This sourdough cinnamon babka is made from sweet and soft brioche dough filled with a cinnamon-brown sugar filling. This recipe makes two babka loaves.

Babka is a sweet, fluffy bread that comes from Eastern European Jewish traditions. It’s made with a brioche style dough. Chocolate babka is pretty popular, but in my book, cinnamon babka is even better —even if Elaine from “Seinfeld” calls it the “lesser babka.“

I’ve used my sourdough brioche dough as the base. It has a lovely soft texture, tender crumb, and subtle sourdough tang.

Ingredients

Here’s a rundown of what you need for this sourdough cinnamon babka. The amounts are on the recipe card at the bottom of this post.

Strong all-purpose flour with around 11% protein
Sugar – White sugar for the dough, and brown sugar for the filling.
Large eggs
Sourdough starter – I make a stiff starter for this dough.
Milk
Salt
Butter – This can be salted or unsalted butter. For the dough and the filling.

Stiff starter

I feed my starter a bit differently than usual when making this enriched sourdough babka dough. Normally, I feed my starter at 100% hydration (equal parts in weight of water and flour), but for this dough, I cut the water in half.

A stiffer starter rises slower than a more hydrated one, taking its time to grow steadily without peaking too soon. The main reason I go stiffer is so I can add more starter to the dough without bringing too much extra liquid into the dough. This brioche benefits from a long fermentation time and I’ve found that the extra bit of starter really makes a difference.

For this particular dough, I make a separate levain using a 1:2:1 ratio—1 part starter, 2 parts flour, and 1 part water (always measured by weight, not volume.)

Equipment

For the easiest results, use a stand mixer. The brioche dough is very sticky. There are lots of eggs and butter in it and this extra fat and moisture mean gluten development in the dough is slow. Use a stand mixer if you can, as the dough needs 10-15 minutes of mixing to create the gluten structure necessary.

Baker’s schedule

Here is the baker’s schedule I use for this sourdough babka. You can adapt and tweak to suit your own environment and schedule.

The night before
- Feed the starter
Day 1
- 9 am – Mix the dough
- 9:30 am – Let it rise in a warm spot until bulked out by half (approx 4-6 hours, depending on temperature)
- 3:30 – Refrigerate the dough overnight.
Day 2
- 9:30 am – Shape the babka and let it rise in a warm spot until it has doubled in size
- 2:00 pm – Bake.

Method

Mix the starter with flour and water. Knead it together into a soft dough ball. Place it into a lightly greased jar and cover with a lid. Let it rise for 8-10 hours until it doubles in size and is domed on top.

Add the flour, sugar, salt, eggs, milk, and starter in a stand mixer bowl with a dough hook attachment.Turn the mixer on low speed and combine until it forms a thick but slightly sticky dough.

Mix this dough for around 5 minutes to begin developing the gluten.
Add in the cubed butter, a few pieces at a time.

Turn the mixer on medium sped and mix it for 10-15 minutes.
Mix until the sticky dough strengthens and comes together, and pull away cleanly from the sides of the bowl.

Let the dough rest for a few minutes, then see if you can stretch a little bit out thinly so it’s see-through, without tearing. This is called the ‘windowpane test’ and shows proper gluten development.

Place the dough into a greased bowl and cover it. Place it in a warm spot, ideally around 25°C/ 76°F, but under 30°C / 86°F so the butter doesn’t melt. Let the dough rise until it has bulked out by at least 50-60%. This will take around 5-7 hours, depending on temperature. This dough will struggle to rise if the temperature is too cool.
Don’t rush this rise. It’s an important one and will set the standard for any future rising the dough will do.

Cold proof

Once risen, place the dough in the fridge until you’re ready to shape it.

Shaping

Grease and line two 9×5 inch loaf pans with parchment paper

a bowl of cinnamon and butter and sugar mixture.

Beat the softened butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon into a creamy paste in a bowl. Set aside.
Pull the cold dough from the bowl (it will be stiff) and weigh it on a kitchen scale. Cut it into two equal pieces.

cinnamon filling spread with silver spatula on dough.

Take one piece and use a rolling pin to roll it into a rectangle measuring around 11×14 inches (27×35 cm).
Dollop half the cinnamon-sugar mixture on. Use an offset spatula to spread it out, leaving a ½ inch (1cm) border around all the sides.

Roll it up, from the long side upwards, into a log. Place it in the fridge for 15 minutes. Repeat with the other dough piece and the remaining filling.

Once chilled, slice a log in half lengthwise with a sharp knife to expose the cinnamon filling.

Take the top two ends and fold them over. Lift the left half over the right half, then the right over the left, and repeat all the way down, exposing the cinnamon filling.

When you reach the end, tuck the dough underneath to compact the loaf. Place the braid into a prepared loaf pan.

Let the sourdough babkas rise again in the loaf pans in a warm spot until it has doubled. I like to use a turned-off oven with a mug of hot water in there to create a humid spot so the babka doesn’t dry out.

Baking

Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C and place a rack in the middle. Bake the babkas for approximately 35-40 minutes until deep golden brown. If they are browning too much, loosely cover the tops with foil.
While the babkas are baking, prepare the sugar syrup to glaze them. Combine the sugar and water in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring it to a simmer until the sugar dissolves, then remove it from the heat.

Once the babkas are removed from the oven, brush them liberally with the syrup.

Let them cool In their pans for 20 minutes, then remove them and let them cool further on a wire rack. Serve the babka at room temperature or slightly warm.

Storing

Babka can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to two days. Alternatively, it can be frozen in a freezer bag for future use. On the following days, it will stiffen up because of all the butter in the dough, but babka reheats well in the microwave for 5-10 seconds until warm.