is gluten free and dairy free!
1. What I could substitute for the whole milk that would still work well–almond milk? rice milk? then would I also add an oil?
2. I don’t see anything else in the recipe that is dairy, is that right?
3. Why do you use whole milk? Why not lowfat at least? If I want to use skim or 1% fat milk, how should I adjust the recipe?
Thank you for helping me,
Carolyn says
I think you could use almond milk and not have to add anything. But the vanilla pudding mix may have dairy in it so I am not sure how that would do.
As someone on a low carb diet, I avoid low fat dairy. It has far more carbs and far less nutrition. Fat is good for you.
Marjorie says
Thanks Carolyn! I’ll check out the pudding mix. Thanks too for your take on lowfat dairy.
Marjorie says
Another question–I’m thinking the whey protein powder is dairy. Am I correct? What would you suggest in replacement?
Carolyn says
Egg white protein powder.
Darlene says
Hey Carolyn! was thinking….what about just using buttermilk instead of having to sour the milk? It seems that would be the same. Especially if a person just wanted to make these without sharing a starter. My daughter just made the “Friendship Fruit Cake” that uses a starter of juices and fruit with sugar added for 30 days. They turned out so nice and I was wondering what we could do there for a replacement starter. The cake part itself, I’m sure, could be made with the recipe above minus the cinnamon. That starter is going to be the peel in the jam!!! Do you think cranberries mashed and let sit with swerve added would ferment the same and maybe a small amount of pineapple or fresh peach? Thanks for any help you can give me on this!!
Suzanne Garner says
I am pretty new to your blog, but I am not new to type II diabetes. I, too, had gestational diabetes that later became type II. Discovering your blog is one of the best things that has happened to me! I wish my doctor could have told me about your blog. I will, instead, tell him about it! And I will tell my friends with and without diabetes. I have often felt deprived of sweets since becoming diabetic. Your recipes have changed that. My non-diabetic husband is crazy about them too. So far, I have made Amish friendship bread twice and tonight I baked the mini loaves with cranberries and lime. I have my eye on the almond coated pound cake next. I’m going to look at entrees and and breakfast food too. Probably will try category! Thanks so much for helping me and others like me! My quality of life is better because of you!
Carolyn says
Thank you, Suzanne, for telling me this! I really love hearing that my recipes help people.
Shaina says
I love your variation!