Cinnamon Babka Recipe

This cinnamon babka is a soft, buttery yeast loaf rolled around a brown sugar and cinnamon paste, then cut open and twisted so every slice shows dark swirls. It takes about 2 hours 40 minutes from bowl to oven, most of it rising time, bakes at 350°F for 35 to 40 minutes and gives you 12 slices.

The one move that makes it babka and not plain cinnamon bread: slice the filled log in half lengthwise and twist the halves with the cut sides up. I first tasted it in a busy city bakery, and the name comes from the Polish and Ukrainian word for grandmother, since the folds are said to look like a pleated skirt.

The Numbers Behind This Loaf

• Yield: 1 loaf or ring, about 12 slices
• Time: 40 minutes hands on, 1 to 1½ hours first rise, 30 to 45 minutes second rise, 35 to 40 minutes baking
• Dough: 4 cups flour, 2 eggs, ½ cup warm milk at 110°F, ½ cup softened butter
• Filling: ½ cup brown sugar, 1½ tablespoons cinnamon, ¼ cup melted butter
• Rolled size: a 12×16 inch rectangle
• Pan: a greased loaf pan or bundt pan
• Keeps: 3 days airtight at room temperature, 2 months frozen

What Goes Into the Dough

This is an enriched dough, which means eggs, sugar and butter go in with the flour. They make the crumb soft and tender, and they also slow the yeast down, so give it the full rise time. All-purpose flour is enough here; you do not need bread flour.

Leave the butter out until it dents easily with a finger. Cold butter will not blend into the dough, and melted butter makes it greasy. The salt is only ½ teaspoon, but leave it out and the loaf tastes flat next to the sweet filling.

Mixing and Kneading the Enriched Dough

Warm the milk to 110°F, about as warm as a baby bottle, and stir in the yeast. Within 5 to 10 minutes it should look foamy, like the glass above. No foam means the yeast is old or the milk was too hot, and it is better to start again now than after two hours of waiting.

Whisk the flour, sugar and salt, add the eggs and the yeast mixture, and mix until a shaggy dough forms. Then knead in the butter a spoonful at a time, by hand or with a dough hook. Adding it all at once leaves you with a slippery mess that takes ages to come back together.

Knead for 8 to 10 minutes. The dough is ready when it pulls away from the bowl, feels soft and a little tacky, and stretches thin without tearing. Too stiff? Work in milk a teaspoon at a time. Too sticky to handle? Add flour a tablespoon at a time. Cover it and let it rise somewhere warm for 1 to 1½ hours, until doubled. Press a floured finger into it: if the dent fills back slowly, it has risen enough.

The Cinnamon Filling for Babka

The filling is ½ cup brown sugar and 1½ tablespoons ground cinnamon stirred into ¼ cup melted butter. That is roughly 1 part cinnamon to 5 parts sugar by volume, enough to taste clearly of spice without turning bitter.

Mix it while the dough rises and let it stand. Fresh from the stove it is runny and slides off the dough; after a few minutes it thickens into a spreadable paste. Spread it evenly over the rectangle and keep a small bare border at the edges so the seam can seal. Some bakers swap part of the sugar for cocoa for a chocolate version. I have tried those, and I still come back to plain cinnamon.

Rolling, Cutting and Twisting

Punch the risen dough down and roll it into a 12×16 inch rectangle on a lightly floured counter. After the filling goes on, roll it up tightly from a long side and pinch the seam closed. A loose roll leaves air pockets, and those become hollow gaps in the baked swirl.

With a sharp knife, cut the log in half lengthwise so the layers are exposed. Lay the halves side by side, cut sides up, and twist them over each other. Keep the cut faces pointing up the whole way; that is what gives the marbled top. Coil the twist into a ring for a bundt pan, or fold it to fit a loaf pan. Cover loosely and let it rise again for 30 to 45 minutes, until puffy.

Baking Until the Center Is Done

Heat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Whisk 1 egg with 1 tablespoon milk, brush it over the top, and bake for 35 to 40 minutes. A twisted loaf is thick in the middle, so the top colors long before the center is done. If it looks deep brown at 25 minutes, lay a sheet of foil loosely over it and keep going.

To check, push a skewer into the thickest part. It should come out with no sticky dough on it. An instant-read thermometer helps too: enriched bread is baked at about 190°F inside.

While the loaf is still warm, brush it with simple syrup (¼ cup sugar and ¼ cup water, simmered until clear). It soaks in, keeps the crust soft and the crumb moist for days. Let it cool before slicing or the swirls tear. For a bakery look, dust with powdered sugar once cool. I have also used a thin drizzle of icing, and both work.

When a Babka Goes Wrong

• Gummy streak in the middle: it came out too soon. Next time tent with foil earlier and bake to a clean skewer. A slightly underbaked slice is still good toasted.
• Filling leaked into the pan: no border was left, or the seam was not pinched. It caramelizes on the bottom; loosen the loaf while warm so it does not stick.
• Big hole between the swirl and the bread: the log was rolled loosely or the filling was too runny. Roll tight and let the filling thicken first.
• Dense, heavy crumb: the dough was underproofed or too stiff. Wait for the slow finger dent, and add a little milk if the dough fights you while kneading.
• Swirls look muddy, not striped: the halves were twisted with the cut sides turned down or sideways.

Babka or Cinnamon Rolls?

They share the same idea: soft yeast dough rolled around cinnamon sugar. Cinnamon rolls are sliced into spirals before baking, baked side by side and frosted, so each one is its own pull-apart bun. Babka keeps the log whole, cuts it open and twists it into a single loaf that you slice like bread. It is less sweet, has no frosting, and keeps better for breakfast over a few days. For the bun version, try my brown butter cinnamon rolls or Nutella cinnamon rolls.

Serving and Keeping It Fresh

Thick slices are best for brunch with coffee or tea, with fresh fruit or a spoon of jam on the side. A ring baked in a bundt pan looks lovely on a holiday table without any decoration.

Store it airtight at room temperature for up to 3 days. For longer, wrap the cooled loaf tightly and freeze it for up to 2 months, whole or sliced. A few minutes in a warm oven or the toaster brings back the soft center. I like day-old slices toasted with a pat of butter, and stale ones make very good French toast.

If you like this kind of loaf, the cinnamon swirl bread is the simpler sliced cousin, and the Hokkaido milk bread and raspberry swirl brioche loaf use a similar soft, enriched dough.

Babka Questions From the Kitchen

Is cinnamon babka a bread or a cake?

It is a sweet yeast bread. People sometimes call it cinnamon babka cake because it is rich and served with coffee, but it rises with yeast and is sliced like a loaf.

Can I make the dough the night before?

Yes. After kneading, cover the bowl and let the first rise happen slowly in the fridge overnight. Cold dough is also firmer and easier to cut and twist. Let the shaped loaf rise at room temperature until puffy before baking.

Do I need a stand mixer?

No. The dough can be kneaded by hand for 8 to 10 minutes. A mixer with a dough hook just makes adding the butter less sticky.

Why is my babka dry?

Usually it baked too long or skipped the syrup. Pull it as soon as a skewer comes out clean, brush on the warm syrup, and keep it wrapped once cool.

Pin this cinnamon babka to your bread board for a slow weekend morning. If you bake it, tell me in the comments whether you went for the loaf or the ring.