I realized not long back that I have an unchecked list in my head, a list of things that only other people bake. As in… a list of things that for some reason, thanks to a laundry list of reasons and excuses, I don’t know how and shouldn’t attempt to bake.
On that list is baguettes (to be honest, I really don’t have the right oven for it), Doberge Cake (if you don’t know you better ask somebody), bagels (really good bagels), this seemingly insane Russian Honey Cake, and Chocolate Babka (because what is going on with that filling and that magical twist!?).
Why build road blocks? Ain’t nothing wrong with a good hard try, amiright?
Here’s to acknowledging that list, looking it straight in the face and getting after it. I spend the better parts of September and October demystifying bagels for myself. Recipe test after recipe test I found that Peter Reinhart’s proportions and rest were the easiest to work with in my kitchen, and absolutely essential: diastatic malt powder. Let’s call that ONE impossibility checked off the list.
This month, BABKA – and we’re coming in through the sidehatch. We’re making a buttery enriched dough, folding in a melted chocolate + chocolate cookie mixture, folding, slicing, and piling into a muffin tin. Babka is a traditional Jewish recipe and this recipe is a play on the classic. We’re working towards a loaf pan, but these muffins are mighty indeed.
This recipe comes in three parts:
• a soft yeasted dough with butter, milk, and eggs.
• a melted chocolate, melted butter, and chocolate cookie crumble filling
• and a buttery crumble topping.
We’ve made a lot of this yeasted dough together. For a step-by-step, holler at these Cream Cheese Cinnamon Rolls. Everything goes in a bowl and the magic of eggs and milk and butter makes for a slightly sticky, soft and tender dough.
Let’s talk about filling!
Here’s one of my baker tips: when making a filling or topping, I make twice as much as I need and save a batch of filling and topping in the freezer for my future self. Then! When I decide I’m a genius and need more babka rolls, I only have to have the yeasted dough because the filling and topping are waiting for me in the freezer. The recipe below reflect the inflated filling and crumble amounts.
Good, right?
For our filling – butter is melted with milk and bittersweet chocolate. Good good great.
We’ll add a dash of ground cinnamon and a few big spoonfuls of honey.
Now… things need to cool. The chocolate mixture needs to cool to room temperature before stirring in the cookie crumbs. A cooled chocolate will create a thick and spreadable filling.
Want to talk about these chocolate cookie crumbs? Many recipes call for chocolate wafers crumbled finely. I find that Oreo cookies are often easier to find than chocolate wafers so… you guessed it… I removed the cream filling from the Oreos and ground the cookies in a food processor to a fine crumb.
I was a Girl Scout. I’m nothing if not savvy, resourceful, and good at memorizing pledges.
Stir the cookie crumbs into the melted chocolate. Stir and stir. The mixture will thicken to spreadable and if it doesn’t, allow the mixture to cool to room temperature further.
You can throw the mixture (not literally) into the refrigerator to speed up the cooling process as long as you stir the mixture every 15 minutes or so for even cooling.
After a rise to double, the dough is rolled to a 18×12-inch (ish) rectangle. You’ll want the long side facing you. That’s where we’ll spread and fold from.
The chocolate mixture (listen… we already feel like successes, don’t we?) spreads across the rolled dough.
And we’re folding the dough, from its longest side, into four.
This will be like rolling a cinnamon roll but instead of a tight coil, we’re folding the dough upwards in four quarters on top of itself.
We’re creating a flat fold from the long side of the dough. Chocolate filling inside.
Now! We’re going to do something that feels impossible. From the length of the rolled dough (we should be at about 18-inches, right) we’ll make 24 thin vertical slices. 24 slices because we want two dough pieces to go into each of the 12 muffin tins.
Divide the flat dough log in half and slice each half into 12 pieces.
For extra insurance, the muffin cups are greased and floured. We’ve come so far, the last thing we want is for these beauties to stick!
With a pinch of each dough piece, two are layered per muffin tin.
