Sourdough Babka with Chocolate Recipe

This sourdough babka recipe is made from sweet and soft brioche bread, filled with smooth dark chocolate.

This babka loaf is such a treat. It's soft, fluffy, tender, and filled with a decadent dark chocolate swirl. The dough can be made with a mixer or by hand!

This sourdough chocolate babka is leavened with a sourdough starter and the process is spread over two days.

Jump to:

• What is a babka?
• Sourdough babka
• The chocolate filling
• The starter
• Equipment
• Baker’s schedule 
• Step by step instructions
• Serving and storing
• Related recipes
• Full Recipe

What is a babka?

Babka bread is a braided yeast bread made of enriched dough. It is a sweet bread rolled out, and spread with a filling like fruit, cinnamon sugar filling, or chocolate. Then it is rolled into a tight coil and braided.

Babka originates from the Jewish communities of Eastern Europe, though each babka can be very different depending on where it comes from. Chocolate wasn't traditionally used back then but these days it's a very common babka filling, and it's delicious!

Sourdough babka

The babka dough uses a sourdough brioche recipe. Brioche bread is very enriched with eggs and butter. It makes a wonderfully tender and flavorful bread and makes a delicious dessert or a treat for breakfast.

This brioche sourdough recipe is a brilliant base for babka and other yeasted bread, such as sourdough cinnamon rolls.

The chocolate filling

The chocolate filling is made with semi-sweet chocolate, preferably one with 50-60% cocoa solids.

You could use bittersweet chocolate too, which has a complex flavor but the sugar in the filling may need to be increased slightly.

The starter

Many recipes use a 100% hydration sourdough starter, but this brioche is leavened with a stiff sourdough starter.

Stiffer starters are slower to rise than those with higher hydration. They undertake steady growth, with less risk of peaking too early.

The sourdough brioche dough needs extra time when it comes to rising, so the wild yeast can get to work. The addition of all the extra fat in the dough can slow things down so a stiff starter helps bring some strength to the rise. 

The starter is fed (in weight) overnight. 1 part starter, 2 parts flour, 1 part water. It makes a stiff dough ball. In the morning it will have more than doubled.

Equipment

For the easiest results, use a stand mixer. The brioche dough is a very sticky dough. There is a large number of eggs and butter present and this extra fat and moisture mean gluten development in the dough is slow. 

Use a bench mixer for the most ease, as the dough needs 10-15 minutes of mixing to create the gluten structure that’s necessary for a strong and elastic dough.

If you have no mixer, don't worry. It is entirely possible to mix by hand if you're prepared to use some elbow grease. Below in this post is a video that shows hand kneading.

You'll also need two 9x5inch (22cmx12cm) loaf pans for baking them in or similar-sized pans.

Baker’s schedule 

Step by step instructions

Late evening

Day 1

Mixing in a stand-mixer

• In a clean bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment, add the flour, sugar, salt, eggs, milk, and starter. Turn the mixer on low and combine until it forms a thick but slightly sticky dough. Mix this dough for around 5 minutes to begin developing the gluten. 
• Add in the room temperature butter, a little bit at a time. Incorporate each cube before the next addition.

• Turn the mixer on medium and keep it mixing for around 10-15 minutes until the sticky dough starts to strengthen and come together and pull away cleanly from the sides of the bowl. If the mixer gets too hot, turn it off for 5 minutes and let the dough rest.
• Once finished mixing, leave the dough to rest for a few minutes then grab a piece and see if you can stretch it out really thin so it’s almost see-through, without it tearing. This is called the 'window pane' effect and shows proper gluten development. 

