Easy Dairy-Free Cinnamon Babka is a simple recipe for homemade Jewish/Eastern European cinnamon sugar yeast cake, made without milk or butter.
About cinnamon babka...
Dairy-free cinnamon babka is a delicious sweet bread that's really a yeast cake whose origins began in Jewish communities in Eastern Europe sometime in the early 1800s.
Babka is prepared with a yeast-leavened dough.
Just prepare the dough, let it rise, roll out, spread the cinnamon and sugar, roll it up into a log, slice it lengthwise down the middle, twist one side around the other, place in the pan, and bake. That's it.
In a lot of descriptions and recipes, the design is called "braiding," but since there are only two pieces, they are twisted. If you want to braid, you will need to slice the log into three sections.
While the instructions are long and may seem daunting, the step-by-step recipe itself is not complicated.
Honestly, the longest part of the recipe is waiting for the dough to rise!
FAQs for dairy-free cinnamon babka
How long does it take for the dough to rise?
It really depends on how warm your kitchen (or wherever you are working) is. Typically, for the first rise, it can take an hour or so unless the temperature is cool. and then it can take even up to 2 hours. However, if your home is warm, it could take less (in my house in the summer when there is no AC on, it takes well under an hour).
It takes less for the second rise after the dough has been placed in the pan. So, if you are looking to know how much overall rising time you need, I would give it a few hours. Of course, you don't sit and watch it, so go do something else and check back every once in a while.
NOTE: the dough doesn't have to specifically double like it says in many other recipes. It just has to be approximate. A little less is fine, especially if you are in a rush. Also, a little more is ok too, but rising more doesn't mean better, so don't let it overrise.
What makes this babka dairy-free?
This easy dairy-free chocolate babka uses water in the dough and in the syrup, so there is no milk in the recipe. You can also use a neutral milk alternative, such as oat milk if you prefer.
Is this dairy-free babka made with dairy-free margarine instead of butter?
No. This recipe uses oil, so there is no butter or margarine in the ingredients.
How do I keep my babka from getting dry?
To keep your dairy-free chocolate yeast cake moist, make sure not to over-bake it and avoid over-kneading the dough. Brining it with a simple sugar syrup right after baking locks in moisture and keeps the crumb tender.
Can I freeze this babka?
Yes! You can freeze baked chocolate babka tightly wrapped in plastic wrap and aluminum foil or in a sealed freezer bag for up to 2-3 months. Thaw at room temperature and warm slightly before serving.
Is babka Eastern European?
Babka is a traditional sweet yeast cake or bread that originated in the Jewish communities of Poland and Ukraine (Eastern Europe) and remains widely popular in Israel and Jewish bakeries around the world.
What are some basic ingredients to have on hand for making desserts?
- flour
- white granulated sugar
- brown sugar (light/dark-I usually keep dark)
- confectioners' sugar (powdered sugar)
- salt
- baking powder
- baking soda
- cocoa powder
- ground cinnamon
- ground nutmeg
- ground ginger
- ground cloves
- baking chocolate
- chocolate chips
- instant dry yeast
- vanilla and/or vanilla sugar
- cooking oil/cooking spray
- margarine or butter
- eggs
- honey
- instant coffee
- various extracts (real or imitation)
- a variety of fillings, frostings, and toppings:
- whipping cream
- packaged pie dough or ready-made pie crusts
- puff pastry dough
General FAQs and information about baking:
What do eggs do in baking?
Eggs are made up of two parts: the whites and the yolks (the yellow).
Egg whites are made up of protein that sets when heated and helps baked goods hold their structure. The yolks are made up of fats and vitamins and help ingredients bond.
Eggs also help baked goods rise as well as keep them moist.
It is important to have the right amount of eggs when baking, because if there are too many eggs in a recipe, this can cause a rubbery, dense texture, and if there are too few eggs, this can cause a crumbly, dry texture.
The different parts of the egg will provide different textures to baked goods; using the entire egg in baking will provide moisture and help the baked good rise evenly, using extra yolks will create richer, denser textures, and extra whites will add fluffiness but may create a drier texture.
Why do recipes have salt in the ingredients of baked goods?
