Chocolate Babka

5 from 4 votes

Delicious Chocolate Babka is an old-fashioned bake perfect for a special breakfast or dessert. You'll love this sweet bread swirled generously with real chocolate!

Prep Time20

Cook Time45

Rising Time1 20

Total Time2 25

Course: Breakfast, Dessert

Cuisine: Jewish

Keyword: babka, babka bread, chocolate babka

Servings:

Calories: 373kcal

Author: Katerina | Easy Weeknight Recipes

Equipment

Ingredients

For the Dough

1 cup warm milk
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
3½ cups all-purpose flour, divided
1½ teaspoons active dry yeast
3 eggs
2 teaspoons lemon zest
pinch of salt
½ cup unsalted butter, melted

For the Filling

1½ cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 tablespoon cocoa powder

For Crunch (Optional)

2 tablespoons roasted almonds, finely chopped

Instructions

In a large mixing bowl, pour in the warm milk, sugar, a teaspoon of flour, and yeast, then whisk them together. Let the mixture sit for a few minutes for the yeast to activate.
When yeast has been activated, add all other ingredients for the dough except for the flour; whisk them well.
Gradually add the flour and stir with a wooden spoon until everything is well incorporated, and all the flour is absorbed. The dough should be wet and moderately soft.
Cover the dough and let it rest for 1 hour.
In the meantime, to prepare the filling, melt the chocolate and butter in a small saucepan or pot. Set aside.
Roll out the dough thinly on a floured surface. Spread the prepared chocolate filling evenly over the dough, and then sift cocoa powder over it.
Roll up the dough tightly into a long cylinder, and then cut the cylinder in half longwise. Turn each half of the dough so that the layered part is facing upwards.
Press the tops of the two dough pieces together tightly, and then start braiding the dough by crossing one end over the other while making sure the layered part is always facing upwards.
Place the braided dough in a greased 9x5-inch loaf pan, sprinkle with almonds (if using), and let it rest for 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350°F.
Bake the babka in the preheated oven for about 45 to 50 minutes or until golden brown. On an instant-read thermometer, the baked babka should register at 190°F in the center of the loaf.
You can cover the pan with foil for the first 25 minutes of baking to prevent the top of the bread from browning too fast.
Once it's done, remove the bread from the oven and let it cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool it completely before slicing.

Notes

Measuring Flour: You don't want the dough to be too dry or too wet, and so it's important to measure your flour correctly. The best way to measure is by weight, but a lot of home bakers don't use a scale, so the next best thing (and the easiest, for a lot of us) is to simply measure into a measuring cup. But there's a "right" way to do that: spoon the flour into the cup, and level it off with a knife or by shaking the cup gently from side to side. Don't pack the flour into the cup or dig it out of the bag with the cup.

Temperature Counts: When you're working with yeast, make sure to have your milk and other dough ingredients somewhere between room-temperature and warm. Cold ingredients won't activate the yeast, while hot ingredients can kill the yeast. Both will stop the dough from rising.

Make It Ahead: This is a little bonus tip - you can make the babka the night before, and bake it in the morning. Just make and shape the loaf, and then store it in your fridge overnight. Take it out and let it rise the next morning, and then bake it up!

Nutrition