I taught myself how to make vegan small-batch babka y’all.
Actually, here’s what happened: I was trying to make the chocolate tahini version of my tahini rolls. Made the filling too wet, it spilled all over the place and the rolls didn’t roll, if you know what I mean 😬 I still threw the sad chocolate-tahini doused pieces of dough into the oven (all food I make gets eaten one way or another and that is the rule) and out came something like… a bread loaf? 😱
Just totally reminded me of babka, so I actually looked up how to shape babka, turns out it’s not tricky at all! 👌 Here’s a video.
So I leaned into the babka vibes, made another loaf, and you’re looking at it. It turns out I created a sort of vegan brioche dough (or something like it). I mean it’s delicious, soft and airy, whatever you wanna call it that is fine by me!
I like to give you the easiest recipes ever but at the same time making these kinds of more elaborate creations have been a really nice grounding activity for me. Totally takes your mind off.
And if I can do it, so can you, because I write clear instructions 😆 That’s why.
Let me know if you give this a try!
Small-batch Chocolate Babka
Equipment
- Standard loaf pan
Ingredients
- 1 1/3 cup all purpose flour (160 g) I haven't tried gf all purpose but I think it should work
- 1 tsp active dry yeast
- 2 tbsp sugar (24 g)
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup (nut) milk (120 g) I use unsweetened almond milk
- 1 tbsp oil (15 g) sub melted (plant) butter
Chocolate filling
- 2 tbsp tahini (28 g) sub other nut/seed butter
- 2 tbsp maple syrup (42 g)
- 1 tbsp cocoa powder (6 g)
- water to thin if needed
Instructions
- Whisk together flour, yeast, sugar, salt.
- Whisk together milk and oil, and microwave the mixture until warm to the touch (30-60 sec, about 110F). If using butter, microwave until the butter is melted and cool it down.
- Pour into dry mix and combine to make a non-sticky dough.
- On a floured surface knead 3 minutes until the dough is smooth, cover and let it rest 10 min in room temperature.
- Combine filling ingredients, if too sticky/dry thin it with 1 tsp water or milk at a time.
- On a floured surface, roll the dough out into a 1/4 inch thick rectangle, spread the filling on, roll up and vertically cut into two halves and twist.
- Place in the loaf pan with parchment (at this point you can cover with clean wrap and refrigerate overnight if not baking immediately).
- When ready to bake, let covered bread rise in warm oven for about an hour. I just turn the oven light on.
- Bake for 20-30 minutes at 350F until lightly browned.
- Let the loaf cool completely and enjoy!
Notes
- This loaf is sweet enough for breakfast. If you want a rich dessert loaf, double the amount of filling. That should do it!