Even though salt tends to make foods, well, salty, it actually plays other roles in baking as well.
For example, the right amount of salt balances flavors in baked goods; it can bring out the sweetness of sugar and, at the same time, prevent them from tasting overly sweet. It also can help dull the bitterness of cocoa.
Salt prevents baked goods from tasting bland, while it balances the richness of the fats. It also helps develop flavor in yeast breads and works with proteins to strengthen gluten and make it more elastic.
Salt also slows down yeast fermentation because it prevents the yeast from eating up the sugars too quickly, which otherwise would cause the dough to rise too fast and then ultimately collapse, causing bread to come out flat instead of fluffy.
Salt helps baked goods stay a little fresher for a little longer and helps delay mold from growing on them.
Why do recipes with yeast say to make a mixture of the yeast, warm water, and sugar and set aside until it bubbles?
Most dough recipes that include yeast will give instructions to mix the yeast with warm water and sugar and set aside until it bubbles before using it. This is NOT part of the recipe but rather a short process called "proofing" to ensure that your yeast is alive because if it is not, your dough will not rise.
In order to proof your yeast, you need to let the yeast, warm water, and sugar mixture sit for 5-10 minutes to see if it develops foamy bubbles. If it does, your yeast is alive. Otherwise, it should not be used.
The water for proofing must be warm in order to activate the yeast because if it is too cold, nothing will happen, and if it is too hot, it will kill the yeast. Warm is between 105 and 110 degrees Fahrenheit (or 40 and 43 degrees Celsius). I usually just put my finger in the water, and if it is comfortably warm, I use it.
The sugar is used in proofing because yeast eats the sugar and releases gas (carbon dioxide), which is what causes the bubbles. If there are no bubbles, either the water was too hot or too cold, or the yeast is simply dead.
Note: If you are CERTAIN that your yeast is alive, then this process is unnecessary.
What is the difference between white granulated sugar and brown sugar?
The short answer is that while white granulated sugar is just pure sweetness, brown sugar is white sugar with molasses mixed into it.
Here is how that change affects your baking:
- White sugar is neutrally sweet. Brown sugar tastes like rich caramel or toffee.
- White sugar makes things crisp and light. Brown sugar traps moisture, making baked goods (like brownies) dense, soft, and extra chewy.
- Brown sugar is dark and wet; white sugar is dry and clear.
Tip: If a recipe calls for brown sugar and you're completely out, you can make your own by thoroughly mixing a tablespoon of molasses into a cup of regular white granulated sugar, and that will give you light-brown sugar. If you want dark brown sugar, you need to mix in more molasses.
What is the difference in using oil vs. butter or margarine?
Both margarine and butter are solid fats at room temperature, and both contain more saturated fats than oil.
While margarine and butter will change from a solid to a liquid when heated, they will change back to solids when cooled again. Oil stays liquid at all temperatures. Oil also coats flour better in the preparation process before baking.
Butter "creams" better than margarine, but one cannot cream oil at all.
When converting a recipe from butter or margarine to oil, the general conversion rate is 1 to ¾ (although if you are doing more than one batch, you might need to reduce the oil because I have found that baked goods come out oily in this case).
And when converting from oil to margarine or butter, typically the ratio is 1 to 1¼, and from margarine or butter to oil, the ratio is typically 1 to ¾.
What is the difference between real vanilla extract and imitation vanilla?
Real vanilla is made from soaking vanilla beans in alcohol, imitation vanilla is synthetic, and real vanilla costs quite a bit more than imitation. Whether or not there will be a taste difference in your baking depends on the baked good, so do some research before you decide.
I personally always use the imitation as long as I have a really good brand because it's not worth it to me to spend the extra money.
What is some simple baking equipment that I should keep in my kitchen?
- a stand mixer
- a hand mixer
- a kitchen scale
- different sizes and shapes of baking pans, including loaf pans
- mixing bowls
- cookie sheets
- pie dishes
- dry measuring cups
- liquid measuring cups
- measuring spoons
- whisks
- rubber spatulas (really good for when you don't want to leave anything in the bowl)
- rolling pins
- a baking mat for rolling out dough
- baking strips
- a good supply of baking (or parchment) paper (also round for layer cakes) and paper for muffins/cupcakes.
