Vegan chocolate babka - this amazing vegan chocolate swirl bread consists of a soft, brioche-like dough swirled with a rich chocolate filling and soaked in syrup. It is incredibly soft, moist, chocolatey and very, very moreish! NO egg replacers or weird ingredients!
This vegan chocolate babka is sinfully good. A soft, eggless and dairy free brioche style bread dough is swirled with a thick layer of rich chocolate filling, plus extra chocolate chips because the more chocolate the better right?
Once baked the babka is brushed generously with sugar syrup which not only makes it beautifully shiny, but also helps to keep it lovely and moist, preserving it for several days.
It is totally indulgent, utterly delicious and makes an amazing treat with a cup of tea or coffee.
It does take a little while to make but it isn't difficult, and most of it is hands off time. I recommend making it over two days if possible - making the dough one day and letting it rise overnight in the fridge, then shaping the babka, letting it rise again and baking on the following day.
It is possible to do it all in one day if you prefer, but the overnight rise improves the flavour and firms up the dough, making it easier to roll out and shape.
What Is Babka?:
Babka is a sweet, cake-like braided yeast bread which developed in the Polish Jewish community in the early 19th century. It may also be referred to as a krantz cake.
It generally consists of a soft, brioche-like dough that is rolled out and spread with a filling such as cinnamon, chocolate or fruit then rolled up and braided before baking.
How To Make Vegan Chocolate Babka:
(For ingredients and full instructions see the recipe card below)
Ideally you should start the day before you want to bake the babka. Place the flour, sugar, yeast and salt in a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. Mix to combine.
Add the lukewarm milk and mix to form a rough dough. Knead until it forms a smooth ball.
Add the softened vegan butter. Continue to knead until the butter is fully incorporated and the dough is smooth and elastic. It may seem greasy and messy at first but keep kneading and I promise you the butter will all mix in and the dough will become smooth.
Once the butter is fully incorporated the dough should look smooth and silky and it should pull away from the sides of the bowl cleanly.
It should still be soft and slightly sticky but if it seems too wet then you can knead in a little more flour; be careful not to add too much however, you don't want dry babka.
Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover and place it in the fridge to rise overnight.
The following day the dough should have doubled in size. Remove it from the fridge and set aside to warm up a little while you prepare the filling.
Place the butter, chopped dark chocolate, sugar, cocoa powder, cinnamon and a pinch of salt in a small pan over a low heat. Stir constantly until melted and smooth then remove from the heat and set aside to cool for 20 minutes.
It should thicken slightly but still be spreadable. If it gets too firm then you can rewarm it very gently until it reaches a spreadable consistency.
How To Shape Vegan Chocolate Babka:
Punch down the dough and roll it out on a lightly floured surface to a rectangle about 30x40cm / 11x15in.
Spread the filling evenly over the dough, leaving a 1cm border. Sprinkle over the chocolate chips, chopped chocolate or pecans and press them down gently.
Roll the dough up tightly from one of the long edges into a sausage. Use a sharp knife to cut the sausage in half lengthwise, exposing the filling. Twist the two halves together into a braid.
Grease an approx 11.5 x 21.5 cm / 4.5 x 8.5 in 2lb loaf tin and line it with baking parchment. Place the babka in the loaf tin, squishing it to fit if need be.
Loosely cover the tin and set aside to rise until doubled in size, about 1 ½ - 2 hours depending on how cold it is.
Bake the babka for about 35-40 minutes until deep golden. A probe thermometer inserted into the centre should reach about 90°C/195°F.
When the babka is baked, brush it generously with sugar syrup then allow to cool before slicing.
Top Tips:
For the best results make sure that you follow the recipe closely. As always, I highly recommend using the gram measurements (with a digital scale), rather than the cup conversions. Cup measurements are simply not accurate enough for baking and I cannot guarantee the best results if you use them.
You can use either bread flour or plain flour. Bread flour will give the babka a slightly more chewy texture but both are good. You can also use a combination of the two.
The syrup helps to keep the babka moist for a few days so don't skip it. It may seem like a lot of liquid but trust me and use it all!
The best way to tell if a loaf of bread is cooked in the middle is to use a probe thermometer. It is impossible to give a one-size-fits-all baking time as ovens vary so much. The babka should be done when it reaches 90°C / 195°F.
I know it's hard, but you really should wait for the babka to cool completely before slicing it. It carries on cooking as it cools and slicing it too soon can cause it to be dense or gummy in texture.
What Kind Of Yeast?:
I always use fast action yeast which is also known as instant or easy yeast as it doesn’t need to be activated first, you just add it straight to the flour.
If you only have active dried yeast then you can still use it, but you will need to mix it with some of the warm milk and a pinch of the sugar first. Let it sit for 10-20 minutes until it has become bubbly then proceed with the rest of the recipe as written.
How To Store Vegan Chocolate Babka:
As with most home-made bread, this vegan chocolate babka is best eaten on the day it is baked. The syrup helps to keep it moist and soft for about 3 days however. It is nice if you warm it up gently before serving to refresh it.
Store it in an airtight container or bread bin at room temperature. It should not be placed in the fridge as that can make it go stale faster.
Can I Freeze It?:
Yes! You can freeze this vegan chocolate babka either whole or in slices. Place it in a ziplock bag and freeze for up to three months. Ideally it should be frozen on the day it is baked to preserve freshness (allow it to cool completely first).
Allow to defrost at room temperature and warm through gently to refresh it before serving.
