Yield: 2 loaves

Sourdough Babka

overhead photo of sourdough babka with chocolate filling on a white and black stripped towel

Sweet, soft enriched brioche-like dough swirled with chocolate and baked to perfection. Made with simple ingredients and naturally leavened with sourdough starter, this bread will win over any sweet-tooth.

Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 15 minutes

Ingredients

Dough

  • 3 1/2 cups bread flour
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 4 eggs
  • 8 tbs unsalted butter
  • 1 cup active sourdough starter

Chocolate Filling

  • 1/3 cup cocoa powder
  • 2/3 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 4 ounces semi sweet chocolate, chopped

Instructions

  1. Feed starter at night before bed. This way when you wake up in the morning, it will be nice and bubbly.
  2. In the morning, combine all ingredients in a mixer and knead until smooth and glossy. The dough will be very wet, but after 10-15 minutes in the stand mixer (or by hand), it will come together.
  3. Cover with plastic wrap, a damp towel, or tight lid and place in a warm spot for 6-8 hours (or until doubled).
  4. Refrigerate for a few hours (or overnight) so that dough is nice and stiff for shaping.
  5. In a pot, add the cocoa powder, sugar, and softened butter. Heat on low until melted, stirring occasionally.
  6. Divide the dough into two equal portions. I really like to use my bench scraper to do this.
  7. Roll out each portion to a 10” by 14” rectangle
  8. Add the filling to the edge, except on one short end, leave about an inch of dough showing. Sprinkle the semisweet chocolate over the filling.
  9. Roll up your dough from the opposite short end.
  10. Cut the roll down the middle and twist.
  11. Add your babka to a loaf pan, cover, and allow to rise until doubled, about 4 hours.
  12. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  13. Create an egg wash by beating an egg with water. Brush over the loaf.
  14. Bake 40-45 minutes

Notes

Don’t add more flour even though it is tempting.

Once you have your babka filled and rolled up, move it to a piece of parchment paper before cutting it and braiding. This way, you can use the parchment paper to easily lift it into your loaf pan. It also makes for easy clean up! Just be sure your parchment paper is cut to the right size.


This dough is a wet dough. Even if you are tempted to add more flour, don’t. Too much flour will give you a tougher bread rather than something light and fluffy.


If you don’t have bread flour, you can use all-purpose. It will not be quite as soft as using the mix of the two flours, but it will still be yummy.

Feed your starter 4-12 hours before starting to the dough. You want it to be super bubbly and at its peak.

For a cinnamon filling use:

10 tbs unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons cinnamon

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

24

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 220Total Fat: 11gSaturated Fat: 7gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 54mgSodium: 348mgCarbohydrates: 26gFiber: 1gSugar: 11gProtein: 4g