Ingredients
- Dough:
- 3/4 cup milk
- 1 1/2 packets active dry yeast
- 2 1/2 cups bread flour
- 2 1/2 cups pastry flour
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 cup plus 1 Tbp sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
- Chocolate Filling:
- 30 ounces Nutella
- 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
Preparation
Step 1
Dough:
Pour milk into a bowl. Add yeast. Add the following ingredients in this order: flours, eggs, sugar, vanilla, salt and half butter. Using your hands, or an electric mixer with a dough hook set on lowest speed, blend until combined, 3-4 minutes. Continue blending, increasing speed to medium if using a mixer, and slowly add remaining butter in small chunks until combined, about 4 minutes.
Place dough on a work surface lightly dusted with flour and knead until dough starts to feel inflexible, 2 minutes. Shape dough into a square. Place on a tray, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate 8-12 hours.
Make the babka:
Place the dough on a work surface lightly dusted with flour. Using a rolling pin, shape dough into a 10 x 28 inch rectangle about 1/5-inch thick. Spread Nutella evenly over dough, then sprinkle dough with chocolate chips. Roll dough tightly like a jelly roll and lay seam side down. Use a serrated knife to cut roll in thirds, then cut each segment in half lengthwise.
Lay two dough pieces on a work surface so they form an "X" shape. Twist each end once or twice, so babka resembles a braid. Repeat with remaining dough pieces so you have three babka loaves in all. Transfer each to an 8-by-3 inch loaf pan, tucking ends of dough under.
Cover pans with a dry towel and let rise until loaves double in volume, about 60 minutes. For best results, place a bowl of warm water at the bottom of an oven that hasn't been turned on, then place loaves inside oven and shut the door.
Set oven to 350℉. Bake loaves 30 minutes. Check after 20 minutes. If they are starting to turn dark brown and are still not cooked through, cover with aluminum foil to prevent tops from burning.