nutella babka
Or, alternately titled, “That One Time I Used an Entire Jar of Nutella in a Bread Recipe.” Oh yes. (And oh no, says bikini season, but that’s not for a while, right? Right.)
Call me a crazy, but I rarely buy Nutella. It’s not because I don’t like the way it tastes — it’s that I do. And when I know there is a jar of it lurking in my pantry, I can’t stop thinking about it. Suddenly, I’m in the kitchen, in front of said pantry. And just as suddenly after that, I’m spoon-and-or-fist-deep in the jar, like Winnie the Pooh with his honey. Only much less cute.
So what I’m saying is, I just HAD to put the entire jar of Nutella into the bread recipe, lest I devour the rest of it in an obscenely short amount of time. Instead, it is now safely tucked inside swirl upon swirl in a streusel-topped Nutella babka… which, come to think of it, only makes it less safe. Um, yes. Did not think through the logic on that one too well.
Before I get too distracted thinking about the loaf that I currently have stored in my kitchen, let’s talk about how we do this babka thing. You see, while babka may look like a fancy, swirly bread of goodness, it’s also a very easy, fancy, swirly bread of goodness. There are practically a million different variations of the loaf on the interwebs, with different fillings and toppings and shaping techniques. No one of them is necessarily better than the other, but I will say that in my babka experiences, this variation takes the lead. It renders a soft, fluffy, very tall loaf with near-perfect chocolate hazelnut swirl distribution. Using Red Star Yeast helps make the process even more pleasant, so I suggest picking up a package of their active dry yeast for this recipe.
Just imagine soft, warm, fresh slices of Nutella-swirled brioche or using this bread to make the best French toast you’ll ever have in your life, and let’s float along on those cloud nines on our how-to journey:
First things first: Make the dough. It’s a simple process — you activate/proof the yeast in a bit of warm milk, combine the eggs, butter, sugar and vanilla in a separate bowl, then add the flour, salt and activated yeast mixture. Stir everything together until it forms a dough, then knead it in a stand mixer or on a lightly floured surface until a smooth, soft, elastic and only slightly sticky dough forms. Shape the dough into a ball, place it in a lightly oiled bowl (give it one turn to coat the surface of the dough with oil), then cover the bowl loosely with plastic wrap. Let the dough rise in a warm place (I put mine in the microwave because it acts as an incubator of sorts) and let the dough rise for about an hour to an hour and a half until doubled.
LIKE THEEES.
Punch down the dough, then roll it out on a lightly floured surface to a rough 18-by-18-inch square (it’s totally cool if it’s not perfect). Now is when we add ALL THE NUTELLA. But seriously. Use a spatula to spread an entire 13 oz jar of Nutella onto the surface. You will not regret this decision.
Roll up the dough tightly like a jelly roll, then use your palms to gently roll out the log to about 2 feet (24 inches) long (sorry I don’t have any pictures of this, as my hands were busy shaping the dough/licking extra Nutella off my fingers). Shape the log into a figure 8 shape, then twist into another figure 8, pinching the seams as well as you can to seal. Place it in a well-greased loaf pan.
It should look like this in the pan once you’ve shaped it.
Cover the loaf with plastic wrap and let it rise again until nearly doubled, so that the top of the loaf just begins to peek out over the top of the pan. You don’t want it to rise much more than this otherwise it will overflow in the pan (as I sadly learned firsthand on my first go of this).
Meanwhile, make the streusel topping: Combine flour, brown sugar, and fine-chopped hazelnuts in a bowl, then cut in the cold butter with a pastry cutter or your fingers until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Place the streusel in the fridge until your dough is ready to be baked.
Heat the oven, then brush the risen loaf with an egg wash. Sprinkle/pat on as much streusel topping as you can fit on the loaf. Remember that it’s full of sugary, buttery, nutty deliciousness so you don’t want to be skimpy.