You could go two different directions here:
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F for about 20 minutes, allowing the prepared dough to rest at room temperature, rising just slightly while the oven heats. Bake and enjoy!
- Wrap the pan in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator to slowly proof overnight. In the morning, take the pan out of the refrigerator, preheat the oven. Allow the rolls to come to room temperature before baking and enjoying!
But before out bake: a cinnamon crumble streusel. This mixture of flour + brown sugar+ butter is optional but encouraged.
Into the oven to raise, brown and bubble!
Allow the rolls to cool in the pan. They set. They’ll get to be friends.
Run a butterknife around the edges of each cup and coax each muffin out.
This is exciting. Treat yourself. Have a warm muffin.
Tender dough. Chocolate filling, a lightly crisp top. Let’s check one thing off the Bake List.
If you make these (on your holiday break, perhaps!?) share a picture with me on Instagram! I can’t wait to see what you make!
Photos with my friend Jon Melendez.
Print
Chocolate Babka Pull Apart Muffins
- Prep Time: 90
- Cook Time: 18
- Total Time: 1 hour 48 minutes
- Yield: 12 1x
Ingredients
For the Dough
- 2 1/4 teaspoons (1 envelope) active dry yeast
- 2 tablespoons warm water (warmer than body temperature)
- pinch of sugar
- 3 to 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, divided
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 4 tablespoons (2 ounces) unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
For the Filling
- 9 ounces milk chocolate, coarsely chopped
- 3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
- 1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) unsalted butter
- pinch of salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 1/2 cups finely ground chocolate wafer cookies (I sure did use Oreos without the cream)
For the Topping
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes
Instructions
- In a small bowl, stir together yeast, warm water, and a pinch of sugar. It’s ok if the mixture is lumpy, we’re just trying to activate the yeast. Allow to sit for 5 minutes until it’s lightly foamy and bubbly.
- In a large mixing bowl (I used just the bowl of my stand mixer) whisk together 2 cups flour, sugar, and salt. Set aside.
- Whisk together eggs and set aside.
- In a small saucepan, melt together milk and butter until butter has just melted. Remove from the heat and add vanilla extract. Let mixture stand for about 5 minutes to cool, or until the mixture registers about 115 to 125 degrees F- warm to the touch.
- Pour the milk mixture into the dry ingredients. Add the yeast mixture too and mix with a spatula. Add the eggs and place the bowl in your stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. As the mixture beats on low speed, add an additional cup of flour.
- Beat the mixture until the eggs are incorporated into the batter. The eggs will feel soupy and it’ll seem like the dough and the eggs are never going to come together. Keep mixing. The dough will stick to the sides of the bowl. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add up to 1/2 cup more flour and beat in. The dough will be lightly tacky and slightly sticky after 5 minutes of kneading in the mixer. That’s right!
- (Alternately you can make this dough without the use of a mixer, using a firm spatula or wooden spoon to bring the dough together. Add the remaining 1/2 cups flour as necessary to create a firm, tacky and lightly sticky dough. Knead on the counter top to really get it together.)
- Place the dough is a large, greased bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and a clean kitchen towel. Place in a warm space and allow to rest until doubled in size, about 1 hour though the time will be longer if your kitchen is cool.
- While the dough rests, make the chocolate filling.
- In a heatproof bowl over a double boiler, melt together the two chocolates and butter. Stir until smooth and glossy. Remove from the heat and stir in the salt, cinnamon and honey.
- Let the chocolate cool to room temperature. This step is important. We’ll need the chocolate at room temperature before we add the cookie crumbs so the mixture finished is thick and spreadable. Give the chocolate about 30 minutes to come to room temperature.
- Stir in the chocolate cookies which should make the chocolate mixture thick but still spreadable.
- You can also make the cinnamon crumble topping now! In a medium bowl toss together flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Add the cold butter and use your fingers to work the butter into the dry ingredients, creating a crumbly mixture. Set aside.