A little about yeast
Ever hear of matzo, the large cracker that Jews eat on Passover?
The explanation for that flat "bread" is that the dough didn't yet leaven and therefore didn't have time to rise (into bread) before the Israelites had to leave their homes and Egypt to go to the desert.
Back in those days, the flour mixture was left out, and the microbes of yeast in the air would leaven it over time, and it would rise. So, the mixture that the Israelites made had to be baked as it was before being leavened.
Here is some more interesting information about yeast: https://redstaryeast.com/science-of-yeast/
Note:
This recipe doesn't call to bloom the yeast directly in the instructions (only in the notes), so you need to make sure that your dry yeast is fresh (i.e., not dead). If you are not sure, then proof it first.
Take the yeast and the sugar with a little of the warm water and set aside for around 5-7 minutes. If your yeast is alive, bubbles will form in the mixture. If they don't, you need to use another yeast.
Love yeast cakes?
Try
Cinnamon Rolls
Chocolate Sweet Rolls
Chocolate Babka
Dairy-Free Cinnamon Babka
Delicious cinnamon and sugar yeast cake, made without milk, butter, or margarine.
Ingredients
Dough
- 4 cups all-purpose flour *
- ½ cup white sugar
- ⅓ cup oil
- 3 eggs
- 1 tablespoon instant yeast
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup water
Filling
- 1 cup brown sugar or granulated white sugar
- ½ cup oil
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- ¼ cup walnuts, chopped (optional)
- ⅓ cup chocolate chips (optional)
Glaze
- ¼ cup water
- ¼ cup white granulated sugar
Instructions
- Combine flour, sugar, oil, 2 of the eggs, yeast, vanilla, and salt from the Dough ingredients into the bowl of a stand mixer or mixing bowl.
- Using your the bread hook of your mixer or your hands, knead slowly adding water, a little at a time, until the dough becomes like a slightly sticky Play-Doh.
- If you add too much water and the dough is too stickly, slowly add more flour, only a little at a time, until it reaches the right consistency. *
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, a towel, or something similar and let sit to rise until it approximately doubles in size. The amount of time this will take will depend on how warm the room is.
- Next, on a clean and lightly floured surface, roll the dough out into a rectangular shape (doesn't have to be perfect) and a thickness of approximately ⅛ of an inch.
- In a separate mixing bowl, combine cocoa, sugar, oil, and cinnamon from the Filling ingredients. Spread evenly over the dough. If you are going to add chopped walnuts or chocolate chips, spread those out evenly over the dough on top of the filling.
- Starting at one of the shorter ends, roll the dough tightly into a log.
- Cut the log in a straight line down the middle, but do not let them fall apart.
- Carefully twist each end firmly around the other, making sure the open part showing the filling is visible (it should look somewhat like a chocolate candy cane without the hook).
- Carefully place the dough in a well-greased or parchment-lined standard loaf pan, pushing the ends together toward the middle so it fits. (It doesn't matter if it is a bit messy).
- Let sit to rise until it has approximately doubled in size (again, the time this takes depends on the warmth of the room.
- Brush the beaten egg over the top of the babka (this may smear the filling, but that's ok).
- Place in an oven that has been preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Bake 25 to 35 minutes or until the top has become a beautiful golden-brown color.
- Melt the ¼ cup of sugar in the ¼ cup of water from the Glaze ingredients in a pot on medium heat to create simple syrup. (You can leave the syrup off if you like).
- Generously spoon the syrup over the babka.
Notes
* Have a little more flour at the ready in case the dough comes out too sticky.
**Do not use old yeast, or it will not rise. If you are not sure, proof the yeast first to check. Place the sugar, yeast, and a little of the water in a bowl and wait for around 5 minutes to see if it bubbles. If it does, it's fine. If not, you need to use different yeast. If you test it and it does bubble, just add the mixture as part of the first step together with the rest.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
8Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 687Total Fat: 30gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 25gCholesterol: 70mgSodium: 302mgCarbohydrates: 96gFiber: 3gSugar: 46gProtein: 10g