Place the loaf pan on a baking sheet (to catch any streusel that falls off as the bread bakes), and place the sheet in the center of the heated oven. Bake the loaf until it’s golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Remove the bread from the pan, and — painful as this may be — let it cool completely on a cooling rack before slicing. I KNOW.
Whew! Finally, we can slice that bread right up. The drooling was getting kind of ridiculous for a minute there.
Like I said — swirly goodness.
I dare you not to eat a slice immediately. And then go back for another. And another. Ahem.
For more baking tips and tricks, check out Red Star Yeast’s baking steps guide. And for more baking yummies, follow Red Star Yeast on Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest.
PrintNutella Babka
- Prep Time: 1 hour 10 mins
- Cook Time: 50 mins
- Total Time: 2 hours
- Yield: 1 9-by-5-inch loaf 1x
Ingredients
For the bread:
- 3/4 cup warm milk (about 115 degrees F)
- 2 1/4 teaspoons (1 packet) Red Star active dry yeast
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- 6 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 4 egg yolks
- 3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for kneading and shaping
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- Egg wash (1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water), for topping
For the filling:
- 1 (13 oz) jar Nutella, or your favorite chocolate hazelnut spread
For the streusel topping:
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1/4 cup chopped hazelnuts
- 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch cubes
Instructions
- In a small bowl, combine warm milk and yeast; stir to dissolve yeast. Let sit 10 minutes until yeast is foamy.
- Meanwhile, in a large bowl or bowl of a stand mixer, beat butter and sugar on medium speed 1 to 2 minutes until light and fluffy. Beat in vanilla and egg yolks, one at a time, beating well and scraping down sides of bowl after each addition.
- Add flour, salt and yeast mixture to bowl; stir just until a dough forms. Using the stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment, knead dough on medium speed 4 to 5 minutes, adding a few more tablespoons of flour if needed until a smooth, soft, elastic and only slightly sticky dough forms; OR, turn dough out onto a well-floured surface and knead by hand 10 minutes, adding a few more tablespoons of flour if needed until a smooth, soft, elastic and only slightly sticky dough forms.
- Shape dough into a ball and place in a large, lightly oiled bowl; turn to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place 1 hour to 1 1/2 hours until doubled.
- Punch down risen dough. On a lightly floured surface, use a rolling pin to roll dough into roughly an 18-by-18-inch square. Use a spatula to spread Nutella evenly on top of dough.
- Roll up dough tightly like a jelly roll. Use palms to gently roll into a 24-inch (2-foot) long log. Twist log into a figure 8, then twist into a figure 8 one more time, pinching seams to seal. Place dough in a well-greased 9-by-5-inch loaf pan. Cover with plastic wrap or a tea towel and let rise in a warm place 40 to 45 minutes until the loaf just begins to peek over the top of the pan and is nearly doubled.
- Meanwhile, heat oven to 350 degrees F. In a medium bowl, combine all ingredients for the streusel except the butter. Using a pastry cutter or your fingers, cut in the butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Place bowl in refrigerator until loaf is ready to bake.
- Brush the top of the loaf lightly with egg wash. Sprinkle and gently pat as much streusel as you can on top of loaf. Place loaf pan on a baking sheet (to catch any streusel drips), then place baking sheet on center rack of oven. Bake 50 minutes to 1 hour until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Remove loaf from pan; transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely before slicing.
Disclosure: I received compensation from Red Star Yeast for recipe development purposes. All opinions are my own.
WHAAAT. This is too good, lady! I know what you mean about buying Nutella… I’m the same way with cookie butter! Which now has me dreaming of cookie butter babka… oh no…
You sound like my kind of girl…the whole jar of nutella?? Yes please!! Better in this bread than directly in my tummy. Looks like this will be a little addicting. Just saying.
Looks dangerously delicious!! I’m the exact same way with nutella – I just can’t have it around. Earlier this year my mom sent me a coupon for buy one get one free Nutella, and I realized I was doomed…but then, as it happened, my boyfriend beat me to it and ate both jars before I really had a chance at them, haha.