- To assemble the muffins, start by rolling out the dough.
- Once the dough has nearly doubled in size, knead it gently on a well floured work surface. Use a floured rolling pin to roll the dough into a roughly 18×12-inch rectangle, keeping the 18-inch side closest to you.
- Spread generously with filling. You’ll have enough filling for two babka recipes, so divide the filling in two and save the rest in a freezer safe bag for future use.
- Now we’ll roll up the dough. Starting from the 18-inch side, we’re going to fold the upwards in fourth. Like you’d roll a cinnamon roll, but we’re making four big, flat folds.
- Fold the dough upwards in fourth. You’ll end with a roughly 18-inch long flat log.
- Use a bench knife or a large sharp knife to divide the dough in half vertically. And slice each half into 12 even pieces. You’ll have 24 small vertical slices of dough.
- Lightly grease and flour a standard muffin tin.
- Layer two pieces of babka dough into each muffin cup, pinching the dough to expose the filling and layering the pieces atop one another. Repeat until all the muffin cups are filled.
- Sprinkle each muffin cup with half of the crumble topping. Save the remaining crumble topping in a freezer safe bag for your future self.
- MAKE AHEAD! At this point, you can cover the pan in plastic wrap and place the pan in the refrigerator to bake tomorrow morning. When you’re ready to bake, place the pan on the counter to come to room temperature while the oven preheats and proceed.
- Place a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Allow the muffins to rest and rise just slightly while the oven preheats for 20 minutes.
- Bake for 16 to 18 minutes until the muffins have risen, are golden and bubbling. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for at least 15 minutes before using a butter knife to coax them out of a pan for serving.
- These are best enjoyed the day they’re made though they’re also delicious heated up the next day!
44 Responses
These muffins are a masterpiece! The rich chocolate swirls and soft, pull-apart texture are absolute perfection.
I look forward to making this, but the wafer cookies in the dough seems like overkill to me. but thank you!! i love this idea. and LOVELOVELOVE babka!!
The babka muffins came out super tasty!
How do you recommend I make the filling saved spreadable again for future use?
This recipe is perfect, I’ve made it a few times and would make it more often if it wasn’t as time intensive (but so worth it!). I’ve never made the streusel topping, as we don’t like overly sweet desserts but I’m sure it would be excellent
Hear me out… this recipe is 5-star exactly as written. BUT what if you added 1/3 more of the filling than suggested? Well, I did and I have NO regrets. In an attempt to save time, I have microwaved my chocolate chips/butter (watching very closely!!) instead of the double boiler and that seems to work, as well. A delightful choclately treat, and one of my top Joy recipes for winter baking.
Can someone clear me up on how to put these two strips in the muffin tims??
Stuff em in!
In the recipe instructions, it says to use 2 cups of flour for the dough, but I think it should read 3 cups (as per the ingredients list)
I made these this morning and they are PERFECT! Sooooo delicious, chocolatey, buttery, crunchy and fluffy. Perfect.
I annoyingly always change something in every recipe I try but this one was a bit involved so I decided to try it as written. It is 100% perfect exactly as it is. And I found the tips about the dough to be very helpful. My dough ended up drier than what Joy said would happen so I added a little more milk and butter to get it to the recommended consistency which I think made a big difference in overall texture.
I recommend you make as-is. Oreo’s and all. ?
Just finished making these! I’m by no means a baker, especially considering our current kitchen is small and our oven is temperamental. I’m happy to say i found this recipe relatively simple for how intimidated I was when I decided to give it a try. Absolutely delicious and will be making them again with the leftover chocolate and streusel! The perfect treat to go with coffee!
I have made these several times. Once of the BEST sweet items I have ever made. EXCEPTIONAL! A bit time consuming but not difficult. And worth every bit of time and effort!
These are time consuming – but may be the most delicious sweet item I have ever made. I had never had a chocolate babka before and always wanted to try it. The are have so many textures and flavors – chocolate rich dough and then that hint of salt just makes it. And they freeze beautifully. AMAZING.
