Milk Bread Chocolate Babka
Milk bread style chocolate babka made with the japanese tangzhong method to yield the softest, most tender bread swirled with a deep dark chocolate filling.
You’re going to love this super soft version of chocolate babka: because it’s made milk bread style.
There are two ways to babka: the more commonly associated brioche dough (most recipes you find use this, similar to Bread’s Bakery babka) versus challah, a softer bread that uses oil, not butter, as a fat. The latter is probably how babka originated, with home bakers spreading jam or cinnamon over leftover challah (apparently the bread met chocolate in new york, source).
Recipe Origins
I am not jewish or Eastern European, and I did not grow up eating babka (although, I very much wish I had!). Like most people, I learned of it from the internets. This popsugar version, is the first babka I made about 5-6 years ago. They had called it chocolate challah although the link has now disappeared (I now think it’s Alexandra Cooks’ recipe because the picture is the same). I had made it once and instantly fell in love. This biased me early on to what babka should feel and taste like. I don’t think a full two months has gone by since summer 2015, when I haven’t made ‘chocolate challah’ and every single time it has been more than well-received by my peoples.
We made a trip to NYC a few years later and tried the famous Bread’s Bakery babka (this was during peak babka trend of 2017 ), and, well, sad to say, it was very different than I imagined and I didn’t fall in love (although have you tried their cheesecake? To die for!). It was dense, almost croissant like in texture, which I get is kind of the point. But we preferred the soft and tender challah base that I made at home. If you are familiar with any of my bread recipes, you know they are usually variants of a challah/enriched dough.
What is milk bread?
Hokkaido Japanese milk bread is made with a tangzhong: a water (or water & milk) roux, ie. a thick paste made from heated flour and the liquid. The roux method is unique to this dough and yields a very tender result, this is because the starches are gelatinized without forming gluten. On this topic, Dini, via The Flavor Bender writes: “The starch molecules in tangzhong absorb far more liquid than it would at room temperature. When this is added to the bread dough, the tangzhong adds MORE water to the dough, and a stable, soft matrix that creates a cushion-like, spongy texture in the final baked product.”
If you’ve seen pictures of japanese milk bread rolls, you know that the roux method results in a super fluffy and tender interior. Some adjectives used to describe this bread I found from various sources: “lofty, feathery white bread”, “soft, springy texture”, “wonderfully tender” and, “Soft, fluffy, airy, tender, springy, pillowy….” I think you get the picture.
Recipe Ingredients
Flour: bread flour or a high protein all purpose flour.
Milk: Whole or 2% is fine. Skim or 1% could work but they might be lacking a bit of fat, same with non-dairy milks. Don’t use buttermilk here as it could curdle in the tangzong step.
Eggs: large and at room temperature. Extra large eggs will lend too much eggyness, and regular size not enough. If you need your eggs to come to room quick, set them in a bowl of hot water for a couple of minutes.
Oil or butter: I use canola but vegetable, grapeseed or even olive oil (if you like the taste) would be fine here.
Powdered sugar: organic or non organic is fine.
Yeast: one packet of instant yeast (7grams). If you need to sub with active dry add 1/2 tsp (25%) more and add it with the flour, skipping the proving step.
Chocolate: The creaminess of your chocolate will affect the ganache filling. If it’s very dark you’ll have to add a bit of heavy cream. If it’s less than 60% cocoa you might not.
Cocoa: dutch process! It’s darker and more chocolatey.
Butter: Any should be fine.
Turbinado sugar: This is a minimally processed sugar and you don’t have to use it, but I like the way the big dark granules look on my bread.
How to make milk bread babka
Make the dough
Start by making the tangzhong (roux): set the first portion of flour and the milk in a small pot and whisk to combine.
Cook over medium low heat until thickened, then take the pot off the heat and let it cool
Combine the yeast and water and a pinch of the sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer. Leave it for a few minutes to dissolve and foam.
Add the greater portion of the flour, the sugar, eggs, salt, vanilla, and melted butter/oil. Away from the eggs, add the roux.