To awesome for words!! Ok well, I have a few. One, this is gorgeous. Two, those swirls are perfect. Three, this bread is so awesome!! Need it!
Oh hello Monday morning!! This is worth start a new week for!
Beautiful!! I love anything with nutella! 🙂
I am the same way with Nutella – it’s dangerous to keep in the pantry! So I applaud you for using the entire jar in this recipe. Gives me an excuse to go buy some!!
Oh wow. I’ve been wanting to make a pesto swirl bread for awhile and now I much add this to the list. A whole jar of Nutella!?
A whole jar?!? I LOVE YOU!!! Gah, this looks so yummy.
Oh my heavens!!!! Any bread that requires an entire jar of Nutella is totally my jam! And just like that this bread cured my fears of working with yeast 🙂
Umm this is lovely and I want the whole loaf. Pinning to make it later.
Well, this is the prettiest bread I ever did see. You are just a baking genius!
I’m just the same with Nutella – I can’t have it in my pantry or else I’m thinking about that jar all.the.time until it’s all gone… and by “gone” I mean “in my mouth”… yes.
So it makes perfect sense that you used all of it in this gorgeous loaf. Oh My, it looks like sweet, pillowy, carb-y heaven – it turned out perfect!
I hope you have a fantastic week! x
this post made me so HAPPY! i’ve been craving babka since i left new york and i’ve had “find a babka recipe” on my to do list for a while now!
Look at that perfect swirl, so pretty! And there is no harm in using an entire jar of Nutella 🙂
O.M.G. Seriously, mad skills. And Nutella, forget about it!
I’m very ok with the use of an entire jar of nutella in anything.. this is seriously amazing!
I am so excited about this bread; I could not hold my excitement. Nutella french toast? with crumble? Damn girl!
It’s so perfect!!! I rarely buy nutella for the same reason as you. But if I’m baking a treat for the whole family to enjoy at Easter brunch, I say a nutella purchase is in order, yes? Yes! Love this, my dear! and so would my whole family 😀
Could this be any prettier? I think no.
Love.Every.Single.Picture. So beautiful and I can only imagine have wonderful it tastes!
Of course you used the entire jar of Nutella, you are my hero! 🙂
This bread looks incredible and you’ve made it sound so easy! Can’t wait to try it – I think it’s the perfect Easter breakfast treat!
I have (almost) the same problem, though mine is more of a weakness for cookie butter. ‘Just one more spoonful…’ can so easily become ‘oh crap, there goes the whole jar’! Beautiful bread!!
Absolutely gorgeous!
YUM. I wish I had some of this right now! It snowed today, so I don’t need to think about bikini season, right?
Over the weekend I made your Nutella-Swirled Banana Bread that you posted on Pass the Cocoa a little ways back (which turned out even better than expected, by the way), and now I must try this Nutella babka as soon as I can get myself to the store to buy a brand-new jar of Nutella. Yum.
There is no way I could let this cool completely before digging in!
A jar of nutella in this bread?! Sold.
I pretty much want to face-plant my computer screen right now.
This looks amazing! I’ve made chocolate babka before, but Nutella takes it up so many notches! I have the same problem with having jars of it around.
So far I’ve been able to resist the Nutella shelf at the store. Now I’m scared I won’t be able to step away from it cause this bread looks so dang good!
Dang! That is seriously gorgeous!! I have to make 6 (SIX!) Babka’s this week and I’ve never made them before. I think I’ll give your recipe a go! 🙂
This looks incredible! I’m just like you with the Nutella. I can’t stop myself from eating straight from the jar. I start off with good intentions – putting a tablespoon on a banana or apple. But then it’s just right into the jar with my spoon! So I don’t buy it often. But I will for this bread!
