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.
Ingredients
For the dough
4 3/4cupsbread flour
1/3cupsugar
3teaspoonsinstant yeast
1teaspoonkosher salt
2/3cupwhole milk, lukewarm (100°F)
3large eggs, room temperature
10tablespoons( unsalted butter, softened, plus more for greasing loaf pans
Filling
6ouncessemi-sweet chocolate
1/2cupunsalted butter
1/2cupsugar
1/2cupunsweetened cocoa powder
Syrup
1/2cupwater
2/3cupsugar
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 9x5 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.