Affix the dough hook and knead until the dough comes together around the dough hook and slightly cleans the sides of the bowl (it might not fully clear the bowl – it can be a sticky dough), this can take up to 10 minutes.
Set the dough in an oiled bowl and cover. Let rise for a couple of hours at room temperature, or (preferably) an hour at room temperature and then overnight in the fridge.
–> A colder dough is easier to work with – this can be a sticky one (it’s what makes it soft!). Even if you are doing a room temperature first rise, let the dough chill for a bit before you start shaping.
Shape the Loaves
Once the dough has doubled, make the filling: combine the butter, chocolate, powdered sugar, a pinch of salt, and cocoa in a pot. Set it over medium low heat and stir, once you have a loose filling take it off the heat.
Prepare two standard size loaf pans (about 8-9 inches long, 4-5 inches wide) by greasing them with oil.
Transfer the dough to a generously floured surface, and divide in half. Working with one half at a time, roll the dough into a 10 x 6 rectangle.
Spread half of the chocolate mixture over the dough.
Roll it up into a log and use a sharp chef’s knife to slice it down lengthwise.
Twist the halves around each other and place the dough in one of the prepared pans. Repeat with the other half of dough.
Gently lay a flour sack or a light dish cloth over the loaves and let rise for about an hour, until puffy and the dough doesn’t immediately bounce back when pressed. Preheat the oven to 375 F.
Brush with egg wash (or not) and sprinkle with sugar (if you like).
Bake for about 25 minutes, and check on the loaves: if they are browning too quickly, loosely lay a sheet of aluminum foil over them.
Continue baking until a thermometer inserted into the middle center of the loaves reaches 190 F.
Let cool briefly in the pan then transfer to a wire rack to cool fully.
Milk Bread Chocolate Babka Recipe
Milk Bread Chocolate Babka
Ingredients
Tangzhong roux
- 240g or 1 cup whole milk or half milk half water
- 40g or ⅓ cup high protein all purpose flour or bread flour
Dough
- 7g or 1 packet instant yeast or use 2 teaspoons active dry yeast
- 60g or ¼ cup warm water
- 100g or ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs at room temperature
- 55g or ¼ cup canola oil or melted butter (oil will give a softer dough, butter will give better flavor)
- 1 tsp fine sea salt
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 520g or 4 cups bread flour or high protein all purpose flour
Filling
- 75g or ⅓ cup butter unsalted
- 100g or ½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chopped
- 35g or ⅓ cup dutch process cocoa
- 40g or ⅓ cup powdered sugar
- 1 TB heavy cream if needed
Method
- Make the roux: In a pot, whisk together the flour and milk. Continue whisking as it heats up and thickens. Once you have the consistency of a soft paste, remove from heat and allow to cool.
- Make the dough: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment, combine the yeast and warm water. Sprinkle a bit of the sugar on top and whisk gently to combine. Give it a few minutes to proof.
- Once the yeast mixture is foamy, add the rest of the ingredients as well as the roux. Turn the dough hook on and let it knead the dough until it comes together in a sticky mass, about 5 minutes.
- Set the dough in a well-oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. For a room temperature rise, the dough will double in around 2 hours (longer if the kitchen is cold). You can also let it rise for an hour at room temperature then set it in the fridge for an extended overnight rise.
- The next morning, remove the dough from the fridge. If it has not doubled in size, let it stand at room temperature to get there. This is to complete the first rise.
- Make the filling: in a pot, melt the butter and chocolate together. Sift in the powdered sugar and cocoa. Whisk to combine. If the mixture is too thick, add a tablespoon of heavy cream - it should be spreadable.
- Once the dough has doubled, punch it down and divide into two halves. Generously flour the countertop.
- Roll one of the halves into a 10x 6 rectangle and spread half the filling over the dough, leaving a 1” border.
- Roll the dough up into a log from the short side and slice the log lengthwise with a sharp knife.
