Vegan chocolate babka – squidgy, sweet and spectacular!

Gooey, rich and full of sumptuous chocolate filling, this vegan babka is surprisingly easy to make, and is an indulgent treat for anyone – vegan or not!

When I made my vegan yeasted hamantaschen, I promised to create a recipe for a vegan babka, and here it is. Just look at that swirly goodness!

What is a babka?

Babka is a rich yeasted cake, swirled with a sweet and delicious filling. The two most popular flavours are rich chocolate, like in this vegan chocolate babka recipe, and sweet and fragrant cinnamon babka. Other flavours include sweet cheese, halva, and poppy seed babka. Sometimes, a babka cake has a crumbly streusel topping, or even a layer of icing – gilding the lily, but still delicious! 

Eggless and dairy-free

Babka is often parve, so there was no problem in making it without milk or butter. However it uses a rich dough that typically contains lots of eggs. In order to eliminate them from the recipe, first I had to work out what purpose they served, so I could replace them with something suitable.

In a typical cake, eggs act as a binder and create a protein network when cooked which helps to hold the cake together and give it structure. This is why vegan cakes can sometimes be more crumbly than their non-vegan counterparts.

Vegan chocolate babka recipe

However in the kind of slow-fermented yeast-risen dough used for babka, the gluten in the flour develops into a protein matrix, so the eggs are less important to the structure. In babka, eggs mostly add fat, which makes the dough richer, and also some flavour. 

This meant that I could omit them from my vegan chocolate babka recipe without too much worry.

Out they went, and I replaced them with extra oil, plus a few drops of vanilla. You’d never even notice they’d gone!

Rich, dark chocolate

I whipped up a rich dark chocolate filling using plenty of high quality cocoa and brown sugar, plus a touch of cinnamon. I also added some dark chocolate chips to make this vegan chocolate babka filling really indulgent! If you wanted to cut corners you could easily substitute vegan chocolate spread instead.

Ingredients to make gooey vegan babka

To bake this gorgeous swirly chocolate babka yourself, you will need:

• Plant-based milk – I used oat
• Dry active yeast – easy to use for a good ‘rise’
• Caster sugar – (also called superfine sugar in the USA) is used in the dough, the filling, and the syrup – sweet!
• Plain flour – also called all purpose flour
• Vegetable oil – I use sunflower
• Vanilla essence

For the filling and syrup:

• Dairy free spread or margarine
• White and dark brown sugar
• Cocoa powder – for a rich, chocolatey filling
• Cinnamon – for depth of flavour
• Vanilla
• Salt – to bring out the other flavours
• Mini chocolate chips or chopped dark chocolate – because you can’t have too much chocolate, right?!

Stages in making vegan babka

Because babka is a yeast-raised cake, and requires filling and shaping, it does take longer than some other cakes to prepare. Definitely worth it though!

The steps in making a vegan babka are:

1. Make the dough – activate the yeast with warm milk and sugar. Mix up the dough using a stand mixer. Cover the dough and leave to rise.
2. Mix up the chocolate filling and put in the fridge.
3. Prepare the syrup.
4. Roll out the dough, spread with filling and sprinkle with chocolate chips. Roll up, cut and shape the babkas. Place in tins and leave to rise again.
5. Bake the chocolate babka loaves. Brush with syrup during and after baking.
6. Allow to cool, slice, eat and enjoy!

Full directions are given in the vegan chocolate babka recipe below.

Taste testing the vegan chocolate babka

I have to admit that the work of developing, testing and honing this easy vegan chocolate babka recipe wasn’t a complete chore. In fact, I can’t think of another recipe that generated so many willing taste-tasters! Of course, in the name of research I had to make sure to try all the variations myself, too.

I think I’ll be creating vegan babka a bit more frequently in future!

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📖 Recipe

Vegan chocolate babka

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Gooey, rich & full of sumptuous chocolate filling, this vegan babka is a surprisingly easy and indulgent treat.

