I love bread.
Not because it’s delicious (obviously it is), but because there is really nothing more therapeutic than kneading dough. I really love getting in there, getting my hands dirty, and kneading the dough until it forms a perfectly smooth ball.
If kneading dough isn’t your thing, this recipe actually tells you to mix the dough in your mixer, the kneading by hand is just something you can do if you want to. Or if you’re just stressed out like me and need to take it out on some dough.
Babka is great because who doesn’t love a bread swirled with a delicious filling? It’s fun and a little messy to make and it tastes SO GOOD. It’s also beyond customizable. Want to stuff it with nutella? Do it. Want to make it like a cinnamon roll bread? Done. Peanut butter? Not my thing, but if you like it, go for it!
Today’s bread is filled with a cookies & cream spread because I had some leftover from a previous collaboration with Amoretti and it feels like a good time to use what I have. You can either grab a cookies and cream spread, if you can find one, or you can grind some oreos up with a little vegetable oil and some heavy cream. Grind up 15-16 oreos, add in 2 tbsp. vegetable oil and 1/4 cup of heavy cream and mix together. If it’s too thick, add a little more heavy cream.
I’m bringing this bread in with me to work today because holy moly does everyone deserve a little treat. I usually bring a box of cookies every Wednesday (cookie Wednesday is officially a thing), but this week it feels right to bring something I have that would otherwise pretty much just sit in my freezer until I remember it’s there. Making two loaves is fun, even better when you can share one with others.
Ingredients
Bread:
- 1 ¼ cups warm water
- 2 eggs
- 6 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup nonfat dry milk
- 2 tbsp. instant yeast
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 ½ tsp. salt
- 10 tbsp. unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 tbsp. vanilla bean paste
Filling:
- Amoretti Cookies & Cream Cookie Spread (or grind up some Oreos in a food processor until a paste/spread forms)
Instructions
- Combine the dough ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer until the dough begins to come together. If more water is needed, add 1 tbsp. at a time. Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel and allow it to rest for 15-20 minutes. Once rested, use the dough hook attachment on the mixer and knead until dough is soft and smooth. Place in a lightly greased bowl, cover loosely with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel and allow to rise for 1 1/2 – 2 hours, until the dough has doubled in size and is nice and puffy.
- Once dough is risen, deflate it and divide in half.
- Working with one half of dough at a time, shape into a rectangle approximately 10” x 20”. Spread half of the cookies and cream spread over the dough, leaving a ½ -1 inch border.
- Starting with the short side of the dough, roll dough tightly into a log, sealing the seam. Use a knife or bench scraper to slice the dough in half lengthwise, then twist the strands over each other. Repeat with the other half of dough and place each loaf into a greased 9” x 5” pan lined with parchment paper.
- Loosely cover each pan with plastic wrap and let loaves rise for 1 ½ - 2 hours. You want them to be nice and puffy, with the top of each loaf being about ½ - 1 inch above the top of the pan.
- Preheat oven to 300°F.
- Bake the loaves for 35 minutes, then tent with foil and bake for 15-30 more minutes, until the loaves are a nice golden brown on top and fully baked in the middle.
- Remove loaves from oven and allow to cool for 7-10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
