Vegan Chocolate Babka
Oh yes... how much I love these gray and rainy days - it's cold and dark, and my motivation to do anything outside drops to zero! November is a tough month for me every year: the beautiful golden October autumn is over, replaced by cold drizzle, gray skies, and dark afternoons. But the anticipation of Christmas, which would make such days much better, is still a few weeks away. So, I need something to help bridge this time with joy and coziness.
My mother often baked braided yeast bread for me and my brother in the afternoon, and I still remember the warm, sweet, and rich smell that filled our entire kitchen when we came inside from playing outdoors. We always enjoyed it, snuggled up on the sofa with a big cup of hot chocolate and an audiobook. And from that memory, this Babka recipe came to life last week: soft, fluffy yeast dough filled with a vegan chocolate spread, and for some extra crunch, I added a few chopped nuts. Freshly baked, it tasted fantastic with a hot cocoa or a cup of spiced tea. And I quickly found the perfect podcast instead of an audiobook!
You can use any vegan chocolate spread for this recipe, whether you already have one in your cupboard or find one while shopping. Spreads with a high hazelnut content are especially delicious, making the Babka taste wonderfully like nougat!
Vegan Chocolate Babka
Ingredients
For the yeast dough:
- 250 ml (1 cup) plant-based milk, lukewarm
- 50 ml (0.25 cup) water
- 10 g (0.33 oz) fresh yeast
- 1 tsp sugar
- 500 g (4 cups) flour
- 1 pinch of salt
- 150 g (1.33 sticks) vegan butter, soft
For the filling:
- 200 g (7 oz) vegan chocolate spread
- 100 g (3.5 oz) mixed nuts
Additionally:
- 3 tbsp (3 tbsp) plant-based milk for brushing
- 30 ml (0.125 cup) plant-based milk
- 2 tsp agave syrup
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F, top/bottom heat), grease, and flour a loaf pan (about 30 centimeters/12 inches).
Combine lukewarm plant-based milk and water with crumbled yeast and sugar in a bowl. Stir until smooth and let it sit for 5–10 minutes until small bubbles form. Add the flour, salt, and soft vegan butter, and knead everything for 8 minutes until a smooth dough forms. Cover the dough with a dish towel and let it rest for about 1.5 hours in a warm place.
Transfer the dough onto a floured surface and roll it into a rectangle. Spread the vegan chocolate cream over it, leaving a small border around the edges. Roughly chop the nuts and sprinkle them over the cream. Roll the dough tightly from the long side, then slice the roll in half lengthwise with a sharp serrated knife, revealing the filling. Twist the two strands to the side and alternately cross them over each other. Place the braided dough into the loaf pan and let it rest for about 30 minutes. Brush the dough's surface with some plant-based milk. Mix the remaining 30 milliliters of plant-based milk with the agave syrup until smooth and set aside.
Bake the Babka at 180°C (350°F, convection) for about 30 minutes, brushing it with the milk-agave mixture every 10 minutes to prevent it from getting too dark (try to be as quick as possible so the oven doesn't stay open too long!).
