Two questions for cooks about Amish Friendship bread/Vanilla Extract?

Question

What is the shelf life of vanilla extract?

Also, I am making some Amish Friendship bread. The recipe calls for 1 cup of flour, but doesn't say if it should be all purpose or self rising..Which do you use?

Here is the starter recipe
STARTER RECIPE:


1 cup sugar
1 cup flour
1 cup milk
Directions


Put in glass bowl or jar or large ziploc bag-stir or smoosh until well blended.
Let stand at room temp for 5 days, stir or smoosh each day.
On day 6 add 1 cup sugar, 1 cup flour, and 1 cup milk, stir or smoosh until blended.
Let stand at room temp for 4 more days, stirring or smooshing each day.
On Day 10 you should have enough for 3 1 cup starters to give away plus 1 to use for your recipe.


This is an AWESOME bread, fun to make, but I am not sure about which flour to use..

Thanks for your help

Answer 1

I'd suggest you search Y!A for Friendship bread - there have been some good answers that will give you more info. It's regular all-purpose flour for all the recipes I've seen or used. But the true starter has to have yeast to get it started. Your recipe sounds like day 6!

I've had vanilla extract last for years. Just make sure it's in a dark container and it'll be fine. I have orange and lemon extracts that I bought in the early 80s...I used some last month and it was fine (like new).

Answer 2

Properly stored it will last 4-5 years