5 from 5 votes

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Prep Time 40 minutes mins

Cook Time 20 minutes mins

Rising 2 hours hrs 30 minutes mins

Total Time 3 hours hrs 30 minutes mins

Course Brunch, Cake

Cuisine Jewish

Servings 18

Calories 261 kcal

Ingredients

 

US CustomaryMetric

 

1x2x3x

For the dough

• 200 ml plant-based milk – I used oat
• 2 teaspoon dry active yeast
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 400 g plain (all purpose) flour
• 2 tablespoon sugar
• 6 tablespoon vegetable oil
• ½ teaspoon vanilla essence

For the filling

• 115 g vegan spread or margarine
• 100 g caster sugar
• 50 g dark brown sugar
• 5 tablespoon cocoa powder
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• pinch salt
• 4 tablespoon mini chocolate chips or chopped dark chocolate

For the syrup

• 75 ml water
• 100 g caster sugar
• ½ teaspoon vanilla essence

Instructions

 

To make the dough

• 200 ml (⅘ cup) plant-based milk – I used oat, 2 teaspoon dry active yeast, 1 tablespoon sugar
  Microwave the plant-based milk for about 1½ minutes until 'hand hot'. Whisk in the dry active yeast and 1 tablespoon sugar. Set aside.
• 400 g (3⅔ cups) plain (all purpose) flour, 2 tablespoon sugar, 6 tablespoon vegetable oil, ½ teaspoon vanilla essence
  In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the flour and 2 tablespoon sugar. Once the yeast mixture has started to foam (2-3 minutes), add it to the flour together with the oil and vanilla. Fit the dough hook to the mixer and set the motor running on a low speed.
• Let the mixer run for 8-10 minutes, stopping the motor to scrape down the bowl as needed. The dough is ready when it forms a very soft, smooth, glossy ball that leaves the sides of the bowl clean.
• Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl and cover with a lid or plastic wrap. Leave to rise until doubled in size. This will take 1-2 hours in a warm place, or can be done overnight in the refrigerator.

To make the filling

• 115 g (½ cup) vegan spread or margarine, 100 g (½ cup) caster sugar, 50 g (¼ cup) dark brown sugar, 5 tablespoon cocoa powder, ½ teaspoon cinnamon, pinch salt
  Mix together all the filling ingredients EXCEPT for the chocolate chips. Beat well until thoroughly combined. Cover and store in the fridge until ready to use.

To make the syrup

• 75 ml (⅓ cup) water, 100 g (½ cup) caster sugar, ½ teaspoon vanilla essence
  Put the water, sugar and vanilla in a small saucepan and heat gently, stirring, until the sugar is fully dissolved. Cover and set aside.

To shape, bake and finish the babkas

• Line 2 loaf tins with non-stick liners or baking parchment.
• Remove the dough from the bowl, gently squash out the air, and knead lightly for a minute or two. Cut the dough into 2 parts.
• Roll the first piece of dough out to give a rectangle of thickness 4mm (about ⅛ inch) – the dough will shrink back as you roll it so be patient and keep moving/turning as you roll.
• 4 tablespoon mini chocolate chips or chopped dark chocolate
  Spread half the filling over the dough, then sprinkle over half the chocolate chips. Roll up as tightly as possible, starting from a SHORT side.
• Slice the roll lengthwise and gently twist the two pieces together. Place into one of the prepared tins.
• Repeat with the remaining dough and filing to make the second loaf. Cover the tins with a clean tea towel and set aside to rest/rise for 30 minutes.
• Heat the oven to 180°C (350°F).
• Bake the babkas for 15-20 minutes. Quickly remove from the oven, brush with two layers of syrup, and return to the oven. Bake for another 15 minutes. The babkas should be risen and lightly browned.
• Remove from the oven and brush on 3-4 more layers of syrup – be generous as the syrup helps the babka to be really sticky and gooey! Cool in the tins for 5-10 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.

Nutrition

Nutrition Facts

Vegan chocolate babka

Serving Size

 

1 slice

Amount per Serving

Calories

261

% Daily Value*

Fat

 

11

g

17

%

Saturated Fat

 

6

g

38

%

Cholesterol

 

1

mg

0

%

Sodium

 

72

mg

3

%

Potassium

 

92

mg

3

%

Carbohydrates

 

37

g

12

%

Fiber

 

2

g

8

%

Sugar

 

18

g

20

%

Protein

 

4

g

8

%

Vitamin A

 

252

IU

5

%

Vitamin C

 

1

mg

1

%

Calcium

 

37

mg

4

%

Iron

 

1

mg

6

%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Keyword chocolate, vegan

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More delicious bakes and recipes

If you’re not vegan, you might also enjoy this cinnamon babka, or this British-Jewish Chelsea Bun babka. 

Other vegan treats to try include moist vegan carrot cake, or vegan Norwegian waffles.

And if you’re after vegan recipes for Jewish favourites, check out this list of more than 20 vegan Jewish recipes, including gefilte fish and matzo ball soup!