Easy Chocolate Babka

YEAST

mix yeast with warm water and a sprinkle of sugar. let sit and bubble

COMBINE

add in sugar.

add in oil and yeast mixture.

add in flour- mix after 3 cups- to create a soft dough. Add more flour if the dough is very sticky. It should pull away easily from the sides of the bowl.

turn onto a clean floured surface and knead, adding flour as necessary, till the dough is soft and easy to work with. this takes around 7 min.

place dough in a lightly floured or oiled bowl and cover with a kitchen towel for about 1 hour- or until doubled in size.

FILL AND LET REST

Cut the dough into half.

roll it out into a long rectangle and spread over chocolate spread.

Crush 2 cookies over the chocolate spread(2 crushed cookies per babka). roll up the dough into a log.

slice the log in half almost all the way to the top, leaving just a little connected. Cross the two strands over each other in a twist.

Place in a rectangular baking pan fitted with a baking sheet and cover.

let babkas rest for 30-45 min. they should puff up quite a bit.

preheat oven to 175 celcius.

BAKE

place babka in pre-heated oven and bake for 30-45 minutes, until a lovely golden color on top.

*TIP* finish with a sugar brush

sugar brush

place sugar and water in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Let boil for 2 minutes. brush over the baked babkas while hot.