Vegan Chocolate Babka

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This vegan babka is pure bliss in every bite! A sweet, buttery yeast bread swirled with decadent ribbons of chocolate fudge and finished with a sweet chocolate cinnamon streusel topping, it’s perfect for dessert, an indulgent breakfast, or holiday brunch.

Prep Time40

Cook Time45

Inactive Time18

Total Time19 25

Course: Breakfast, Dessert

Cuisine: Eastern European

Servings:

Calories: 229kcal

Author: Alissa Saenz

Ingredients

For the Dough

4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for kneading
½ cup organic granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 (¼ ounce/7 gram) packet instant yeast
½ cup vegan butter
1 cup unflavored and unsweetened non-dairy milk

For the Filling

¾ cup full-fat coconut milk
½ cup vegan butter
⅓ cup organic granulated sugar
6 ounces vegan chocolate chips (about 1 heaping cup)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the Streusel

½ cup all-purpose flour
¼ cup organic brown sugar
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon salt

Instructions

To Make the Dough

Whisk the flour, sugar, salt, and yeast together in a large mixing bowl.
Melt the vegan butter in a small saucepan or by briefly microwaving it in a small, microwave-safe container. Add the non-dairy milk, stir the mixture well, then warm it up to 100°F to 105°F.
Add the milk mixture to the flour mixture. Stir to create a soft dough.
Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead it until it becomes smooth and elastic, about 6 to 8 minutes.
Roll the dough into a ball and place it into a large, well-oiled mixing bowl. Cover the bowl with a damp kitchen towel and place it into a warm location. Let the dough rise until puffy and almost doubled in size, about 2 hours.
Remove the tea towel and cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Place the bowl in the fridge and chill the dough overnight or up to 24 hours.

To Make the Filling

Place the coconut milk, sugar, and butter into a small saucepan and set it over medium heat. Heat the mixture while stirring constantly, until the butter and sugar have melted. Remove the pot from heat, then stir in the chocolate chips until they're fully melted, followed by the cinnamon and vanilla.
Let the mixture cool until thickened and spreadable. This will take at least 2 hours at room temperature, but can be sped up by placing the pot in the fridge or a cold water bath — just make sure to stir it occasionally to ensure even cooling.

To Make the Streusel

Stir the flour, brown sugar, cocoa powder, and cinnamon together in a small bowl. Stir in the melted butter until the dry ingredients are saturated. Place the bowl into the fridge to chill.

Assemble and Bake the Babka

Remove the dough from the fridge and let it sit out until pliable enough to handle, about 30 to 60 minutes.
Grease two 8 x 4 inch loaf pans, then line the bottom and long sides of each pan with a sheet of parchment paper, leaving a bit of extra paper along the sides. You'll use this later on to remove the babka from the pans.
Once the dough feels pliable enough to work with, cut it in half.
Lightly flour a work surface, then place one of your dough halves on it. Roll the dough into a thin, approximately 12 x 16 inch rectangle.
Spread half of the filling evenly over the dough.
Starting with one of the long sides, roll the dough into a tight snake.
Use a knife to cut the dough snake in half, cutting lengthwise to create two long halves with the filling exposed.
Gently twist the two dough halves around each other. Try to arrange them so that the inner parts with the filling exposed are on top, but don't fuss too much.
Gently transfer your dough twist to one of the prepared loaf pans. You may need to compress it a bit.
Repeat the assembly process using the second dough half and the remaining filling.
Take the streusel out of the fridge. It will feel pretty solid at this point. Use a fork to break it up, then sprinkle the crumbs over your unbaked loaves
Cover the loaves with a damp tea towel and place them in a warm location. Let them rise until they've puffed up just a bit, about 90 minutes. They won't significantly increase in size, but you should see some of the gaps in the pan filled in.
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Bake the babka until the loaves have puffed up a bit more, any exposed crust is golden brown, and the topping has darkened, about 40 to 45 minutes. The best way to test them for doneness is with an instant read thermometer — the internal temperature should be between 190°F and 195°F.
Place the pans on a cooling rack. Let the loaves cool in the pans for about 20 minutes, until they feel set, then use the parchment paper to gently lift them out of the pans. Let them finish cooling on the racks.
Slice and serve.

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