Nutella Sourdough Babka
Rich nutella sourdough babka is stuffed with nutella and chocolate streusel and wrapped up in super soft, buttery babka dough. This is the perfect sourdough bake for a special occasion.
Servings: 12 slices
Equipment
Ingredients
Stiff Sweet Levain (ready in about 10-12 hours at 78ºF)
- 10 grams sourdough starter ripe and active about 1.5 teaspoons, ripe and active
- 10 grams granulated sugar about 1 Tablespoon
- 60 grams all purpose flour scant 1/2 cup
- 30 grams water about 2 Tablespoons
Babka Dough
- 100 grams levain, ripe and active all of it
- 100 grams whole milk see recipe notes about 1/3 cup plus 1.5 Tablespoons, see recipe notes
- 2 large eggs 100 grams
- 25 grams granulated sugar about 2 Tablespoons
- 6 grams salt about 1 teaspoon
- 310 grams bread flour about 2 1/3 cups
- 100 grams unsalted butter softened about 7 Tablespoons
Babka Filling
- 150 grams nutella about 1/2 cup, see recipe notes
Chocolate Streusel
- 45 grams unsalted butter softened, about 3 Tablespoons
- 60 grams all-purpose flour scant 1/2 cup
- 30 grams granulated sugar about 2 Tablespoons
- 8 grams cocoa powder about 1.5 Tablespoons, dutched or dark preferred
- 2 grams salt about 1/4 teaspoon
- 60 grams mini semi-sweet chocolate chips about 1/4 cup
Simple Syrup
- 50 grams granulated sugar about 1/4 cup
- 50 grams water about 3 Tablespoons
Instructions
Stiff Sweet Levain (ripe in 10-12 hours, overnight at 78ºF)
Babka Dough Day 1
- Mix the Dough: Add all of the ripe, stiff sweet levain, whole milk, sugar, eggs, salt and bread flour to the bowl of a stand mixer. Knead together for about 5 minutes.
- Add Butter: Cut the softened butter into Tablespoon sized chunks. With the dough hook running, add the butter to the center of the dough. The butter will begin to incorporate into the dough. Continue adding chunks of butter until all the butter is added. Knead for 10-15 minutes until the dough is smooth and passes the windowpane test.Windowpane Test: Take a chunk of dough and pull it up. It should stretch thinly without tearing and you should be able to see light coming through it like a windowpane.
- Bulk Fermentation: Turn the dough out into a shallow container. The dough will be sticky. It can help to wet your hands before turning the dough out if it sticks to your fingers. Cover the dough and set in a warm 78ºF place for the 4 hour bulk fermentation.
- Refrigerate: Place the covered dough in the refrigerator to chill for 8-9 hours (or at least up to 3 hours).
- Prepare Streusel and the Pan: Mix together softened butter, flour, sugar, cocoa powder, salt and mini semi-sweet chocolate chips until it forms a thick and crumbly chocolate streusel. Prepare a 9 by 5 loaf pan with parchment paper.
- Shape Dough: Pull the dough out of the refrigerator. Lightly flour a pastry mat or kitchen countertop. Turn the dough out onto the mat and lightly flour the top of the dough. Roll the dough into a large 14 by 18 inch rectangle. Spread Nutella over the dough, getting right up to the edges of the dough. Sprinkle on about 2/3 of the chocolate streusel mixture, reserving 1/3 of the mixture for the topping.Roll the dough up as you would a cinnamon roll, starting with the edge closest to you and rolling tightly, until a log is formed. Pinch the seams closed and turn the log of dough over. Use a sharp knife or bench knife to cut the roll in half; straight down the middle of the roll the long way. This will leave two long ropes of dough. Take one strand of dough and place across the other strand, forming an X. Twist the dough up and down around each other forming the Babka loaf (see photos in post). Push the ends of the dough together and place the Babka in the prepared loaf pan. Sprinkle the remaining streusel on top of the babka dough.
- Proof: Cover the loaf and let rise overnight at 76-78ªF. The time this takes will depend on the temperature of your environment. Let the dough rise until it has mostly filled the loaf pan, doubled in size and gets light and puffy.
- Bake: Preheat the oven to 350º Fahrenheit. Bake Babka for 60-70 minutes until baked all the way through and the internal temperature of the babka registers 195ºF. Pull Babka out of the oven and let rest in the pan for about 5-10 minutes. This can take a little longer than a traditional babka because of the amount of inclusions in this dough.
- Simple Syrup: While the Babka is baking, prepare the simple syrup for the top of the Babka. Mix together the granulated sugar and water in a microwave safe liquid measuring cup. Microwave on high a minute at a time until boiling and all the sugar is dissolved. Set aside.Alternatively, make the simple syrup on the stovetop. Boil the sugar and water together for about 1 minute until the sugar is completely dissolved.
- Pull Babka out of the oven and let rest in the pan for about 5-10 minutes. Remove the loaf from the pans using the parchment paper and place on a cooling rack. Pour or brush the simple syrup onto the babka, letting it soak into the warm bread. Let Babka cool and enjoy!
Notes
Whole Milk: If you don't have whole milk, you can substitute 90 grams 2% milk and 10 grams heavy cream, whisked together.
Nutella: Any generic brand of hazelnut spread or homemade hazelnut spread will work in place of name-brand Nutella.
Chocolate Streusel: Use a good quality dutch-processed cocoa powder for rich flavor. I also love semi-sweet mini chocolate chips in the streusel for extra delicious chocolate flavor.
Temperature: This dough does take a long time to rise because of all the eggs and butter in it. If it's not rising, find a place to warm it up and make sure it's just about doubled in size before baking it.
Pan: I like making this is a 9 by 5 loaf pan. If you use a smaller 8.5 by 4.5 loaf pan, it can work but the dough may overflow the pan a little bit.
Nutrition
Calories: 376kcal | Carbohydrates: 49g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 17g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Trans Fat: 0.4g | Cholesterol: 58mg | Sodium: 282mg | Potassium: 153mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 19g | Vitamin A: 364IU | Calcium: 41mg | Iron: 2mg