Steph! I’m just going to go ahead and say it – DAMMMMMMMN GIRL. This ———> so happening!
I do call you crazy for not buying Nutella often :p. But I guess you made up for it by using the whole jar 😉 This looks SO good!
I will happily trade in standing in front of the cupboard eating straight from the jar for standing in front of this loaf and eating slice after slice. AMAZING!!
Sounds like you did the only responsible thing using the whole jar… 🙂 It looks absolutely delicious!!
Beautiful presentation! It almost looks too pretty to eat! 🙂
Gah! Streusel AND swirl upon swirl of nutella? I’m quite sure this bread would magically “disappear” in our house.
This is killing me! I want to make french toast out of it.
Nutella is dangerous in my pantry as well, but I think this bread might be even more dangerous! I’ve been wanting to try making babka for a while now, and I think this one will be first on my list.
What a stunner!
Holy cow this looks amazing! There is something about swirls in baked goods – I find them almost mesmerizing! haha
And I definitely cannot buy nutella unless it’s for a planned reason – if it’s in my pantry I eat it. Way too fast!
Nutella, bread, crumbles, what more could one ask for? Looks amazing!
This looks insanely delicious! I totally cracked a smile about how you purchase Nutella, because I do the same thing…if I buy it, I eat it, simple as that! I feel like I would win ‘person of the year’ if I made this and brought it for Easter brunch this weekend….definitely going to have to make it now!
Oh My Goodness!! That looks delicious! Excuse me, I have to run out and buy some Nutella.
Never have I ever seen such a beautiful loaf of bread! If I get some free baking time this weekend I am sooooo making this!
Wow that is one gorgeous loaf of bread. Such a brilliant idea to use Nutella. And that one pick where you’re spreading it over the dough is seriously making my mouth water!
I rarely buy Nutella too but there’s a jar in our fridge now from a video shoot we used a spoonful of it for last week. Yay.
Whhhaaat?! Forget the jar of nutella, I wouldn’t be safe around that loaf of bread! There might not even be enough left for pictures!!! Wow! I am stunned. Pinned onto my board aptly named “Bread is not Optional”. 😉
Lawd this looks amazing!
Pingback: Sifted: Tax Day Cocktails, Triple Berry Dutch Baby + More - Funky Recipe - Meals - Holidays - Special Occasions
This is so beautiful! And thanks for the step by step pictures. When I was a kid my sister and I used to demand a jar of nutella from time to time. Then our dad would buy it and we immediately lost interest. I wish we had your recipe at that time. I would have begged my dad to make it.
There’s no resisting the lure of nutella. You can’t fight it. This bread is gorgeous. I love that you used an entire jar of nutella. That’s one way to get it out of your pantry 🙂 Pinned.
This is so wonderful! Wow! What a loaf, I need to make one of these, ASAP! Delicious!!! Although…..on second thought, maybe I should wait till after my half marathon…..I may devour this whole thing in one afternoon 😛
I make a similar bread with nutella and mashed banana swirled in the centre. It’s to die for…hence I don’t make it often. Like you, I have a lack of judgement when it comes to the nutella jar.
This is such a beautiful loaf of bread! I never by Nutella either; I can’t have a jar of that stuff lying around without eating with a spoon.
You made me laugh. This is me and cookies. There are times I am just fine and can leave them alone. But I am in a stretch of life right now that it is best they ar not in the house. And my life is VERY good right now. Anyway I never buy nutella. But I am seeing in sooooo many recipes. This one is an obvious winner. I guess I better buy a jar and see what all the excitement is about—–realizing that it’s been around for a while especially in other countries.
Omgomgomg. I am dead. I literally made babka a couple months ago with cookie butter – Nutella and cookie butter are like crack to me. I did mine in a bundt pan, but I’m obsessing over loaf twist with streusel!
This looks soooo impressive, and I wouldn’t worry too much about the whole jar of nutella thing. It is Easter, after all, which is supposed to be full of chocolate.
