Sourdough Babka with Cinnamon
If you already know how to bake sourdough bread, this recipe will not be hard to make. If you are new to sourdough, then this is a great place to start!
Equipment
- 1 hand or stand mixer (optional)
- 1 digital scale (optional but highly recommended)
Ingredients
Levain (optional)
- 50 g (3 tbsp) mature starter
- 50 g (½ cup) all-purpose flour
- 50 g (⅕ cup) water cold or warm, not hot
Dough
- 320 g (2½ cups) all-purose flour
- 110 g (⅓ cup) milk room temperature
- 2 eggs room temperature
- 105 g (½ cup) butter room temperature
- 30 g (¼ cup) powdered sugar for a better texture
- 8 g (1½ tsp) sea salt or other salt
Filling
- 200 g (1 cup) brown sugar
- 15 g (⅛ cup) all-purpose flour
- 43 g (3 tbsp) butter
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 3 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
- For this recipe, you can use levain OR mature starter. The difference is that with levain the dough will have a better chance of rising, however, using a mature starter will save you time if you are on a schedule! To make levain you need to feed a mature starter and let it mature again. This adds strength to the bacteria and gives a better chance for the dough to rise and ferment.
- To make levain, add 50g (3 tbsp) mature starter, 50g (½ cup) flour, and 50g (⅕ cup) water to a jar and mix. Leave it to rise to its full capacity (3-5 hours depending on the temperature in your house).
- Mix together the milk, eggs, flour, levain, sugar, and salt. You can use a stand mixer with a dough hook if you have one or you can do it as I did and do a little workout with your hands! When you feel that the dough has come together and is not sticking to the sides as much, let the dough rest in the mixing bowls for 10-15 minutes.After that start adding butter little by little and mixing it into the dough. When the butter is fully incorporated continue mixing for some time (2-3 minutes) to make sure the dough comes together.
- Now leave your dough in the mixing bowl covered with a wet kitchen towel, place in a warm place in your house (but not too hot!), and let the dough rise. You want to cover it with a wet towel so that the moisture doesn’t escape the dough too much during the rising time.During the rising time, you want to do 2 sets of stretch and folds for gluten to strengthen more. Do the first one 45 minutes after the start of the rising time and the second one 45 minutes after that.You are looking for some rise – definitely not doubling in size! It might take a little bit over 2 hours to start seeing the rise. As soon as you do though, it is time for the next step.
- As your dough started to rise a bit, transfer the mixing bowl covered with a towel into the fridge. You want to let your dough sit in the fridge overnight for about 12-15 hours (depending on when you would like to bake your babka in the morning!)
- Melt the butter, but be careful not to burn it. Then mix all the ingredients together until incorporated and set aside until ready to use.
- Take the dough out from the refrigerator and roll it into about 22x45 cm rectangle (or about 10x20 inches). Then spread the filling leaving about 2 cm clean from the top and the bottom sides.Roll the dough up and make sure to get it rolled up as tight as you can. As the dough is soft right now it might be hard to work with, so just place your roll into the freezer for 10-15 minutes before proceeding to the next step.
- Take the roll out from the freezer and cut it into 2 long strands. After that, pinch the tops of the strands and braid them like in the picture.
- Prepare the bread baking tin lined with parchment paper. Place the braid into the tin and let it sit in a warm place to rise once again. This stage might take anywhere from 2.5 to 3.5 hours depending on how quickly your babka starts to rise. It doesn’t have to double in size but rise to about 10-20% of its original size.
- The moment has come! Preheat your oven to 175C/ 350F. While it is preheating prepare the egg wash. You will need 1 egg and 1 tablespoon of water mixed together. Brush your sourdough cinnamon babka with the egg wash so that it browns nicely on the top.Then place the babka into the oven for 40-50 minutes (check with a toothpick for readiness.)
- In a small pot heat up ¼ cup of sugar and ¼ cup of water and mix until the sugar gets dissolved. This will go on top of your cinnamon babka right after it is out of the oven!When you take out your sourdough cinnamon babka spread the sugar syrup you made on top of it and let the babka rest in the baking tin for about 15 minutes. Then you can take the babka out and let it cool completely before cutting into it. This is one of the hardest parts! But trust me, it is worth the wait.
Notes
- If you find it hard to work with the filling, spread melted butter onto the dough first, then sprinkle the sugar and cinnamon mixture on top.
- To make a gluten-free sourdough babka substitute all-purpose flour for gluten-free flour. I rarely recommend 1:1 substitution but I have made this recipe with GF flour and, surprisingly, it turned out even better than the original!
- For the dairy-free version, use coconut oil in place of butter and plant-based milk.
- To make this recipe vegan, try using chia egg in place of eggs.
Nutrition
Serving: 5servingsCalories: 706kcalCarbohydrates: 105.2gProtein: 11.2gFat: 27.3gSaturated Fat: 16.4gCholesterol: 132mgSodium: 221mgPotassium: 179mgFiber: 2.1gSugar: 46.2gCalcium: 87mgIron: 4mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!