- Twist the two halves around each other, filling side up. Place the twist in an oiled loaf pan prepped with a parchment paper sling. Set in a warm place for a second rise, for about 45-60 minutes.
- Repeat steps with second loaf.
- Preheat oven to 375. Brush the loaves with egg wash and sprinkle over the sugar (if desired). Bake the loaves for about 25 minutes then check - if they are overbrowning, loosely tent them with foil.
- Bake until golden and until an instant read thermometer inserted into the center registers 190 F.
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
Share & tag me on instagram @buttermilkbysam
Easy recipe and as always, appreciate metric measurements. I proofed the dough in the fridge overnight and letting it stand on the counter for 30 minutes in the morning, it was very easy to roll out and manage.
I might have made more filling a second time around since it spread quite thinly over the rolled out dough but I’m also a fan of extra filling.
I skipped the egg wash and instead brushed the loaves with heavy cream before going into the oven and then a simple syrup after I took them out.
The babka is very fluffy and soft and not overly sweet. Perfect for breakfast or with coffee or tea as early fall sets in.
Wonderful recipe
I love this recipe. Using a challah makes so much sense, historically, and the tangzhong brings the chemistry into this bread! What a great union. I added poppy seeds with great success. I didn’t grind them, so the crunch was awesome. Happy baking!
The recipe is perfect! Didn’t need extra flour to roll out the dough. I used store bought chocolate spread that I had. Came out delicious!
Just made this.. amazing! Very good recipe. The first rise, I went out for errands, came back after 3.5 hours, and it had rising nicely, not over proofed.
I love this recipe and have made it every winter since I first found it. Thank you for your generosity and the beauty of your work. Excited to make the chocolate milkbread babka again this year. Sending love!!
I used the filling for this recipe in my Pullman Bread. Nom.
This recipe came out PERFECT! I don’t have a stand mixer so I just kneaded it by hand for about five minutes. 10/10 recommend!
Looking at other comments about dough stickiness, I did not have any problems with that whatsoever so the updated recipe is right on point!
Ah, this is AWESOME to hear. I really wanted to strike that perfect balance keeping the softness without it being such a struggle for us. Thank you Caroline!
I saw the photo in my Substack email and knew I had to try it! I read everything in the write up and watched the video and made the recipe with exact weights listed (the updated recipe Sept 2024) and it turned out perfect, exactly as pictured. I did a 2 hr counter rise and then put into the fridge for about 15 min while I got the chocolate made. Had no trouble at all working the dough. Beautiful to look at and tastes delicious – will be making it again!
I’m really bummed about this recipe. As the commenter below stated, I wish there was some warning here about just how sticky and difficult the dough would be to work with, and of the importance of using a floured work surface to roll and flatten the dough. Of the two babkas possible to make from the two halves of the dough, my first was an unworkable disaster, and I was totally unable to roll it. For the second one I did flour my work surface generously, and put flour all over the dough and my hands. It seemed more promising, but this half of the dough also ended up being too sticky, even with all the repair I tried to do. This was a lot of time and money down the drain. I will stick to the NYTimes recipe babka, as I’ve successfully made that one multiple times in the past.
Ugh, I’m sorry to hear it. I’ve had a few people struggle with this one and decided to give it an update and more instructions photos and a video. I think kneading it longer will really help with the dough’s texture but I also reduced the liquid a bit to help with that.
Hi! Do you have a video of this recipe? I tried to make It, the result was a super soft and great bread, but I have to say that I struggle a lot with the Dough, It was all great, I even let it rest more than 12 hours and when I was trying to actually Make the babka, with the filling and everything the Dough was toooooo sticky, I add more flour in order to get it off my fingers, I kneading it more on the mixer and with my hands and nothing Help, I just throw it on a pan and then bake it, waiting for the worst but As I said before, the result was a súper soft bread, delicious actually but I couldnt manage the dough, any suggestions please? Or a video please? 🙂
Hi Sofia! Video has been uploaded just now (and the recipe has a slight update to make the dough less sticky). Hope it helps <3
It is a really soft dough, I’m sorry it gave you so much trouble. I will work on getting a video up this summer which will hopefully help.
