Baked up this Chocolate Brownie Babka for National Homemade Bread Day. Yes, I said Brownie. Ribbons of melted chocolate and chunks of brownies are weaved through soft sweet dough. Drooling!
I used boxed brownies for the babka, but of course you could make homemade as well. Click here for my homemade brownie recipe.
You only need 1/3 of the brownies, so you can save the rest for later or go ahead and just eat them now.
After the brownies are baked and cooked, refrigerate them overnight. This makes it easier to handle and will keep them in chunks after you cut them up instead of being mushy.
With a knife, rough chop the cold brownies and set them aside until ready to use.
Add all the ingredients for the babka dough and let it rise for about an hour. Punch it down, cover with plastic wrap, then also refrigerate overnight.
The next day, melt the chocolate, then combine all the ingredients for the chocolate filling.
Roll out the dough into a rectangle. Spread the filling on top. Sprinkle chopped brownies on the filling. Roll up the dough and cut down the middle. Twist it up and place into a loaf pan. You can add more brownie pieces at this point.
Let it rise, and bake for 30-45 minutes or until browned. Cool on a wire rack.
You can also add a ganache glaze to the babka also. This is completely optional. It givesthe babka extra chocolate deliciousness!
Hope you enjoy this one as much as we did!
Chocolate Brownie Babka
Ingredients
Dough
- 1 package yeast
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 egg
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 3 cups flour
- 6 tbsp butter, softened
Brownie
- 1 box brownie mix
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup oil
- 1/4 cup milk
Filling
- 2 ounces dark chocolate
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1/4 cup powdered sugar
- 1/3 cup dark cocoa powder
Ganache Glaze
- 1 cup chopped chocolate
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1 tbsp milk
Instructions
Brownie
- Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. In a mixing bowl, add brownie mix, eggs, oil, and milk. Pour into a parchment or foil lined 9 inch baking pan. Bake for 30 minutes. Cool on a cooling rack. Refrigerate overnight.
Dough
- Warm buttermilk in the microwave until slightly warm but not hot. Pour in a Kitchen aide bowl. Sprinkle yeast on top. Let it sit for 5 minutes. Add sugar, salt, vanilla, and egg. Attach dough hook and turn on the machine. Add the flour a cup at a time. After the flour is in, add the softened butter a tbsp at a time. Let the dough kneed for a few minutes. Place the dough in an oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator overnight. The next day, divide dough in half. Wrap one half in plastic wrap and place into a zip bag for another time. This would be enough dough for two babkas.Roll out the second half of dough into a rectangle.
Filling
- Place dark chocolate in a microwave safe bowl with the butter. Microwave until melted. Add cocoa powder and powdered sugar and mix. Spread chocolate filling on top of dough until the entire area is covered. Take 1/3 of the brownies and chop into small pieces. Spread the brownie pieces all over the dough and filling. Roll dough up lengthwise. Cut down the middle so that you have 2 halves. Twist each half together, and place in a bread pan. Add some additional brownie pieces on top if desired. Let rise for an hour. Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes or until browned. Cool on wire rack.
Ganache Glaze
- Place chocolate and cream in a microwave safe bowl. Heat for 45 seconds-1 minute. Stir until smooth. Add additional milk if needed. Use a spoon to drizzle on babka.
