Chocolate Babka

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This sweet and stunningly beautiful braided loaf is a real show-stopper. Made with a yeasted enriched dough and a homemade chocolate filling. The result of the braid is a breathtaking swirled loaf of bread that is rich and decadent. This indulgent brioche-like bread will impress friends and family alike, making it worth the effort.

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What is Babka?
Variations to Recipe
What is in Chocolate Babka?
Tips For Making Babka:
What to Serve With Homemade Chocolate Babka:
Best way to Store Chocolate Babka:
Homemade Chocolate Babka

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What is Babka?

Babka is a sweet braided bread developed in Jewish communities around the world popular for its sweet, rich flavour and soft texture. A decadent dough is enriched with butter, eggs, and milk, rolled thin and covered with a beautiful chocolate filling before being rolled into a loaf, split and braided. After it rises, the inside of the bread has a beautiful swirled pattern with pockets of delicious chocolate and rich buttery bread. After baking even more deliciousness is packed in with a drench of simple sugar syrup that soaks into the bread.

Variations to Recipe

Babka is traditionally a sweet dessert bread and this chocolate recipe plays into the sweetness of the bread very well. If you would like to try some other variations of babka, cinnamon, fruit, cheese, or caramel.

Kosher Babka – To make a true kosher babka you will need to make sure the ingredients you have chosen, namely the eggs and dairy, come from kosher sources.

What is in Chocolate Babka?

This mouthwatering chocolate babka uses simple baking ingredients to make something truly delicious.

Bread flour
Sugar
Instant yeast
Kosher salt
Whole milk
Large eggs
Unsalted butter

The rich chocolate filling adds so much flavor to this bread and is made with only common ingredients.

Semi-sweet chocolate
Unsalted butter
Sugar
Unsweetened cocoa powder

After the babka is baked a simple syrup is brushed over the warm bread made from 2 ingredients.

Water
Sugar

Tips For Making Babka:

You must be patient throughout this process. Babka cannot be rushed and requires time to rise and prove. Enriched dough is heavier and needs time to rise.
Try to stick to the recipe as closely as possible. Baking is a science and requires precision. Doubling this recipe is not recommended. The proportions will get messed up and unless you have an industrial stand mixer you won’t be able to knead it properly.
Make sure the dough has fully risen before moving onto the next step. If the braided dough is having trouble rising, place it in a proving drawer or an oven that is just slightly above room temperature. Make sure it’s not too warm or it will ruin the dough.
Use the freshest ingredients possible, especially yeast. The fresher the yeast the better the dough will rise.
The chocolate sauce may appear grainy but the sugar crystals will fully dissolve while the loaf bakes.
Make sure the milk is only lukewarm when adding to the dough, scalding hot milk will kill the yeast and it wont rise.

What to Serve With Homemade Chocolate Babka:

Chocolate babka is already a perfect dessert or snack in itself. Serve this sweet chocolate bread slightly warm with a pat of butter and your favorite tea or coffee as a delightful afternoon snack.

Best way to Store Chocolate Babka:

Babka is best enjoyed fresh. You can make it up to 2 days in advance and keep it tightly wrapped on the counter. For longer-term storage, the bread should be placed in the fridge freezer.

Freezing instructions – Allow the bread to come to room temperature and wrap it tightly in plastic wrap before placing it in a freezer bag. Remove as much air as possible and seal. Store in the freezer for up to 1 month. Defrost at room temperature.

To reheat babka, you can heat single slices in the microwave for 3-5 seconds, or the whole loaf can be warmed in a warm oven until the chocolate softens.

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Homemade Chocolate Babka

Prep Time: 3 30

Cook Time: 35

Total Time: 4 5

Servings: loaves

Homemade chocolate babka is a crave worthy treat that is well worth the effort. A decedent braided bread with swirls of chocolate throughout. This soft and buttery loaf is full of chocolate goodness you won’t be able to resist.

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Ingredients

For the dough

4 3/4 cups bread flour
1/3 cup sugar
3 teaspoons instant yeast
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2/3 cup whole milk, lukewarm (100°F)
3 large eggs, room temperature
10 tablespoons ( unsalted butter, softened, plus more for greasing loaf pans

Filling

6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

Syrup

1/2 cup water
2/3 cup sugar

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Instructions

Start by mixing the dry ingredients together in the bowl of a stand mixer. Add the flour, yeast, and salt to the bowl and whisk together until well combined.
Pour the milk and eggs into the bowl with the dry ingredients and using the dough hook attachment, mix on low speed for around 5 minutes until the dough comes together into a rough ball. Increase the speed of the mixture to medium and let the mixer knead the dough for an additional 5 minutes until the dough starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl and forms a ball around the hook. Turn off the mixer and let the dough rest for at least 10 minutes to relax the gluten.
After resting, turn the mixer back to medium speed and start adding the softened butter 1 tablespoon at a time and waiting until it’s fully combined before adding additional butter. Repeat until the rest of the butter is mixed into the dough, this will take anywhere from 5 to 8 minutes.
Finish kneading the dough with the mixer on medium speed for an additional 10 minutes until the dough no longer sticks to the sides of the bowl. The bowl will appear clean and the dough will be a neat ball wrapped around the dough hook.
Transfer the dough to a clean surface and form into a ball. Grease a bowl with butter and place the dough ball into the bowl covering with plastic wrap or a tight fitting lid.
Let the dough rise at room temperature for 1 ½ hours before transferring to the refrigerator to finish rising overnight or up to 2 days. (If you wish to make the babka same day it must rise in the fridge for at least 1 hour)
To make the chocolate filling, add the chocolate, butter, sugar, and cocoa powder to a small saucepan over low heat. Stir continuously until the chocolate has melted. The sugar may appear grainy but will dissolve during baking.
To form the babka, start by slicing the dough in half. Set one half aside while you work on the first loaf.
Lightly dust the dough with flour and roll into a large rectangle about 10” x 15” with a rolling pin. The dough should still be cold and you can add extra flour if the dough is sticking.
Spread the chocolate mixture over the rectangle of dough with a spatula into an even layer leaving about a ½ inch gap at the top of the rectangle.
Starting from the short end, roll the dough snugly into a log.
Wrap tightly with plastic wrap. Repeat the same process for the send dough ball and place both in the freezer for 10 minutes.
Grease two 9×5 loaf pans with butter and line with parchment paper. Make sure the parchment overhangs the edge of the pan for easy removal.
Remove one of the logs of dough from the freezer and slice in half lengthwise. Pinch the ends together and start braiding and twisting the dough over one another making sure the chocolate side is exposed. Repeat for the second piece of dough.
Place the braided dough into a loaf pan and cover with plastic wrap. Allow the dough to rise again at room temperature for 1 ½ to 2 hours. It should rise to nearly the top of the pan.
Once ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350°F with a rack in the middle. Remove the plastic wrap from the loaves and bake at 350°F for 35 minutes until the top of the loaves is golden brown or a test stick inserted into the center of the loaf pulls out clean.
Prepare the babka syrup by adding the sugar and water to a saucepan over medium heat and simmering until dissolved. Once fully dissolved, turn off the heat and set aside.
Brush the cooked babkas with the syrup while they are still warm using a pastry brush. Apply a generous amount of syrup dividing evenly between both loaves.
Allow the loaves to cool in the loaf pans for 10 minutes before removing the loaves by pulling on the overhanging parchment paper. Let the loaves finish cooling to room temperature on a baking rack before serving.