I’m really excited to try this! How long would you recommend kneading if you don’t own a stand mixer and need to knead by hand?
Hi! Gosh I think it would be really difficult without a mixer. If you were really determined I’d increase the flour amount (it’s a very sticky dough), start with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon in the bowl then once it’s manageable switch to a floured surface on the counter.
Hi – this looks great, I wondered if you knew what kind of protein % the flour you use contains? And do you have any experience of using an all purpose flour instead or half and half? I have made Babka before and have found that using bread flour can sometimes make it too bread-y or chewy if you know what I mean?
Hi Faye, you can use bread or all purpose. If it’s all purpose I’d say avoid a brand that has a really low protein content (like 10% or less) because it won’t have enough to build the right gluten structure for the bread.
Thank you so much for this delicious and delightful recipe, Sam! I’ve made it twice now and the family loves it! I admit I was a bit intimidated at first since I’m not very experienced with yeast breads, but your instructions are very clear and easy to follow. I followed everything to the T except the second time, I forgot to tent the loaf pans and it was still very delicious! For all those beginning their baking journey (like me), please stick to the recipe and use a thermometer and scale- it reduces guesswork and leads to more consistent results. The milk bread is so soft and chocolate isn’t overly sweet and well-balanced, so it makes it easy to finish in one sitting. Even one of my children who doesn’t really care for chocolate, loved this and asked me to make more. This is now my go to and will be in regular rotation
great recipe, thanks!
is it possible to swap the oil with butter?
if so- can you say what amount of butter?
Yep, you can do a 1:1 swap
Hi, is there any reason why I should leave the dough in the fridge overnight? Can I just let it rise for 1 hour on the counter? Thanks!
You can do ~2 hours on the counter, the dough just might be a bit sticky to work with
After searching and making hundreds of babkas, I finally found my go-to recipe. And this is the one! It rises beautifully and it stays soft and fluffy for days. It reminds me of my childhood and my grandmother’s babka which she baked in a clay tile oven (no thermostat needed ????) The chocolate filling is rich and delicious. Thank you!
Wow sophie!! I’m so touched that it reminded you of your grandmother’s! I bet that has to do with this being a challah/chocolate combo. A lot of recipes are brioche based which is texturally very different. I always like to talk about the history of a recipe so if you scroll up there’s a bit on brioche vs challah and how babka likely originated. Thank you for such a sweet review, I’m so humbled at the idea that the recipe brought you back a piece of your childhood =)
I don’t know if I’ve missed it what do I do with the roux? I’m excited to make this recipe!!
the roux goes into the dough! I hope you love it 😀
I made this babka recently for a coworker’s birthday, and they absolutely loved it! Easy to follow recipe, and so so delicious and soft with the milk bread base
This is the first time I’ve attempted to make babka. My family loved it! If I want to make the babka on the same day, do I need to knead the dough longer to develop more gluten in the dough? How much longer do you recommend to knead it with a stand mixer? I’m going to try your other babka recipes next. Thank you for sharing your recipe.
Hi Sam! Can I make all babka muffins out of the entire dough instead of just using the ends and his do you recommend doing that?
Yes! Totally doable
Thanks for the recipe!
Would you please tell me what’s the pan measurements?
Great recipe. Easy to follow and the babka was excellent. I also like the idea to use the scraps for muffins. I used 63% cocoa and my taste testers said it was the right sweetness. Can’t wait to make again as I want to practice getting a better twist!
Thanks For Sharing this amazing recipe. My family loved it. I will be sharing this recipe with my friends. Hope the will like it.
This was my first attempt at babka and it paid off beautifully- twice! I decided I wanted to bake myself something special for my birthday but I’m not really into cake. So I made a birthday babka for my breakfast and it was every bit as indulgent and celebratory as I had hoped! It was soooo good toasted with butter. So good in fact that my daughter immediately put in a request for her birthday breakfast the following month. The steps are well explained and laid out. Thank you for an approachable recipe with a spectacular result.