More Vegan Bread Recipes:
Vegan wholemeal maple cinnamon rolls
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Vegan Chocolate Babka
Ingredients
Dough:
- 300 g (2 ½ cups) plain (all-purpose) flour or white bread flour plus extra as needed
- 40 g (3 Tablespoons) caster (superfine) sugar
- 7 g (2 ¼ teaspoons) instant/fast action yeast
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 180 ml (¾ cup) unsweetened non-dairy milk (soy is best) lukewarm
- 80 g (⅓ cup) vegan butter/margarine softened
Filling:
- 60 g (¼ cup) vegan butter/margarine
- 60 g (2 oz) dark chocolate chopped
- 20 g (2 Tablespoons) cocoa powder
- 30 g (2 ½ Tbsp) light brown soft sugar
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon (optional)
- pinch salt
- 100 g (3 ½ oz) chocolate chips or chopped dark chocolate or pecans
Syrup:
- 60 g (¼ cup + 1 Tablespoon) granulated sugar
- 60 ml (¼ cup) water
Instructions
- Ideally you should start the day before you want to bake the babka. Place the flour, sugar, yeast and salt in a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. Mix to combine.
- Add the lukewarm milk and mix to form a rough dough. Knead until it forms a smooth ball then add the softened butter.
- Continue to knead until the butter is fully incorporated and the dough is smooth and elastic. It may seem greasy and messy at first but keep kneading and I promise you the butter will all mix in and the dough will become smooth.
- Once the butter is fully incorporated the dough should look smooth and silky and it should pull away from the sides of the bowl cleanly. It should still be soft and slightly sticky but if it seems too wet then you can knead in a little more flour; be careful not to add too much however.
- Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover and let rise for an hour or so at warm room temperature, until the dough has almost doubled in size, then place in the fridge to rise overnight.
- The following day remove the dough from the fridge and set aside to warm up a little while you prepare the filling.
- Place the butter, chopped dark chocolate, sugar, cocoa powder, cinnamon and a pinch of salt in a small pan over a low heat. Stir constantly until melted and smooth then remove from the heat and set aside to cool for 20 minutes. It should thicken slightly but still be spreadable. If it gets too firm then you can rewarm it very gently until it reaches a spreadable consistency.
- Punch down the dough and roll it out on a lightly floured surface to a rectangle about 30x40cm / 11x15in.
- Spread the filling evenly over the dough, leaving a 1cm border. Sprinkle over the chocolate chips, chopped chocolate or pecans and press them down gently.
- Roll the dough up tightly from one of the long edges into a sausage. Use a sharp knife to cut the sausage in half lengthwise, exposing the filling.
- Twist the two halves together into a braid. Grease an approx 11.5 x 21.5 cm / 4.5 x 8.5 in 2lb loaf tin and line it with baking parchment. Place the babka in the loaf tin, squishing it to fit if need be.
- Loosely cover the tin and set aside to rise until doubled in size, about 1 ½ - 2 hours depending on how cold it is. It is ready to bake when it looks puffy and if you gently press some of the exposed dough with a finger it springs back slowly most of the way but leaves a small indentation. If it springs back quickly and fills in completely then it isn't ready yet.
- When the dough has nearly finished rising, preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/350°F/gas mark 4.
- Bake the babka for about 40-50 minutes until deep golden. A probe thermometer inserted into the centre should reach at least 90°C/195°F.
- While the babka is baking prepare the syrup. Place the sugar and water in a small pan over a medium heat. Stir until the sugar has dissolved and the syrup comes up to a simmer. Remove from the heat and set aside.
- When the babka is ready, remove it from the oven and brush generously all over the top with the syrup. Keep going until you have used all of the syrup.
- Leave the babka to cool in the tin for 15-20 minutes while it absorbs the syrup then turn it out onto a wire rack and leave to cool completely before slicing.
Notes
- For the best results make sure that you follow the recipe closely. As always, I highly recommend using the gram measurements (with a digital scale), rather than the cup conversions. Cup measurements are simply not accurate enough for baking and I cannot guarantee the best results if you use them.
- You can use either bread flour or plain flour. Bread flour will give the babka a slightly more chewy texture but both are good. You can also use a combination of the two.
- The syrup helps to keep the babka moist for a few days so don’t skip it. It may seem like a lot of liquid but trust me and use it all!
- The best way to tell if a loaf of bread is cooked in the middle is to use a probe thermometer. It is impossible to give a one-size-fits-all baking time as ovens vary so much. The babka should be done when it reaches 90°C / 195°F.
- I know it’s hard, but you really should wait for the babka to cool completely before slicing it. It carries on cooking as it cools and slicing it too soon can cause it to be dense or gummy in texture.
L
This turned out amazing, thank you for sharing it!
Jenny
Hi, I was wondering if I could make the dough in my bread machine using the dough setting? As it might be less messy with the softened butter. Then remove, shape and continue with your recipe. If not, that's ok! I've made this before anyway and it's super delicious!
Rachel
I've made this twice recently and both times it was amazing. I made it with chocolate chips each time. The second time, I wanted to make a 1.5x recipe, so I rolled it out longer so that I could put it in a circle inside a springform pan. It worked really well and looked beautiful.
The first time I made it, I almost gave up because the butter was just not incorporating it looked like such a mess, but I gave it time and it did incorporate just like the recipe said! The dough was really nice to work with and very easy to roll out.
Outstanding recipe!
Paulina
The best babka in the world. I’ve made it so many times it’s always amazing. For Christmas I made it with poppy seeds filling and it was the best poppy seed cake I made in my life. Love all your recipes Hannah ❤️