Easy Pumpkin Babka Bread Recipe

Pumpkin Babka

This Babka Bread Recipe is about to be one of your new favorite foods. Flavored with pumpkin puree and hazelnuts, it’s safe to say that you’ll love every bite. Use this recipe as a way to create a fun and delicious treat to share with family and friends. This is one of those recipes that looks as though it’s hard to do, but it’s actually quite simple! 

What is Babka?

More than likely, you’ve seen this baked bread at the store or in the bakery portion of your supermarket. It’s hard to miss with its long shape and swirls of chocolate. If you look at this close up, it literally looks like layers of dough that are just waiting to be pulled apart.

The best part about this simple dessert bread is that it’s really not overly sugary like our sweet rolls (which we love too). There is just enough sweetness that is added to the dough that when you bake the Babka, it just levels out throughout the loaf pans creating the perfect bite each time. 

The flavor of cinnamon stands out quite a bit in the recipe and pairs well with the other ingredients. You can easily cut down on the amount of cinnamon or even increase it if you want.

Even though you might be thinking that this bread recipe with yeast is hard to do, the steps and directions are all straightforward and simple. As long as you use a stand mixer with a fitted bowl and a dough hook, the rest is easy peasy to do! 

What nationality is babka bread?

While this bread is eaten by people of all faiths and locations, Babka bread is actually a bread that is popular in the Jewish faith and shared at many meals. Like challah it is a savory type of dessert but it’s easy to alter to make super sweet, too. 

If you want to add some extra sweetness to this simple recipe, you can melt some chocolate chips in a small saucepan over medium heat on the stove and drizzle some of that melted chocolate right on top. I would say 1/2 cup of chocolate chips melted would be more than enough. 

How to Make Babka Dough

Making chocolate babka bread isn’t hard but there are a few steps to keep in mind. You’re going to be responsible for making the dough from scratch and adding it to the prepared pan to bake. Before doing that, you’ll have to make the dough. 

Grab a large bowl and start mixing together the ingredients to create the dough. Make sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl as you’re mixing so that everything gets mixed accordingly. 

Once the dough is mixed, you need to add to the loaf pans and cover the pans. You can use a towel to cover the dough as the dough rises. You’re going to want the loaves to become doubled in size before putting them in the oven to bake. 

How Long to Bake Babka

Once you preheat the oven, the key to making good homemade bread is to have it cooking at a constant temperature to create an even heat. After preheating the oven for 20 minutes, you can insert the loaf pan (only do one at a time!) to bake in the oven. Keep an eye on the cooking process and remove once the bread starts to turn golden brown. 

The reason that you only want to have one loaf in the oven at a time is so that it cooks evenly. If you overcrowd an oven, the heat that is inside the oven isn’t going to stay at a constant.

This is why so many iced pumpkin cookies and cakes take longer to bake than the directions state. It’s because someone overcrowded the space and that means less heat to go around.

This section is for you to put on your think tank. Not all have a filling, but some do. It’s up to you to decide if you want to have a filling in the layers of the bread. If you decide that you want to, you need to add the filling before putting it into the oven to bake. 

What Can You Fill Babka With?

• Nutella 
• Jam
• Fruit
• Chocolate

Besides that, any other fillings could be something that you love and enjoy. The thing to keep in mind with fillings is that they’re hot and will ultimately change the overall flavor of the bread. 

Since the active yeast in this recipe will help to make light and fluffy loaves, you can rest easy knowing that the bread is going to be soft and full of flavor.

How to Make Pumpkin Braided Bread

• Combine lukewarm milk, 1 tsp sugar, and yeast in a bowl. Whisk to dissolve. Leave for 5-10 minutes until foamy.
  • In a separate bowl, combine flour, 2 tbsp of sugar, and salt.
• Pour the yeast mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. Add in the egg, pumpkin puree, and vanilla.
  • Pour in the dry ingredients. Mix on low speed until combined.
  • Then increase speed to medium speed for about 5 minutes until dough is smooth.
• Add butter, 1 cube at a time, and mix on medium for about 5 minutes until incorporated.
• Place the dough in a greased bowl. Cover dough with plastic wrap and let it rise in the fridge for 8 hours or overnight is best.
  • For the filling, combine the brown sugar, cocoa powder, cinnamon, and flour.
  • Pour in vanilla and melted butter. Stir to combine.
• Grease a 9×5 loaf pan. Set aside. Place the dough on a lightly floured surface.
• Knead for a short while. Roll the dough out to a large rectangle.
  • Spread cinnamon filling in center, leaving dough bare around the edges.
  • Top with chopped hazelnuts.
• Roll up the dough tightly to form a log. Using a sharp knife, cut the log longwise, leaving the last inch of the dough intact on one end.
  • Braid the 3 strands all the way to the end, pinch ends closed. Carefully transfer to prepared loaf pan.
  • Cover loosely with plastic, and let rise for about 30 minutes or until almost doubled in size.
• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Make the streusel topping. In a small bowl, mix together the brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon.
  • Add in pieces of cold butter. Mix with a fork until crumbly. Set aside.
• After dough finishes rising, sprinkle the streusel topping and hazelnuts over the loaf. Bake for 40-45 minutes until golden brown.
  • Allow the pumpkin babka loaf to cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before slicing.

What do you eat babka with?

To serve and enjoy, just slice a piece off and eat. There aren’t any toppings that are really synonymous with this type but you could always add some! Butter is a good idea as is Nutella. If you wanted to add some protein I would suggest some eggs.