These look delicious. I want to make them, but cannot have honey in filling. Could I use Karo light or dark syrup as a replacement? I love anything Babka!
Made the muffins today – absolutely amazing and delicious!!!! Worth all the work, glad there is now filling/streusel in freezer for next batch, way to gonJoy, glad you incorporated ‘extra’into recipe!!!
All I really want in life is for someone to make me these. They look so good!!
What a beautiful idea!
( https://www.thetaylorsauce.com/london-town/ )
The recipe is very interesting. I have a question. You have added ground cinnamon. Any specific reason behind adding the cinnamon. Your reply will help us.
FYI, it’s “diastatic” malt powder. Oh, the things you know as a brewer….
You’re so right and thank you!
i like your blog. i just startedmy blog a year ago and i didn’t have much time to make a post. But i will start it again next month. What theme do u use for your blog?
Hi Joy, I’m so glad I stumbled across this recipe. Definitely going to have to make it for Christmas dinner! You’re the best!
Sometimes those chocolate wafer cookies can be found near the ice cream.
Woah girl! Those look amazing!
Omg those look very nice.i am very lucky to member in this blog
This looks like such a fun and delicious challenge! I cannot wait to try them!
Omg those look absolutely mouthwatering and amazing.
i know You are the very best baker .thank u very much
timesportssite.wordpress.com
These look decadent and amazing. May I suggest Trader Joe’s chocolate cat cookies as an excellent crisp wafer for this recipe? They make perfect crusts for mud pie too
Oh my. I really want to just make the dough into a yummy loaf of bread
I’ll have to add this to my baking bucket list! I love babka but haven’t tried it in a muffin form. You are a genius! Annnnnnnd puuuuhlease do a doberge cake. There are very few good recipes/tutorials online. Not to mention the most massive baking fail ive had was trying recreate my wedding cake from Debbie Does Doberge. ?
Omg those look absolutely mouthwatering and amazing. Need to try those.
What a beautiful idea making chocolate babka as muffins! These look incredibly delicious ?
I’m so impressed! Props to you for giving it a go! Also loving the tip about making twice the filling or topping. That would definitely motivate me to make them again!
Beautiful! I too have a list of things that I feel I cannot make and this was always on that list. Thanks for breaking it down!
Heaven in a muffin pan !
Oh man! I’d better make these before Sugar-Free January, otherwise I’ll be pining for them all month long! :)
These look amazing! I couldn’t help but chuckle as I read about taking the filling out of the Oreos. I know full well that I would make it my mission to eat all of that filling so that nothing would go to waste! lol!
That’s so funny because last year as I was packing up my life in Chicago, I made it my mission to make a babka in my apartment before the big move. Success! Double chocolate. I’d actually argue that these muffins are harder, so you’re totally ready for a loaf.
Was totally planning on making chocolate babka for Christmas but these look intriguing, will have to try!
Joy, I wanted to leave a quick note and say thank you for making baking accessible to kitchen-challenged people such as myself. The way you describe ingredients coming together reduces so much of my anxiety while I’m making your recipes. So, thank you! You are excellent at what you do and you’ve inspired me to get an apron and get into the kitchen more often :)
Thank you for the kindness! Really all I want to do in life is help people feel confident in the kitchen!
Saw on Instagram yesterday and couldn’t wait until today! yum, yum, yum! Thank you Joy!!
Joy, these are gorgeous! I have (as we all do) so little time but with so much to do between now and Christmas that when I saw a dish towel that said “f***ity, f***, f***, f***”, I couldn’t help but laugh out loud! But these muffins are now going on my must do list. Thank you for sharing these beauties. Happy holidays to you!
What a yummy idea! You are the very best baker I know!
xx from Bavaria/Germany, Rena
http://www.dressedwithsoul.com
Oye! My Jewish heart!