I spent many moons believing that Babka was a weekend-only kind of project – a delightful adventure only to be embarked upon if you had 57 hours to dedicate and no kids as far as the eye could see. Oops! Mea culpa. I started this spiral-y, messy, cracked-out cutie at 8:30 this morning, and by noon she was done. DONE, people! AND she came with a challah friend, because apparently you can use the same dough for both and just divide it in half. Crazy talk!
I used the dough cycle on my bread machine because why else did I pay $150 for the thing? But do it by hand, do it in a mixer, do it with your cat, just do it – it’s delicious and very customizable. The s’mores was quite fun and I am looking forward to trying out some other combinations (if my kids approve, of course. Let’s face: they’re in charge here).
Big thanks for this recipe and inspiration to Kaelah (@kaelahe on TikTok).
- Dough:
- 1 cup warm water (about 110 - 115 degrees, if you're using a thermometer)
- ¼ c oil (olive will have a stronger flavor; I went with canola)
- ¼ c honey or sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 - 2 t salt
- 4 c flour
- 2.25 t quick rise yeast
- Babka filling
- 1 stick butter, softened
- ½ c brown or white sugar
- ¼ c cocoa powder
- Pinch of salt
- ½ graham cracker crumbs
- ½ c mini marshmallows, or regular marshmallows cut up into smaller pieces
- Eggwash
- 1 egg
- Place the dough ingredients in your bread maker in the order listed (this is important, for some reason - they don't tell me why and I don't make the rules, I just follow them...for now).
- Select the Dough cycle - it should be about 1.5 hours total.
- When it's done, punch down the dough and divide into two equal parts.
- With one portion, divide it into 5 equal pieces and roll each out to about 12 inch logs (they should be the same length because you will be braiding them together).
- Make a five-strand braided loaf, pinching and tucking the ends together when you're done. This is a lot less scary than it sounds (outside right comes in over 2 strands, outside left comes in over 2 strands, repeat). But a quick Google and you'll get a good tutorial!
- Place on parchment paper or a greased cookie sheet that can accommodate a lot of character growth from the loaf. Set aside.
- For the babka:
- Roll out the dough into a rectangle, about 9in x 18in (it's approximate and doesn't have to be perfect).
- Combine the butter, sugar, cocoa, and salt in a bowl and spread it all on the dough rectangle.
- Sprinkle the graham cracker crumbs on top of the chocolate, then sprinkle on the marshmallows.
- Roll the babka dough from the short side into a tight roll.
- Cut in half lengthwise.
- Turn the two halves up, so that the filling is facing up, then stack one on top of the other so that they form a sort of X shape.
- Overlap the ends together so you've got a gentle twist going on, and it's ok, even better, if it's a bit messy. Trust the process.
- Place the dough into a greased 9x13in loaf pan.
- Whisk the egg for the eggwash and brush it all over the challah and the babka loaves.
- Place both in a warm place for an hour, or until doubled in size (Kaelah recommends a pot of boiling water in the oven with the loaves, and I must say it worked quite well!)
- Once doubled, preheat your oven to 350 and give both loaves another eggwash.
- Bake for 30ish minutes, or until brown and done. The babka will likely take 5 - 10 more minutes.
Looks fantastic, can’t wait to try it!!