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We don’t think you need an occasion to make this babka bread! You could be enjoying this with a cup of coffee in your pajamas or at a dinner party with friends. Because there’s always time for chocolate and bread!
This chocolate hazelnut babka is a soft yeast bread twisted with layers of homemade chocolate hazelnut spread. It is definitely a decadent treat but is well worth every chocolate-swirled calorie. And the good news is, if you have any left over, you can freeze it to enjoy later!!
It would make a perfect treat for serving at a home cafe party or could make a yummy gift for a friend!
Chocolate Hazelnut Babka
What You’ll Need
Flour: Nothing fancy here, all purpose flour is perfect for making this dough!
Yeast: Essential for making the dough rise!! Our favorite active dry yeast to use is Fleischmann’s.
Salt: Salt helps to enhance the flavors of the dough and also balances sweetness of the of the filling.
Sugar: Sugar is needed to add sweetness to the dough and make it sweeter. Sugar is also used to make the delicious chocolate hazelnut filling.
Milk: Adds moisture to the dough.
Butter: Helps to make the dough super tender. You want it to be a tender dough, so there is a healthy amount of butter needed for this recipe.
Eggs: Add structure to the babka dough.
Vanilla: A dash of vanilla in both the dough and filling add a little extra flavor to the babka.
Lemons: You need zest and juice for this babka. It may sound strange to add lemon zest to the dough, but the lemon zest can add a fresh, sweet flavor to the dough.
Chocolate chips: Chocolate chips are melted to the buttery chocolate babka filling.
Cocoa powder: Cocoa powder gives the babka filling a super rich chocolate flavor without adding sweetness.
Hazelnuts: Chopped hazelnuts complement the chocolate filling so well and add a little extra crunch to the filling.
Direction Snapshot:
- Make Babka Dough.
- Chill dough overnight.
- Make chocolate filling.
- Roll out chilled dough, spread filling and roll loaf.
- Cook loaf.
- Make sugar glaze.
- Brush cooked loaf with sugar glaze and roll loaf in sugar.
What is babka bread?
Babka is a decadent sweet bread (although the baking method is similar to a cake with yeast) that is rolled and twisted with decadent layers of chocolate, jams, cinnamon, sometimes nuts, raisins or other spices are added. There are even savory versions of the bread made with cheese and herbs. The options are really limitless.
What really makes babka such an iconic bread is the layers and swirls of delicious filling!!
Tips for a beautiful babka bread…
Roll the dough out thin. You want to make sure the dough is thin to create more layers, but you don’t want it to be so thin that it tears. A safe spot is about 1/8” thick.
Tightly roll the dough. Once you have rolled out the dough and spread the filling, you want to make sure you roll the dough tightly. This will help to keep the shape of the dough while it bakes.
Use this twisting technique! To create that beautiful swirly pattern, you have to cut your rolled dough horizontally and carefully braid the the two pieces together. To give the top that beautiful swirl look, you can turn the cut side of the dough up to show the layers in the twist. Fold any uneven ends under on the side and place in your pan to bake.
Chocolate Hazelnut Babka Bread
A soft yeast bread twisted with layers of homemade chocolate hazelnut spread, makes a decadent treat.
Ingredients
20 g dry yeast
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup sugar
10 tbsp butter
3 eggs
1 1/4 tsp salt
4 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp lemon zest
Chocolate Filling
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1.2 tsp salt
1/2 cup hazelnuts, finely chopped
Glaze
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
Instructions
- In saucepan over the stove or microwave, heat milk until warm. Just above Luke-warm temperature. You want to make sure it isn’t too hot or it will kill the yeast, if it is too cold the yeast won’t activate. Add yeast to milk and let it sit for about 10 minutes.
- In an electric mixer with dough hook attachment, add flour, sugar, salt, vanilla, lemon zest and mix to combine. Next add in eggs and yeast mixture for a couple minutes, until a dough starts to form. If the dough is very sticky, add in a little bit of flour and mix until well combined.
- Add in the butter , 1 tbsp at a time, and beat until all is combined (this could take 8-10 minutes). Once again if you find the dough is still sticky, add in a spoonful of flour and beat to blend until a dough ball is formed. The dough should be able to pull away from the hook and sides of the bowl.
- Grease a separate bowl with butter. Remove the dough ball from the electric mixer bowl and place it in the greased bowl. Roll the dough ball around to make sure the whole surface is coated in butter. Cover with plastic wrap and place it in the fridge for 10-12 hours, overnight or at least 5-6 hours.
- Once the dough has chilled, preheat oven to 375°F and grease your loaf pan with some butter. Place a piece of parchment paper in the pan to make the loaf easy to remove once cooked.
- Place chilled dough ball on a floured surface. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough out into a 9×11 inch rectangle. It should be even and thin. Spread strawberry/chocolate filling in an even layer over the dough, leaving about 1/2 an inch edge. Start at the long side of the roll and tightly roll the dough towards you into a log shape.
- Horizontally slice the dough roll down the center. Turn the dough so you can see the chocolate layers and twist the dough like a braid and place in your greased and lined loaf pan. Place in the oven and cook for 45-50 minutes until browned on top and cooked through.
- While dough is cooking, make the sugar glaze. In a small sauce pan over medium heat, add sugar and water and heat until bubbling. Let it simmer for a couple minutes and remove from heat.
- Once babka loaf is cooked, remove from oven, brush with sugar glaze and cool for about 10 minutes. Pour about 1/2 a cup of sugar onto a plate large enough to roll your loaf in the sugar. Carefully remove the loaf from the pan and roll in the sugar. Slice and enjoy!
