Kind of a funny name for a food, but very popular these days. Now I introduce to you my guilt free babka which is grain free, gluten free, dairy free and sugar free. Hard to believe but its true and it tastes delicious.
What is a Babka?
Babka originated in Poland in the early 19th century. The word Babka means grandmother in Polish and it is a sweet braided bread or cake popular in Israel and in American Jewish cuisine. It is normally prepared with a yeast-leavened dough that is rolled out and spread with a filling such as chocolate, cinnamon, fruit, or cheese, then rolled up and braided before baking. Kind of like a cross between a cinnamon roll and a challah bread. Many times they would use the challah bread dough leftovers and just roll some jam into it and serve on the sabbath.
A healthier Babka
Overtime this has become more and more popular, especially when a Tel Aviv Bakery opened in New York called Breads Bakery and became famous for these delicious Babkas. Now a days you and easily find them in most supermarkets and bakeries as a yummy chocolate yeast cake.
However like all cakes they are packed with sugar, and other ingredients that make them delicious yet no so healthy. This is why I decided to experiment and master this somewhat difficult treat by making it healthier and still delicious. I know its a bit of work here with the braiding and rolling but it really is delicious and worthwhile. Give it a try, Happy Cooking!
Technique
The dough I used is my famous everything dough that I have used for amazing avocado pizza and za’atar bread delight and grain free empanadas. As you can see I really love this dough and use it for everything, hence the name. So since this is a sweet bread I slightly modified the recipe, adding monk fruit and coconut oil, see recipe below.
It’s pretty simple and fun to make this, knowing you will get a grain free, dairy free delicious guilt free Babka. The only tricky/messy part here is the dough rolling and braiding. I hope my pictures below help clarify everything. Make sure you have tapioca flour on hand to sprinkle the surface and your hands with. Grain free doughs can be sticky and the tapioca flour helps you handle dough easily. Feel free to comment below with questions.
Another super important tip is to line your loaf pan with parchment paper, otherwise the guilt free babka will never come out! Trust me I learned from trial and error.
dough has rested and doubled in size 
place dough between 2 parchment papers to roll out 
you should have a big rectangle that is fairly thin 
spread filling evenly on all of dough 
carefully roll dough off paper in to a log 
finished log 
slice loh lengthwise 
now you can see the beautiful layers 
twist the pieces together to form a 2 stran braid 
carefully place in loaf pan
Filling
The more popular filling is chocolate with cinnamon, however you can fill it with anything. In the below recipe I included details for the chocolate one, however some pictures are of the cinnamon pecan version I also made. This one is very similar just without the chocolate. I used 2 tbsp of ghee or coconut oil, 2 tbsp of swerve confectioner sugar (sugar substitute), and tons of cinnamon and pumpkin spice; I must have used 2 tbsp at least. Then after spreading it on the dough I sprinkled my pumpkin spice pecans that I had on hand.
Try the chocolate or cinnamon or anything you like for a filling, just stick to the basic recipe and swap things out. The oil/ghee is the base and swerve is to sweeten then the flavor is up to you!
Don’t forget to try more delicious recipes like this one:
Recipe: Guilt Free Babka
Guilt Free Babka
Gluten free, grain free chocolate yeast cake - Babka
Ingredients
- For dough
- 2 tbsp GF yeast
- 1 tbsp raw honey
- 2/3 cup warm water
- 1 1/2 cup tapioca flour
- 1 cup almond flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 3/4 cup arrowroot flour
- 1 egg
- 2 tbsp coconut oil
- 1 tbsp golden monk fruit
- 1 tsp xanthan gum
- For filling
- 4 oz dark chocolate
- 2 tbsp ghee or coconut oil
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder
- 1/2 cup swerve confectioners sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp cinnamon
Instructions
- Start by making dough, in one cup add yeast and honey with warm water and let it sit on counter to bloom (about 5-10 min). when it starts to bubble up it is ready to use.
- In a separate large bowl, add in flours, xanthan gum, baking powder, and monk fruit and mix together.
- Add in egg and coconut oil and mix well, it will be crumbly and dry.
- When yeast is ready add it in and mix all together until a sticky dough forms.
- Cover dough and let rest in a warm place until it doubles in size. The dough will not be as airy as regular flour dough, however it will raise a bit. This will take about 45 min.
- In the meantime you can make the filling by melting chocolate in a double boiler or microwave 20 sec at a time.
- Once chocolate is melted add ghee or coconut oil and mix well.
- Remove from heat and add rest of the ingredients. Mix well until you get a thick chocolate spread/paste.
- Preheat oven to 375℉ and line a loaf pan 4.5" x 8.5" with parchment paper. This is critical if you want to remove loaf from pan later.
- When dough is ready remove from bowl onto a piece of parchment paper. Place a second piece of parchment paper over dough and using a rolling pin roll out into a large rectangle approx 12" x 16". Dough should be fairly thin so you get lots of layers.
- Remove the top layer of parchment paper and gently spread the chocolate spread over dough.
- Carefully roll the dough lengthwise (like cinnamon buns). Use the parchment paper to help you roll and make sure to peel it off as you roll.
- You will now have a long log. Carefully slice this log lengthwise to split the log in half. you will be able to see all the layers.
- Now you will braid/twist the 2 pieces to form a twisted log. Don't worry if it gets messy as it will sort itself out when baking.
- Carefully place your twisted log in loaf pan and bake for 25-30 min until middle is dry (check with toothpick).
- Allow to cool before removing from pan and enjoy.
Nutrition Information
Yield 12 Serving Size 1Amount Per Serving Calories 368Total Fat 19gSaturated Fat 8gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 9gCholesterol 22mgSodium 129mgCarbohydrates 47gNet Carbohydrates 0gFiber 4gSugar 12gSugar Alcohols 0gProtein 5g
Nutrition calculator is not 100% accurate as it is computer generated.