Oh wow! We are just a few days before Christmas and the end of 2018!
My last recipe of this year is these soft fluffy Nutella babka buns.
They are so fun to make and yes, delicious just like my apple cinnamon rolls, my classic panettone bread, and my mini panettone with chocolate chips!
What Is Babka?
The babka that I'm referring to today is from Jewish tradition. It's a type of yeast dough that is twisted and usually baked in a loaf pan.
The filling is usually chocolate with cinnamon and typically is topped with some streusel.
Talking about Jewish yumminess, have you tried Rugelach? Crispy flaky crescent-shaped pastry filled with jam, pecans, raisins, and cinnamon. Yum!
Ok now let's start with my take on the delicious Babka, shall we?
Nutella Filling
Instead of chocolate, I opted for Nutella.
Why?
Well.. why not?
You can go with some extra steps by making your own cinnamon chocolate filling though. I just wanted something easy and yet, yummy. Like always.
But trust me, go with Nutella. You will thank me later.
Shaping Babka Buns
In the recipe video below, I show in detail how to shape these babka buns.
It's not difficult, I swear.
If you have made braided bread, then it's kind of similar. Instead of just stopping after braiding the dough, you go one step further by making a round shape tucking in one end inside the hole, and pinching it together with the other end at the bottom.
Easy, seriously. Just watch it below.
There are many other ways to shape babka buns, of course.
I've tried several but I have a soft spot on this one. It's easier and the end result is gorgeous! Well.. if I may say so myself.
Babka Topping
As I mentioned earlier, typically a babka is sprinkled with some streusel on top before baking. I like to do that if I'm baking the babka in a loaf pan. I think it looks beautiful.
For these buns, I like them without topping since I think they look beautiful without it.
Just some dust of icing sugar at the end is enough.
Of course, if you want you can add in the streusel. Make them yours.
I hope you will give these delicious soft fluffy Nutella babka buns a try. They're worth it.
Before You Go
Want to see more bread recipes? I have some suggestions for you:
- Garlic cheese herbs pull apart bread
- Apple cinnamon rolls
- Spinach and feta gozleme
- Mini chocolate panettone
- Pandan coconut braided bread
You can find more similar recipes in my recipe page.
Video
📖 Recipe
Nutella Babka Buns
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup warm water (80 ml)
- 2 tablespoon honey (40 gr)
- 1 ½ teaspoon dry yeast (5 gr)
- 2 ¼ cup bread flour (290 gr)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 egg , room temperature
- ¼ cup powdered milk (30 g)
- 1 yolk , room temperature
- 1 lemon zest
- 1 clementine zest
- ⅓ cup butter (75 gr), room temperature & cubed
- Nutella as needed , for filling
Instructions
Preparing The Dough
- Mix honey with warm water and then sprinkle in yeast. Mix and leave for the yeast to activate.
- In a standing mixing bowl, add in the rest of the ingredients except butter and Nutella. Add in also the yeast mixture. Mix to incorporate and then knead for 10 minutes.
- While still kneading, add in cubed butter bit by bit. Make sure it's incorporated before adding more. After all butter is added, knead for another 10 minutes.
- Form dough into a ball, place in a greased bowl and cover the bowl tightly with a cling film. Leave the dough to rise until double its size.
Shaping The Buns
- Place dough on a lightly floured working surface and lightly knead it into a log. Cut into 8 equal pieces. Form each piece into a ball.
- Take a ball and press it into a rectangle. Roll it into a 5x8 inch (13x20 cm), more or less. Spread some Nutella on top, leaving the edges empty.
- Roll it lengthwise. Cut it lengthwise leaving, not all the way to the top. Braid the 2 pieces of dough together, making sure the beautiful exposed layers of Nutella is on top.
- Stretch the braid into 10 inch (25 cm) length, more or less. Bring both ends together, overlapping them and creating a hole in the middle. Bring one end into the hole and pinch it together with the other end at the bottom.
- Place on a baking tray with a baking sheet. Repeat with the rest of the balls. Rest the dough for 30 minutes or until they puff up a bit.
- Bake in a preheated oven at 350ºF (175ºC) for 20 minutes or until golden brown and fully cooked. When they're still slightly warm, dust with some icing sugar and serve!
Siti says
Hi Bea. I tried this recipe for my kids and they love it. I just find my buns get densed the next day after being baked. How can i make it better?
Bea says
Hi Siti! It's normal that they get like that. Keep them in air tight container and re-heat them in the oven at 175ºC for a few minutes. Hope it helps!
Antoinette says
I'm intrestrested to make this recipe, since i'm dairy intollerant what do you recomand to substitute milk powder. Thank you for sharing this recipe
Bea says
Hi! Honestly I haven't made this recipe without milk powder. You could just skip it though, but bear in mind that it'll change the texture a bit since milk powder helps making the buns tender. Hope it helps in any way.
Jen says
I substituted the milk powder with equal parts milk. I think you can just as easily use a nondairy milk alternative.
Brenda says
Thanks for the steps and clear explanations!
The breads were tender and beautiful.
Amazing recipe!
Bea says
Awesome! I'm glad to know this. Thanks so much for the feedback Brenda!
Anusha says
The video uses powdered milk, but the actual recipe doesn't have powdered milk in the list of ingredients. Should I add powdered milk? And if so, is powdered milk the same as evaporated milk? Also the video mentions clementine zest, but the recipe has mandarin zest on its ingredient list. Does it matter which one you use?
Bea says
Ops! I've updated the recipe, sorry for that! Yes, add powdered milk. And no it doesn't matter if it's clementine or mandarin since they're almost the same. Thank you for the heads up Anusha!
Reema says
In my area i dont have bread flour.....any other option plz
Bea says
Hi Reema. Bread flour has higher protein that helps in gluten development, that makes the bread softer and rises higher. All purpose flour has lower protein content, you can use that if you can't find bread flour. Just know that it won't exactly be the same. Hope it helps 🙂