So excited to make this — I had the exact same reaction to Bread’s Bakery babka in NYC — so much hype, but I found it dense and dry. So I feel extra confident I’m going to love yours!
Hey lovely Sam, in the middle of making this recipe and I noticed your grams for the butter in the filling might be 1/2ed. 1/3 cup butter = around 75 g … or am I crazy. Or did you mean 38g butter (1/6 th)? I’m going with the 1/3 because it seems to fit the rest of the ingredients. Super excited for the final product!
Katrina, sorry that was a typo! Yes it is 1/3 cup and 76g. Glad you went with that, hope it turned out well!
This was my first time making babka and I was blown away by how soft and tender the bread was. I made one with Nutella and one with the chocolate filling, which was the perfect amount of sweetness. Thank you so much for this incredible recipe!
Sophie, I’m so glad to hear it! Absolutely honored my recipe was the first you tried <3
Amazing recipe! Admittedly my first time making babka, but it came out incredibly soft and fluffy. And the recipe was much easier to make than I anticipated. I did both rises out of the fridge, so I made it all in one afternoon and enjoyed it for dessert after supper and breakfast the next morning. Looking forward to trying the brownie babka next!
amazing recipe – soooo soft and fluffy!
note that i think there’s an error in the conversion for the 1/3 cup butter in the filling. You have it as 38g when I believe it should be double that or 76g
Drooling at the pictures and this recipe! Can I use coconut oil for the oil?
Yes!
So good! Did first proof out of the fridge and then put covered in pan overnight to proof- had to take out for a bit in the morning to finish the proof but worked super well as a Christmas morning treat!!
Yay! Merry Christmas Hannah!
Can I give this more than 5 stars? It needs more than 5. While it takes multiple steps to create the babka, they are not complicated and the recipe is so easy to follow. My babkas turned out beautifully! Sam- could you make this with a cinnamon/sugar filling? Would you use butter like a cinnamon roll method, then sprinkle the cinnamon and sugar, roll, split and twist? Also, this milk bread dough is so lovely!
<3 <3 Thank you Goldie!!! Yes you could! Check my 'brown butter buttermilk cinnamon rolls' recipe and you can use that filling instead. It'll be lovely!
I really love babka. Especially because the local Jewish bakery sells pareve babka that I can eat, as someone with an anaphylactic milk allergy. I see you recommend a higher-fat milk and mention skim or nondairy might not have enough. I’ve got a few high-ish fat non-dairy milk options around my house, a hemp with 6g, a hazelnut with 11g, a walnut with 9g (all per 8oz). Which flavor do you think might complement the recipe best?
Hmm, I bet the hazelnut milk would be lovely here – not only for the higher fat but I also see the flavor working well with the chocolate. For the ganache I’d use coconut milk btw, if you have it!
This looks amazing and I’ve been studying the steps to make them! But I was wondering , would avocado oil work?
Yes!! It would be lovely here.
Hi!
I just pulled this babka out of the oven and it looks and smells incredible! I’m excited to try it once it’s cool enough to cut!
I just have one question: how do you store it? Should I wrap it in foil, put it in a container, or something different entirely? Also, does it need to be refrigerated?
Thanks!
Hi Keegan! For overnight storage I’d put it in an airtight container at room temperature. The fridge will dry it out. If you want to keep slices for later use you could freeze them (also in an airtight container).
Thanks! (As it turns out, there isn’t even much left to store at this point; between our family and the neighbors the loaf’s almost gone already!)
It tastes absolutely delicious 🙂
How long do you leave it in the fridge before cutting ? Before it over proofs
Hi Karen, not too long like 10-20 minutes. You could also put it in the freezer for 5-10. The point is to just get it to firm up.
Thank you ! 👏🏻
This looks so good! If I want to try this with butter in the dough, how do I do it? Im guessing it would replace the oil, but how would I add it in?
Hi Chelsea! I would just melt the butter and add it in like you would oil (measure it after you melt it).