Mixing by hand

• In a bowl, add the flour, sugar, salt, eggs, milk, and starter. Use a fork to mix it into a shaggy dough. Tip the dough onto a floured work surface and knead it for 5 minutes to begin developing the gluten. 
• Knead in the butter, a few cubes at a time. The butter is going to make the dough very very sticky. Slap and fold the dough on the bench to create strength. Slap it down, and fold it over.
• Once all the butter has been incorporated, slap and fold for a minute or so more, then leave the dough to rest for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes come back to it and keep slapping and folding for 10 minutes or more until you feel and see the dough become strong and glossy. If at any point you need another break, take it! It's easier coming back to it with clean hands, and the dough does well with a rest

Hand-Kneading Video

The video below shows the dough at the point where the butter has been worked in. It's very sticky, but slap and fold kneading and rest before further kneading creates strength.

Bulk fermentation

• After kneading, place the dough ball into a lightly greased bowl and place a damp tea towel, plastic wrap, or lid over the top of the dough bowl. Place the dough in a warm temperature spot, ideally around 76°F/25°C, and let it rise.
• It needs to bulk out by at least 50-60%. This will take around 4-6 hours depending on temperature. Don't rush this rise. It's an important one and will set the standard for any future rising the babka will do. You can create a warm and humid proofing spot by placing a large mug of boiled water in a turned-off oven and putting the dough in there. Replace the water with freshly boiled water as it cools down.
• Once the sourdough dough has risen, cover the bowl with a plastic wrap, a damp tea towel, or lid, and place it in the fridge overnight. This cold fermentation allows the bacteria to get to work and brings more flavor.

Day 2

The filling

• The next day, prepare the chocolate filling so it has time to cool. In a saucepan over low heat, melt together chocolate and butter. Once melted, remove from the heat and while its still warm stir in powdered sugar and vanilla. Pour into a bowl and let it cool to room temperature.
• If you put it in the fridge it will stiffen up too much. It can be softened again by being placed in the microwave for 10 seconds.

Shaping

• Pull the proofed dough from the bowl and tip it onto a lightly floured surface. The next step is to cut it into two even pieces.
• Take one piece and use a rolling pin to roll it into a large rectangle measuring around 16x12 inches (40x30 cm).
• Use an offset spatula and spread over ½ the cooled chocolate filling, leaving a ½ inch (1cm) border around all the sides. Roll it up, from the long side upwards, into a log and place it in the fridge for 10-15 minutes. This cools down the chocolate and makes it easier to cut later.
• Repeat with the other dough piece.

• Once chilled, it's time to shape and braid the sourdough babka. Here are two ways you could do it. One has the chocolate exposed and one does not.

Shape 1

Slice the log in half lengthwise. Cut it with a sharp knife, and don't push down on the dough or it will squash. Take the two ends and fold them over, then lift the left half over the right half and repeat all the way down, leaving the cut side facing you so the chocolate is exposed.

Place the braid into a prepared loaf pan lined with parchment paper. You will need to compact it a bit to fit.

Shape 2

Twist the log all the way up its length, then take the two ends and twist them over each other. Then twist them over each other again. Place in a prepared loaf tin.

Leave the babkas to rise in a warm spot until doubled in size.

The chocolate filling will crack apart as it rises which is normal.

Baking

Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C and place a rack in the middle of the oven.

Once the babkas have risen, bake them for around 40 minutes until deep brown on top.

While the babkas are baking, prepare the sugar syrup to glaze them with. Combine granulated white sugar and water in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring it to a boil and simmer for 1 minute, then remove it from the heat.

Once the babkas are removed from the oven, leave them in the baking pan.

Brush the top of the babka liberally with the simple syrup using a pastry brush. Let them cool for 15 minutes before removing them from the pan. Continue to let them cool further on a cooling rack before slicing.

Serving and storing

The babkas are best when served fresh, but they also store well, covered at room temperature for up to 3 days. Reheating older babka in the microwave will make it soft and fluffy again.

Sourdough babka can be wrapped tightly and frozen for up to 3 months.

For another sweet bread recipe, try these cinnamon sticky buns!

The cup sizes given are for US cups. Note that these are smaller than metric cup sizes. For best results, use grams.

Related recipes

Looking for other sourdough recipes? Try -

• Sourdough Pizza crust
• Molasses and caraway sourdough
• Sourdough hot cross buns