Food & Cooking Recipes Breakfast & Brunch Recipes Walnut Babka 3.3 (66) 2 Reviews This tender, braided bread from baker Uri Scheft is is loaded with walnuts, currants, and cinnamon sugar. By Martha Stewart Martha Stewart Martha Stewart is a bestselling author, entrepreneur, and lifestyle expert who has taught millions of people through generations the joy of entertaining, cooking, gardening, collecting, crafting, and home renovating via her eponymous magazine, Martha Stewart Living, Emmy-winning television shows, and 99 books (and counting). Based in Katonah, N.Y., where she helms her 156-acre Bedford Farm, Martha is America's first self-made female billionaire. Editorial Guidelines Updated on July 2, 2024 Rate PRINT Share Prep Time: 1 hr Cook Time: 35 mins Total Time: 4 hrs 35 mins Servings: 24 Yield: 3 loaves Jump to recipe This recipe for walnut babka comes from baker Uri Scheft of Bakey in Boston who developed the recipe at Breads Bakery in New York City. Babka is a sweet, tender yeasted bread that is filled with ingredients like cinnamon-sugar, nuts, or chocolate. It originated within the Jewish communities of Poland and other Eastern European countries in the early 19th century. Forming it takes some patience, but the final result—gorgeous, browned loaves that reveal swirled slices when cut—is well worth the effort. You’ll need an electric mixer with a dough hook to knead the dough until soft and elastic. The dough proofs twice, once after being kneaded and again after being filled, rolled, and shaped. After they're baked, the babkas are brushed with a simple sugar syrup while still warm from the oven. This recipe makes three babkas, which make excellent homemade gifts. 18 of Our Favorite Yeast Bread Recipes, From No-Knead Loaves to Martha-Level Boules Bryan Gardner Equipment for Making Babka at Home Electric mixer: You'll want to use an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook to knead the dough until it's soft and elastic. While you can knead the dough by hand, it's quite a bit of volume and will require extra time (and elbow grease). Bench scraper: A flat bench scraper, also known as a dough scraper, is helpful when kneading the dough by hand in step one as well as for spreading the softened butter over the dough in step four. If you don't have one, you can use a spatula, offset spatula, or your hands to spread the butter instead. Narrow loaf pans: This recipe makes three babkas so you'll need three narrow loaf pans (each 9 1/2 inches by 3 1/4 inches by 2 1/2 inches). Find them online or at specialty cookware stores. In a pinch, you can use pullman-style pans without their lids. You'll need a large, clean and empty work surface to roll the dough into a 10-by-28-inch rectangle. If your counter is not large enough, try covering a table with plastic wrap to protect it from the grease and roll the dough on there instead. Make Ahead You can knead and refrigerate the dough the night before you plan to bake it, then resume shaping the dough the following day. Cook Mode (Keep screen awake) Ingredients Dough ¾ cup whole milk 1 ounce fresh yeast 650 grams (about 5 cups) bread flour, sifted, plus more for work surface 2 large eggs ½ cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar ½ cup (1 stick) plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 teaspoon fine salt Filling ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature ½ cup sugar 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1 ½ cups walnuts, chopped 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons currants or raisins Syrup ½ cup sugar ⅔ cup water Directions Mix dough: Combine the milk and yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment. Add flour, eggs, sugar, butter, vanilla, and salt, and beat on low speed until ingredients are evenly combined, about 4 minutes. Increase to medium speed and mix 2 minutes more. Finish kneading by hand: Turn out dough onto a lightly floured work surface and finish kneading it by hand, about 2 minutes. Let dough rest: Form dough into a square. Place on a baking sheet and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Let stand at room temperature 1 hour, then refrigerate dough at least 1 hour or up to 8 hours. Roll dough into a large rectangle: Place chilled dough on lightly floured work surface. Using a rolling pin, shape dough into a 10-by-28-inch rectangle about 1/4 inch thick. Sprinkle filling onto dough: Using a pastry scraper or spatula, evenly spread butter over surface of dough. Sprinkle with sugar, cinnamon, walnuts, and currants or raisins. Using rolling pin, gently roll over filling ingredients to adhere filling to dough. Roll dough, then cut: Beginning with a long side, roll dough into a tight log. Flatten the log with the rolling pin until it is 40 inches long. Using a pizza wheel, cut log crosswise into 3 equal pieces. Then cut one of the thirds in half lengthwise. Position cut sides of dough on work surface so they are facing the same direction. Shape babkas; let rise again: Place one piece of dough on top of the other to form an X. Twist dough on each side of the X, beginning in center and working toward end to form a spiral. Transfer to a 9 1/2-by-3 1/4-by-2 1/2-inch loaf pan. Repeat process with remaining dough and two more loaf pans. The dough should fill the pans lengthwise as much as possible and only come halfway up the sides of the pan. Let rise until doubled: Cover with a dry, clean kitchen towel and let dough rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour. Heat oven; bake babkas: Meanwhile, preheat oven to 375°F. Uncover dough and bake, turning halfway through baking time, until golden brown, 30 to 35 minutes (if using a convection oven, bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes). Make sugar syrup: While loaves are baking, bring sugar and water to a boil over high heat; reduce heat and let simmer 2 minutes. Remove from heat; let cool. Brush babkas with sugar syrup; let cool: When loaves are removed from oven, transfer to a rimmed baking sheet fitted with a wire rack. Immediately brush generously with syrup. (You will have extra syrup for another use.) Let babka cool before serving. More Bread Recipes From Around the World: Tsoureki (Greek Easter Bread) Khachapuri (Georgian Cheese Bread) Finnish Cardamom Bread (Nisu) Panettone Brioche à Tête Japanese Milk Bread (Shokupan) Rate It PRINT Updated by Esther Reynolds Esther Reynolds Esther Reynolds is an experienced recipe developer, recipe tester, food editor, and writer with over a decade of experience in the food and media industries.