Hi, …. Firstly I want to thank for the recipe.
I don’t why i was so in love to see the beautiful appearence of babka for the first time on instagram that made really want to learn to make this bread.
And i really excited to try this recipe.
But there’s a question before i making it, i hope u like to answer it..🙏🥰
Do i have to use the tent of alumunium foil? And what happened if i dont’t use it?
Thank you….
Hi Emira! Depending on what type of pan you use and how big it is, it can take longer to cook the babka in the center – the tent of foil is to keep the babka from over-browning as the center cooks.
Hi do you have any substitute for eggs?
Hi Nidhi! On my brownie babka post I have an eggless dough. You’d need to work that into a milk bread style recipe by cooking some of the flour with some water or milk.
Hi! A few questions!
I’m wanting to bake this in one day, so instead of putting it in the fridge can I do the first rise in a warm area?
If I just want one loaf I saw another comment say to use 1 and 1/4 tsp yeast, but would I go ahead and halve all the other ingredients?
Also for convenience would nutella work as the filling?
Thanks for your recipe, I love using tangzhong!
Hi Helen! Yes, you can do the first rise at room temp; 2 hours should have it doubled in size. And yeah halve everything else for only one loaf. Nutella definitely works for a filling! Beware that between the room temp dough and the nutella it will be softer to roll out and a bit messier to cut. I’d set it in the fridge for a bit after you roll it up into a log to help it firm up a bit. Good luck!
Do I halve the yeast if I only want to make one loaf instead of two?
Hi Jen, for one loaf: 1 1/4 teaspoon should be good.
I would love to make this, but I do not own a stand mixer. Would this still be doable? If so what are some tips?
Ps: this bread looks way too good to just be saved in my folder 😭
Hi Michelle! You could.. it will be an arm workout! The dough is rather wet so I’d knead it in a big bowl with a flexible spatula.
The first time I ever made babka and it was a big success! Super soft, intense chocolate flavor but not too sweet, I ate one slice after the other while still warm from the oven smeared with some butter – yum!
The dough was a bit finicky to work with (a price I’m willing to pay for super soft babka 😃) and since my timing didn’t allow to put the rolled babka back into the fridge, there might have been some strong words shaping it… Thanks again for the great recipe!
P.S.: I found your blog through Jessica from How Sweet Eats and I’m really glad I did! I’m not only enjoying your recipes but also your writing which to me is almost as important as a great recipe. If I don’t feel like I connect to the blogger on some level, I usually lose interest quickly. I got back to baking a few months ago and really enjoy your creative and yummy recipes, I get a lot of inspiration from them.
Just made babka for the first time using this recipe – WOW! The chocolate filling has the perfect level of sweetness. I am all for babka without the sugar syrup so that was another plus for this recipe. I need to work on my twisting technique but other than that the recipe worked like a champ!
Totally agree with you about the syrup! And I’m so glad you loved it, thanks so much for making it!
Just realized that my swirl issue may have been that I hadn’t previously read your comment about cutting the roll and then refrigerating to firm up…that would likley solve my issue. Shared the two loaves with three neighbors…comments included “better chocolate to bread ratio than my favorite croissant” and “that chocolate filling tastes like a special occasion chocolate”. FYI I used Trader Joe’s 70% pound plus bar for the chopped chocolate and King Arthur’s Double Dutch Dark Cocoa. Amazing results. Setting up for the next batch now.
Hi Malisa! Yes, the fridge really helps firm everything up for much better cuts. I am SO with your neighbor on that ratio comment – croissants never have enough! I should tackle them next, lol. Also those TJ pound plus bars are my absolute favorite these days. I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe!
Hi, this looks amazing! Can’t wait to try it.
If I make the dough and put it in the fridge overnight can I continue with the rest of the recipe in the afternoon rather than in the morning?
You can! More important than than timing are the cues you get from the dough itself. Before it goes into the oven it should be quite poofy (for lack of a better word). If it looks dense and cold, it’s not ready to go in yet.
Great, thank you! 🙂