Hi Stephanie, absolutly thrilled to have stumbled across you blog today and especially excited about using up my jar of nutella fo a lovely loaf like this! Gorgeous blog and beautiful recipes 🙂
Pingback: GROCERY LIST 37 | Wit & Vinegar
Pingback: Friday Gold Cardigan Posts: April 18 | In My Yellow Cardigan
I made this today for Easter and it turned out perfectly. It was so delicious! Everyone raved over it. I am glad I doubled the recipe and made 2! Thank you so much – this will be one I will be making over and over …. So good
Terry — Oh I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe! Happy Easter!
Pingback: Fun with Food | Raising Chaos
Pingback: Braided red bean brioche. » Two Red Bowls
Hehe I’m the same way when it comes to Nutella – so dangerous to keep around in the pantry. This babka looks like the perfect way to use up the entire jar – love the pretty swirl 🙂
I made this on Sunday and it is all gone!! OMG>…it is fabulous! The only thing I plan to change will be to make two loaves out of the recipe. It pretty much overwhelmed my loaf pan and about 1/4 of the topping fell off while baking.
This looks way beyond amazing! I love Nutella and I also love homemade bread, (way too much!) so this is the perfect recipe for me! Thanks for sharing!
I had a comment in mind while reading this, but now all I can think about is Nutella swirls in homemade bread. Excuse me while I go clean the drool off my screen, kthanks.
It is absolutely attractively yummmy.
Pingback: Chocolate Almond Olive Oil Granola |
Pingback: lifeazerika blog
Pingback: Some Nutella inspired baking | For the Love of Food and Books
Pingback: Nutella Babka « Red Star Yeast
I have tried this twice now with two different kinds of yeast and it won’t rise.
Never mind…..I went to check it at 2 hours and it had actually risen this time. It had not done much for the first hour and half. I used Gold instant yeast. The first time, I did not use that yeast and followed the proofing directions and it did not rise….by three hours I just tried to put it in the pan with the Nutella and it still did not do anything. Tried to bake and was a disaster. With the Gold yeast, it didn’t look like anything was happening until 2 to 2.5 hours. I let it rise until three hours had passed and then put it in the pan with the Nutella and gave it another hour and a half. So definitely all the rising times needed doubled for me.
Barbara — So sorry you’ve had some issues with rising with this bread! Have you tried placing the bowl of dough on top of a heating pad (on low) or in the microwave or oven (turned off) when it rises? Sometimes for me that helps keep the bread warm especially in the winter, when my kitchen is colder. Anyway, I hope the second round turned out better for you!
Such a fantastic idea. I’ve never made bread before, so this was very new to me. I was so excited when the dough actually rose both times, then when I baked it, it went way to high over the top, and while the entire outside was brown, it was not baked all the way through since it was only in for 40 minutes. I put the toothpick in and it seemed done. I was so disappointed in all the work put into it, and it’s not edible. I will try this again though and turn the heat down to 300 maybe? in the oven and hopefully it will finish up.and be able to bake the entire time it needs to finish up.
Natalie — So sorry your first experience with bread baking turned out this way! 🙁 Did you use a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan? This recipe makes a tall loaf so it’s really important to use that exact size pan. Also, if the top gets too brown before the middle of the bread is baked through, you can cover the top of the loaf with foil while it continues baking. And because it’s such a dense loaf, it really needs at least 50 min to a full hour (or more, depending on your oven) at 350 degrees F to bake through. I hope your next round produces better results!
The loaf pan wasn’t the right size. It was around 8 by something.. never sure where to measure it, and there was nothing on the pan saying anything. I found one the right size which I’ll try out for my next batch. The parts that were baked were delicious so I definitely need to do this again! Thanks for the tips!
Pingback: 20 Babka Recipes - What Jew Wanna Eat
Pingback: Nutella Cheesecake Brownie Bites • a farmgirl's dabbles