Chocolate swirl babka

Recipe by Cook's Hideout

Chocolate Swirl Babka is very decadent, chocolaty and delicious. It is perfect to make during the holiday season and tastes great with a cup of coffee.

Ingredients

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 cup Wholewheat Flour
• 1½ tsp instant yeast
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 5½ tsp salt
• ½ cup water
• ½ cup almond milk (or any other dairy or non-dairy milk)
• 2 tbsp Unsalted Butter, soften (Use vegan butter for vegan babka)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 5½ tbsp Egg replacer whisked in 11/2 cups of water (or use 1 large egg yolk)
• 4 tbsp unsalted butter
• ½ cup sugar
• ½ cup dark chocolate chips
• 2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
• ½ tsp ground cinnamon
• ¼ cup Pecans, toasted and chopped
• 3 chocolate wafer cookies (crushed)
• 3 tbsp almond milk

Method

1. Combine all the ingredients in a large mixing bowl or the bowl of the stand mixer. Mix and knead until a smooth dough forms.
2. Cover and set the dough aside while you make the filling.
3. Melt the butter in a saucepan. Add the sugar and stil until it dissolves completely. Remove from heat and stir in the chocolate -- let stand for 1 minute, then stir until the chocolate is melted and smooth. Stir in the cocoa powder and cinnamon. Set aside.
4. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough to a roughly 20"x12" rectangle.
5. Spread the chocolate filling over the dough all the way to the edges. Sprinkle in the chopped nuts and crushed chocolate cookies.
6. Starting at one of of the long ends, roll up the dough tightly to make a 20" log.
7. Using a sharp knife, cut the dough completely in half lengthwise. Turn the cut sides facing up, take one cut half and fold it over the other. Continue the rope like formation, overlapping and twisting the 2 dough halves, with the rest of the log, always making sure that the cuts sides face up.
8. Lightly grease a 9"x5" loaf pan and line it with parchment with a little overhang on two sides.
9. Gently lift the twisted loaf and nestle it into the loaf pan. It is bigger than the pan and will take a bit of adjusting to get everything in.
10. Cover with a greased plastic wrap and let rise for 45minutes~1hour or until slightly crested over the rim of the pan.
11. Preheat the oevn to 350F. Uncover the loaf and brush the top of the bread with the milk.
12. Bake for 30~40 minutes or until the sides start to pull away from the pan. Remove the loaf from the oven and after 5 minutes, remove the bread from the pan. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

View the recipe instructions at Cook's Hideout